MaliceAuthor: Pintip Dunn
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Release Date: February 4, 2020
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Synopsis:
What I know: a boy in my class will one day wipe out two-thirds of the population with a virus.
What I don’t know: who he is.
In a race against the clock, I not only have to figure out his identity,
but I'll have to outwit a voice from the future telling me to kill him.
Because I'm starting to realize no one is telling the truth. But how
can I play chess with someone who already knows the outcome of my every
move? Someone so filled with malice they've lost all hope in humanity?
Well, I'll just have to find a way—because now they've drawn a target on
the only boy I've ever loved....
There's so much that happens in this story that I'm not quite sure how to write this review without giving away any spoilers. Like I mentioned, this book takes place in the present but the main character's older self (from ten years into the future) plays a big part in the plot, so it's definitely science fiction. Especially when you factor in the worldwide virus that gets released and kills most of the population. I also mentioned that it was so much more than that. There's a serious mystery aspect that slowly unravels throughout the story as Alice and the reader tries to figure out who the Maker is - the person responsible for creating and releasing the virus. There are a lot of twists and turns that I didn't see coming and kept me on my toes. I will admit that I figured out the big question (who is the Maker?) pretty early in the story. There's so much more to the plot that I couldn't stop reading. There were tons of false leads, red herrings, lies, secrets, and untrustworthy characters. It kept me guessing throughout the book which I ended up reading in one sitting because I just had to see what was going to happen next and how things would end. There's also a romantic aspect to the story, which I normally don't like when it's inserted into a book that's not a romance because it always seems to take over the story and overshadow the main plot. That didn't really happen in this book. I actually enjoyed the romantic parts and how it tied into the story line.
The characters were all very well written, especially Alice, our main character. She's complicated, devoted, loving, loyal, smart, determined, and will stop at nothing to do what she believes is the right thing. All of these positive qualities paired with her flaws made her incredibly realistic and I easily connected with her right from the beginning of the story. The other major characters were mostly well rounded and realistic too, like Archie, Bandit, Zeke, Lelana, and future Alice. The minor characters were pretty flat and stereotypical but that didn't bother me because they weren't essential to the story. I loved getting to know each of them and see their characters shift and change throughout the story. At one time or another, most of them are possible suspects for Alice to consider so they made great and confusing red herrings. The last thing I want to mention is the author's writing style. Point of view is very important to me personally as a reader and can literally make or break a book for me. I almost always prefer the first person POV. Luckily, the author chose to write the novel in the first person from Alice's perspective. I love that she wrote it this way because we got to really know her character during the story. We get an inside look at her thoughts, emotions, hopes and dreams, fears, insecurities, and innermost thoughts. I think it was the perfect choice for the book and only made it that much better. I highly recommend this book to fans of YA science fiction, mystery, thriller, action and adventure, and even romance.
Pintip Dunn is a New York Times
bestselling author of young adult fiction. She graduated from Harvard
University, magna cum laude, with an A.B., and received her J.D. at Yale
Law School.
She lives with her husband and children in Maryland.
Her novel FORGET TOMORROW won the 2016 RWA RITA® for Best First Book,
and SEIZE TODAY won the 2018 RITA for Best Young Adult Romance. Her
books have been translated into four languages, and they have been
nominated for the following awards: the Grand Prix del'Imaginaire; the
Japanese Sakura Medal; the MASL Truman Award; the TomeSociety It list;
and the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award.
Her other titles include REMEMBER YESTERDAY, THE DARKEST LIE, GIRL ON THE VERGE, STAR-CROSSED, and MALICE.
Win (1) of (2) copies of MALICE by Pintip Dunn (US Only)
Starts: February 4, 2020
