Malice

2.5*
I'm sad. This was a highly anticipated read for me. My biggest issue is that the main character is NOT an evil sorceress, not really. She is basically just forced to produce curses, but she doesn't want to. So already I was bummed that she wasn't strong internally. I was hoping for some real girl power villainess vibes and those were missing.

But I kept going because the writing style is solid. I enjoyed the way things were developing. I overlooked some typical tropes of misunderstandings and “smart” characters acting stupid. BTW the majority of this reads very much like a Cinderella retelling not sleeping beauty. I had hope that maybe our gal would develop her claws as we continued. But she didn't not really, not her own.

I felt the ending was a cheap exit. I would have given it 3stars to 3.5stars if not for the ending. I felt like all the backstory of Alice was wasted by the turns at the end. The inevitable betrayals that were coming could have packed more punch. (view spoiler)

And there was a trope that I really hate in these books. (view spoiler)

I'm not going to read the next one. I don't even feel like the Sapphic romance in this really held weight. They spend some time together but it just seems really shallow. And we really don't get to know the princess or most of the characters that well so more than a few of them seemed a bit flat. Like all their actions were predictable and weren't nuanced.

I did like the magic system and the fae lore, I wish we had seen more of it. A lot was more told to us in one way or another. Which sometimes is needed with this kind of fantasy because you need history to be present. I would be interested if the author told the story of the first Warrior Queen and the Fae War. Because that chick seemed to be the only one with a personality and some balls to get things done!