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Beautiful Malice Rebecca James 9780571259823 Books

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Beautiful Malice Rebecca James 9780571259823 Books

A massive disappointment.

The good stuff first so that you guys don't think I'm nasty giving it a poor rating because I was in some kind of bad mood. But honestly I couldn't see what the fuss was all about.

I guess it was a compelling read. Although I'm not quite sure why -- I can't say that I cared very much about the plot and, although I love psychological thrillers I couldn't say that there was any massive driving questions that had me chewing my nails. I read it in a couple of hours and there were some points in the book that I felt the tension that readers should feel but the feeling didn't last long, which was a major disappointment. This really could have been much better.

The character who had the most appeal to me was Robbie, a young man who has lost his mother and who finds no support or comfort from his emotionally wrecked father. One who is willing to succumb to the poison that is Alice so as to feel even an iota of happiness that she able to give him despite the destruction she brings to his heart and mind.

However, this is where I have to bridge the gap between praise and criticism. I relished the Alice parts because James showed elements of Alice's character, and the depth of her narcissism, with fairly subtle stuff like Alice not wanting to travel because no-one would know her abroad. However, James isn't satisfied until she has beaten that horse to a bloody pulp. James, you are wrtiing for a YA adult, but YAs are not morons. They know a narcissist when they see it even if they don't know the psychological term. The reader doesn't need a psychology master's student (Philippa) running around telling us that Alice has "issues." We understand how badly Alice's mother abandoning her must have screwed her up and that it's probably the reason behind her actions -- we don't need that vomit-inducing, sanctimonious paragraph that Katherine delivered at the end. We get that Alice is not 100% monster. We don't need Katherine laying out all of Alice's problems and giving us a mini-justification.

Even worse, we didn't see nearly enough of Alice's charm. Katherine kept telling us that she had it, but being hot/pretty and having charm and charisma are two different things. When Alice's sanity starts to slip, she doesn't seem charming - she just seems loud and obnoxious. Maybe that is the point, but the only scene (yes, one scene in the 300+ page novel) that I felt any sense of Alice's charismatic presence was in the "morning after" scene where she sobs all over Katherine with her full of bologna apologies.

James doesn't seem to know how to both show and tell about things in her writing. There needs to be a balance of writing what is happening (telling) and writing descriptions of actions that readers can infer meaning to (showing). Sadly, James never showed us anything, she only told us. Case in point: "I don't want to leave Mick." "Alice could be so charming sometimes." "I was Rachel's number one fan." We never really see any of Mick or Alice's more endearing qualities; Katherine just sort of tells us that they have them, and we're supposed to believe it without any real evidence.

Another thing that annoyed me is that I had no idea of time frame or setting. It's true that Beautiful Malice is non-linear, with HORRIBLE flash forwards to an adult Katherine but it spoiled the best twist of the novel, Katherine has a child. The book opens with Katherine and Alice's first real meeting and blabs through that for a while, then skips forward to Katherine and Robbie's first meeting, then skips forward again, with no indication of how long, to when Katherine and Robbie and Alice are all BFFs. That was just very confusing to me. I also didn't know where this was all taking place. The writer is Australian but I am not sure if that is the setting. The only description we get is they live in a city and that Katherine moved from the suburbs...but of where?? I can't stand not knowing the setting of a story. Just a pet peeve of mine.

The climax was poorly written. It was vague, confusing, and uninteresting. Why is it that James could write about rape (admittedly in a vague way), pregnancy, sociopathy, abduction, guilt, sex and nudity, but she couldn't write a good scene of violence? I'm not an overly gory person, but I felt that the ending was just such a cop-out. My blood was not pounding. My heart was not racing. More than anything I was scanning the pages thinking WTH is going on?

One more major point...I don't like how Katherine was made to feel as if it was her fault. I don't even like the thought being put into young girls heads that because Katherine had to do something to save herself that she feels at fault. No young woman should ever feel guilt is she is attacked. This is where I feel like the novel should not be labeled YA. Even though James tries to make it clear that Katherine isn't at fault, just the mere mention of it makes me sick. So IMHO this book should not be read by young readers. Not only is there the vague suggestion of blame if someone is attacked but there is bad language, sex, and drug use by minors. I wouldn't want my young daughter to read this book. So let this be a warning to parents who are deciding on whether to let thier teen read this book. I would say it is 18+, NOT FOR TEENAGERS.

There is probably more, but on the whole, Beautiful Malice was just a half-baked, inconsistent disappointmnent. There are no relationships, no tension and no real mystery. Next time no more of even the suggestion that if a girl is attacked it is her fault! Generous 2 stars.


Tags : Beautiful Malice [Rebecca James] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. So. Were you glad, deep down? Were you glad to be rid of her? Your perfect sister? Were you secretly glad when she was killed? Following a horrific tragedy that leaves her once perfect family devastated,Rebecca James,Beautiful Malice,Faber & Faber,0571259820,Children's Teenage fiction: General fiction,FICTION Psychological,FICTION Thrillers General,Fiction - Espionage Thriller,Fiction Thrillers Suspense,General & Literary Fiction,General fiction (Children's Teenage),Modern & contemporary fiction,Psychological,Suspense,Thrillers

