Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
New York : Del Rey, [2022]
Description
"Does true love break curses, or begin them? Sleeping Beauty's dark sorceress reclaims her story in this sequel to Malice. The Dark Grace is dead. Feared and despised for the sinister power in her veins, Alyce wreaks her revenge on the kingdom that made her an outcast. Once a realm of decadence and beauty, Briar is now wholly Alyce's wicked domain. And no one will escape the consequences of her wrath. Not even the one person who holds her heart. Princess Aurora saw through Alyce's thorny facade, earning a love that promised the dawn of a new age. But it is a love that came with a heavy price: Aurora now sleeps under a curse that even Alyce's vast power cannot seem to break. And the dream of the world they would have built together is nothing but ash. Alyce vows to do anything to wake the woman she loves, even if it means descending into the monster Briar believed her to be. But could Aurora love the villain Alyce has become? Or is true love only for fairytales?"--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Lunarsong
A fantastic and wonderfully gray sequel to Malice. The character development, world-building, and writing style are top notch. Everything in Misrule is in shades of gray. No character is all good or all bad, making for a morally complex world and story. Misrule is just as compelling and
Malice was the story of Alyce being pushed to her breaking point and embracing the role of the villain everyone expected she would become in a fit of anger and hopelessness. Misrule is the story of Alyce finding her way back from such a dark place of anger, fear, and pain. It’s a tale of learning how to build something better and find peace. Alyce learns how to heal and be more than a villain or a victim. This is a story of Alyce and Aurora finding a way to build a better society for everyone. This journey is messy and emotional and real.
STYLE AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:
Walter used vivid imagery, metaphor, simile, and personification to make Alyce’s emotions almost tangible and layer the reader’s view of Alyce’s world with Alyce’s emotional perspective. How Alyce feels is shown (not told) in virtually every description in this book. This makes it so natural and easy to relate to Alyce and understand her point of view. Even when Alyce did things that were clearly wrong, I understood her justifications and perspective enough to sympathize and understand her actions. Even when I couldn’t approve of them at all. After all, she had her reasons. This made for really great character development.
Fantastic character development, first person narration, and a beautiful and emotive writing style made a lot of things work that really shouldn’t have. It should have felt false for someone as empathetic, naive, and loving as the Alyce we saw in the beginning of Malice to do things as dark and evil as she did. But it didn’t. It should have felt false for her to change her ways and become a force for good after having done such malicious things. But it didn’t. I really shouldn’t have been rooting for Alyce when she had embraced her darker side, but I kind of did. Alyce’s journey from victim to villain to a redeemed and healing survivor dedicated to helping others felt totally real and compelling.
PREMISE:
Misrule is set 500 years after the events of Malice. I usually don’t like big time jumps, but it totally worked for this story. It enriched the story with fresh material that lent the story additional moral complexity and opportunities for character development. You dive right into a different social and political landscape and meet a whole new set of interesting, compelling, three-dimensional characters. You get to know Alyce and Aurora much better by seeing them interact with a completely different cast of characters and a greatly changed world. And by seeing how these interactions changed them.
While Aurora was in a cursed slumber, Alyce destroyed a kingdom and built a new one. In many ways, she became as bad as those she hated. As those who abused, oppressed, and used her. Those who denied her freedom. She built a sanctuary for those like her that were persecuted everywhere else. But it was also a place where different groups were oppressed. Oppressed in much the same way she and others with magical abilities were once oppressed and denied freedom. To some, she became a savior. To others, she became the monster everyone feared she would become.
When Aurora awakened, Alyce was forced to confront the dark reality of the society she built and the type of person she had become. Alyce and the other protagonists had to learn to let go of revenge. Learn to build a place where everyone is free instead of simply changing which group of people gets to be free. A place where anyone can thrive. They learn to build a society where oppression is not tolerated, instead of switching which group is oppressed.
THE RELATIONSHIPS:
Alyce and Aurora’s relationship was refreshingly honest and real. They didn’t let each other off the hook for their mistakes. And they both made some big ones. They really cared for each other and didn’t let each other be blind to their mistakes because then they’d have kept repeating them. They cared for each other even when they were on opposite sides. They helped each other learn how to learn to do better and be better. Alyce and Aurora challenged each other to be better, as all good friends or romantic partners should. This kept me rooting for those two.
By the end of the story, all our main characters had grown and changed for the better. The best friends and romantic partners in the story were those that helped each other become better. Plenty of time and development was given to other relationships, not just the romance between Alyce and Aurora. This was much more realistic and interesting than a story where the primary romantic pairing eclipses all the other relationships.
THE ENDING:
The ending was perfect. It suited Alyce and her journey perfectly. She found a happy ending that could include, but wasn’t dependent on, being in a romantic relationship with Aurora. She found a way to heal and gained an independent peace and purpose that wouldn’t fall apart if she didn’t end up with Aurora. It’s always nice to see a happily ever after that isn’t centered around a codependent romantic relationship. Alyce and Aurora’s independent happiness and self-sufficiency only made it more meaningful when they ended up together. I love to see characters that are together because they want to be, not because they desperately think they need to be in order to be happy.
