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A review by thefussyreader
Malice by John Gwynne
4.0
The Fussy Reader
3.5*
Had a blast reading this, and thank fuck for that because I've already gone and bought the whole series. Something I don't normally do, but I just had a feeling about this one. Something told me I'd like it.
Characters
Here we get to witness seven different POV characters. This might be a big turn off for some readers (something I'll never understand, personally), but for me, I loved it. I'm happiest within a multi POV story. Exploring the story from different angles is all part of the fun of reading for me. I feel a story can sometimes stagnate when fixed within the head of a single character, unless that character is voicey as fuck and brings a hell of a lot of humour, I normally find single POV (namely first-person narrative) boring as shit.
Corban and Cywnn were my favourites. Loved that brother/sister vibe. Really loved that they actually liked each other. As a sister who has an awesome relationship with her brother, I get so sick of seeing siblings who hate each other. Sometimes siblings can actually be besties and that's totally fine. They were strong characters that experienced a lot of growth and maturity through the book and I'm excited to see how they develop further.
Gar was a joy. Loved him.
Though I didn't strongly connect to some of the other POV characters, I didn't hate any of them either. Not even the antagonistic ones, because their decisions felt justified. Villain characters weren't just doing villainous things for the sake of it. They all had a reason and it made them all feel well-defined and nuanced.
I'm a sucker for an animal companion, seriously. But now I'm panicking because usually, the only purpose of an animal in books and movies is to be brutally killed in the name of plot device. If anything happens to Storm, I'm going on strike. But so far so good. John Gywnne doesn't seem to be as animal-abuse-happy as Mark Lawrence, number one on my shit list. (Seriously though three terribly graphic animal abuse scenes in as many books. not recommended for animal lovers.) But John Gywnne? Big thumbs up so far.
Plot
Slow-burn for sure, but not in the least boring. It's the kind of story that develops gradually, building upon layers until what remains is an intricate, highly political web of war, betrayal and secrets.
Naturally, this wouldn't be a fantasy book if there wasn't a whiff of a chosen one story on the horizon. Now I don't know for sure if this will become a chosen one story, as it's left entirely a mystery so far, but there's definitely some secret about Corban that's being kept from him.
I don't take issue with the Chosen One trope, if it's done differently. I'll have to wait and see what happens, but so far it feels pretty fresh and I'm keen to see how it develops.
The ending certainly left me wanting more. I have questions, and I need answers.
Setting
I loved the world-building in this book. The Celtic vibes were feeding my soul. Why aren't there more Celtic inspired fantasy worlds?
There were so many layers to this world that really made it feel alive. A lot of different kingdoms are explored, along with the deep politics and alliances formed. It just feels like a vast world with a lot of history and specific, customs and traditions. It's detailed without bogging the text down with info dumps.
In a nutshell, the world-building is really strong and very natural.
Writing Style
Very solid writing, I have zero gripes about the writing style. Just easy to read. The kind of style that just sweeps you along like a wave and keeps you engaged.
Excellent battles scenes. Very fluid and fast-paced. I could see everything in my head exactly as it was happening.
Final Impression
Well, as I said, I already impulse bought the whole series, so yes, I will be continuing. On the whole, thoroughly enjoyable. Though I can't think of anything actually wrong with this book, there's still something about it that's holding me back from giving it a full five stars. I didn't love it but still had a really great time with it. I don't often give five stars, so it's no big surprise. It was just generally a really solid fantasy book.
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3.5*
Had a blast reading this, and thank fuck for that because I've already gone and bought the whole series. Something I don't normally do, but I just had a feeling about this one. Something told me I'd like it.
Characters
Here we get to witness seven different POV characters. This might be a big turn off for some readers (something I'll never understand, personally), but for me, I loved it. I'm happiest within a multi POV story. Exploring the story from different angles is all part of the fun of reading for me. I feel a story can sometimes stagnate when fixed within the head of a single character, unless that character is voicey as fuck and brings a hell of a lot of humour, I normally find single POV (namely first-person narrative) boring as shit.
Corban and Cywnn were my favourites. Loved that brother/sister vibe. Really loved that they actually liked each other. As a sister who has an awesome relationship with her brother, I get so sick of seeing siblings who hate each other. Sometimes siblings can actually be besties and that's totally fine. They were strong characters that experienced a lot of growth and maturity through the book and I'm excited to see how they develop further.
Gar was a joy. Loved him.
Though I didn't strongly connect to some of the other POV characters, I didn't hate any of them either. Not even the antagonistic ones, because their decisions felt justified. Villain characters weren't just doing villainous things for the sake of it. They all had a reason and it made them all feel well-defined and nuanced.
I'm a sucker for an animal companion, seriously. But now I'm panicking because usually, the only purpose of an animal in books and movies is to be brutally killed in the name of plot device. If anything happens to Storm, I'm going on strike. But so far so good. John Gywnne doesn't seem to be as animal-abuse-happy as Mark Lawrence, number one on my shit list. (Seriously though three terribly graphic animal abuse scenes in as many books. not recommended for animal lovers.) But John Gywnne? Big thumbs up so far.
Plot
Slow-burn for sure, but not in the least boring. It's the kind of story that develops gradually, building upon layers until what remains is an intricate, highly political web of war, betrayal and secrets.
Naturally, this wouldn't be a fantasy book if there wasn't a whiff of a chosen one story on the horizon. Now I don't know for sure if this will become a chosen one story, as it's left entirely a mystery so far, but there's definitely some secret about Corban that's being kept from him.
I don't take issue with the Chosen One trope, if it's done differently. I'll have to wait and see what happens, but so far it feels pretty fresh and I'm keen to see how it develops.
The ending certainly left me wanting more. I have questions, and I need answers.
Setting
I loved the world-building in this book. The Celtic vibes were feeding my soul. Why aren't there more Celtic inspired fantasy worlds?
There were so many layers to this world that really made it feel alive. A lot of different kingdoms are explored, along with the deep politics and alliances formed. It just feels like a vast world with a lot of history and specific, customs and traditions. It's detailed without bogging the text down with info dumps.
In a nutshell, the world-building is really strong and very natural.
Writing Style
Very solid writing, I have zero gripes about the writing style. Just easy to read. The kind of style that just sweeps you along like a wave and keeps you engaged.
Excellent battles scenes. Very fluid and fast-paced. I could see everything in my head exactly as it was happening.
Final Impression
Well, as I said, I already impulse bought the whole series, so yes, I will be continuing. On the whole, thoroughly enjoyable. Though I can't think of anything actually wrong with this book, there's still something about it that's holding me back from giving it a full five stars. I didn't love it but still had a really great time with it. I don't often give five stars, so it's no big surprise. It was just generally a really solid fantasy book.