Beautiful Malice Rebecca James 9780571259823 Books Reviews

Great book by an excellent author. I hope there will be many more to come.
A very well written, wonderful story. Easy to follow. A twist at the end that i honestly didn't see coming. Can't wait to read more from this author.
Suspenseful from beginning to end! I was breathless reading this novel, but I simply couldn't put it down. Wonderful read.
I loved this book and couldn't put it down. It was well written with great characters and a realistic story.
I've already read her second one and can't wait for her third books.
I wouldn't hesitate in recommending this book. Brilliant.
This is one of those books I can re-read -- I'm doing my review only now because I've just re-read it! As a reader who looks to learn from other authors, this is one story that taught me not only great lessons in writing technique, but also was a great read in weaving intense psych plotlines -- I couldn't put it down, I got lost in Katherine's world, as I did Alice, and the ending ultimately showed a character who had grown in ways that one only can when life springs from regret and tragedy.
Beautiful Malice is a psychological thriller that is also about healing after a great tragedy. I was on the edge of my seat as the subtle red flags became known until the very end.
I read this book almost in one sitting. Katherine is a good narrator, and an appealing individual. I liked her and wished her well from the beginning. The horror evolved slowly and kept me in suspense.

I liked the fact that three time periods were included in the narrative. And the Good Guys were clearly good - a satisfying book. Recommended.
A massive disappointment.

The good stuff first so that you guys don't think I'm nasty giving it a poor rating because I was in some kind of bad mood. But honestly I couldn't see what the fuss was all about.

I guess it was a compelling read. Although I'm not quite sure why -- I can't say that I cared very much about the plot and, although I love psychological thrillers I couldn't say that there was any massive driving questions that had me chewing my nails. I read it in a couple of hours and there were some points in the book that I felt the tension that readers should feel but the feeling didn't last long, which was a major disappointment. This really could have been much better.

The character who had the most appeal to me was Robbie, a young man who has lost his mother and who finds no support or comfort from his emotionally wrecked father. One who is willing to succumb to the poison that is Alice so as to feel even an iota of happiness that she able to give him despite the destruction she brings to his heart and mind.

However, this is where I have to bridge the gap between praise and criticism. I relished the Alice parts because James showed elements of Alice's character, and the depth of her narcissism, with fairly subtle stuff like Alice not wanting to travel because no-one would know her abroad. However, James isn't satisfied until she has beaten that horse to a bloody pulp. James, you are wrtiing for a YA adult, but YAs are not morons. They know a narcissist when they see it even if they don't know the psychological term. The reader doesn't need a psychology master's student (Philippa) running around telling us that Alice has "issues." We understand how badly Alice's mother abandoning her must have screwed her up and that it's probably the reason behind her actions -- we don't need that vomit-inducing, sanctimonious paragraph that Katherine delivered at the end. We get that Alice is not 100% monster. We don't need Katherine laying out all of Alice's problems and giving us a mini-justification.

Even worse, we didn't see nearly enough of Alice's charm. Katherine kept telling us that she had it, but being hot/pretty and having charm and charisma are two different things. When Alice's sanity starts to slip, she doesn't seem charming - she just seems loud and obnoxious. Maybe that is the point, but the only scene (yes, one scene in the 300+ page novel) that I felt any sense of Alice's charismatic presence was in the "morning after" scene where she sobs all over Katherine with her full of bologna apologies.

James doesn't seem to know how to both show and tell about things in her writing. There needs to be a balance of writing what is happening (telling) and writing descriptions of actions that readers can infer meaning to (showing). Sadly, James never showed us anything, she only told us. Case in point "I don't want to leave Mick." "Alice could be so charming sometimes." "I was Rachel's number one fan." We never really see any of Mick or Alice's more endearing qualities; Katherine just sort of tells us that they have them, and we're supposed to believe it without any real evidence.

Another thing that annoyed me is that I had no idea of time frame or setting. It's true that Beautiful Malice is non-linear, with HORRIBLE flash forwards to an adult Katherine but it spoiled the best twist of the novel, Katherine has a child. The book opens with Katherine and Alice's first real meeting and blabs through that for a while, then skips forward to Katherine and Robbie's first meeting, then skips forward again, with no indication of how long, to when Katherine and Robbie and Alice are all BFFs. That was just very confusing to me. I also didn't know where this was all taking place. The writer is Australian but I am not sure if that is the setting. The only description we get is they live in a city and that Katherine moved from the suburbs...but of where?? I can't stand not knowing the setting of a story. Just a pet peeve of mine.

The climax was poorly written. It was vague, confusing, and uninteresting. Why is it that James could write about rape (admittedly in a vague way), pregnancy, sociopathy, abduction, guilt, sex and nudity, but she couldn't write a good scene of violence? I'm not an overly gory person, but I felt that the ending was just such a cop-out. My blood was not pounding. My heart was not racing. More than anything I was scanning the pages thinking WTH is going on?

One more major point...I don't like how Katherine was made to feel as if it was her fault. I don't even like the thought being put into young girls heads that because Katherine had to do something to save herself that she feels at fault. No young woman should ever feel guilt is she is attacked. This is where I feel like the novel should not be labeled YA. Even though James tries to make it clear that Katherine isn't at fault, just the mere mention of it makes me sick. So IMHO this book should not be read by young readers. Not only is there the vague suggestion of blame if someone is attacked but there is bad language, sex, and drug use by minors. I wouldn't want my young daughter to read this book. So let this be a warning to parents who are deciding on whether to let thier teen read this book. I would say it is 18+, NOT FOR TEENAGERS.

There is probably more, but on the whole, Beautiful Malice was just a half-baked, inconsistent disappointmnent. There are no relationships, no tension and no real mystery. Next time no more of even the suggestion that if a girl is attacked it is her fault! Generous 2 stars.