I received a free e-copy via NetGalley. I am writing this review completely voluntarily and honestly.
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beautifully-written as Malice. This conclusion to the Duology does not disappoint and has a happy ending.Malice was the story of Alyce being pushed to her breaking point and embracing the role of the villain everyone expected she would become in a fit of anger and hopelessness. Misrule is the story of Alyce finding her way back from such a dark place of anger, fear, and pain. It’s a tale of learning how to build something better and find peace. Alyce learns how to heal and be more than a villain or a victim. This is a story of Alyce and Aurora finding a way to build a better society for everyone. This journey is messy and emotional and real.
STYLE AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:
Walter used vivid imagery, metaphor, simile, and personification to make Alyce’s emotions almost tangible and layer the reader’s view of Alyce’s world with Alyce’s emotional perspective. How Alyce feels is shown (not told) in virtually every description in this book. This makes it so natural and easy to relate to Alyce and understand her point of view. Even when Alyce did things that were clearly wrong, I understood her justifications and perspective enough to sympathize and understand her actions. Even when I couldn’t approve of them at all. After all, she had her reasons. This made for really great character development.
Fantastic character development, first person narration, and a beautiful and emotive writing style made a lot of things work that really shouldn’t have. It should have felt false for someone as empathetic, naive, and loving as the Alyce we saw in the beginning of Malice to do things as dark and evil as she did. But it didn’t. It should have felt false for her to change her ways and become a force for good after having done such malicious things. But it didn’t. I really shouldn’t have been rooting for Alyce when she had embraced her darker side, but I kind of did. Alyce’s journey from victim to villain to a redeemed and healing survivor dedicated to helping others felt totally real and compelling.
PREMISE:
Misrule is set 500 years after the events of Malice. I usually don’t like big time jumps, but it totally worked for this story. It enriched the story with fresh material that lent the story additional moral complexity and opportunities for character development. You dive right into a different social and political landscape and meet a whole new set of interesting, compelling, three-dimensional characters. You get to know Alyce and Aurora much better by seeing them interact with a completely different cast of characters and a greatly changed world. And by seeing how these interactions changed them.
While Aurora was in a cursed slumber, Alyce destroyed a kingdom and built a new one. In many ways, she became as bad as those she hated. As those who abused, oppressed, and used her. Those who denied her freedom. She built a sanctuary for those like her that were persecuted everywhere else. But it was also a place where different groups were oppressed. Oppressed in much the same way she and others with magical abilities were once oppressed and denied freedom. To some, she became a savior. To others, she became the monster everyone feared she would become.
When Aurora awakened, Alyce was forced to confront the dark reality of the society she built and the type of person she had become. Alyce and the other protagonists had to learn to let go of revenge. Learn to build a place where everyone is free instead of simply changing which group of people gets to be free. A place where anyone can thrive. They learn to build a society where oppression is not tolerated, instead of switching which group is oppressed.
THE RELATIONSHIPS:
Alyce and Aurora’s relationship was refreshingly honest and real. They didn’t let each other off the hook for their mistakes. And they both made some big ones. They really cared for each other and didn’t let each other be blind to their mistakes because then they’d have kept repeating them. They cared for each other even when they were on opposite sides. They helped each other learn how to learn to do better and be better. Alyce and Aurora challenged each other to be better, as all good friends or romantic partners should. This kept me rooting for those two.
By the end of the story, all our main characters had grown and changed for the better. The best friends and romantic partners in the story were those that helped each other become better. Plenty of time and development was given to other relationships, not just the romance between Alyce and Aurora. This was much more realistic and interesting than a story where the primary romantic pairing eclipses all the other relationships.
THE ENDING:
The ending was perfect. It suited Alyce and her journey perfectly. She found a happy ending that could include, but wasn’t dependent on, being in a romantic relationship with Aurora. She found a way to heal and gained an independent peace and purpose that wouldn’t fall apart if she didn’t end up with Aurora. It’s always nice to see a happily ever after that isn’t centered around a codependent romantic relationship. Alyce and Aurora’s independent happiness and self-sufficiency only made it more meaningful when
I received a free e-copy via NetGalley. I am writing this review completely voluntarily and honestly.
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LibraryThing member NeedMoreShelves
Strong follow-up to a very enjoyable debut. While its predecessor was filled with the excitement of a budding romance, Misrule tackels the fallout when that romance is betrayed. Trust, revenge, forgiveness - our main characters are on a thorny path, and I appreciated the way the author kept them
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true to themselves the whole time. Will definitely read more by this author! Show Less
LibraryThing member admiralfinnegan
A complex follow up to Malice. If you're looking for that fairytale ending, you might not like the journey there and that might not be what you call it either. This book challenged me emotionally more than I wanted, but that's not a bad thing.
LibraryThing member Holly1204
A twist on Sleeping Beauty when the story is told from the life of Alice, the Dark Grace. As this is book 2 and I was excited to read it. I was disappointed on how it dragged to get to the good parts of the story. It was a slow start but got better as it went on.
Language
Original publication date
2022-05
ISBN
9781984818683