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With a page-turning plot and characters that leap off the page, this
is the story of an obsessive friendship and dark secrets that can no
longer be hidden.
'Truth or dare?' she asks.
I hesitate. I have so many secrets, so many things I don't want to
reveal, but this is only a game, only a bit of fun. 'Truth,' I say
finally. 'I can imagine one of your dares, and I don't fancy running
down Oxford Street naked tonight.'
'Truth,' Alice says slowly,
drawing out the vowel sound as if she's savouring the word. 'Are you
sure? Are you sure you can be completely honest?'
'I think so. Try me.'
'Okay.'
And then she looks at me curiously. '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?'
Katherine has moved away from her
shattered once-perfect family to start a new life in Sydney. There she
keeps her head down until she is befriended by the charismatic Alice,
and her life takes her in new directions. But there is a dark side to
Alice, and as we learn the truth of Katherine's sister's death and
Alice's background their story spirals to an explosive finale.
A potent, intense and simply unputdownable psychological thriller from
an exciting voice.
About The Author
Rebecca James is married with four young children (all boys) and until recently ran a kitchen design business with her husband.
Unknown author Rebecca James made headlines last November when her new
novel was the subject of a bidding war at the Frankfurt Book Fair. With
bids topping out at more than $1 million, Beautiful Malice was
described as a "brilliantly plotted sexy psychological page-turner"
billed as Stephenie Meyer without the vampires by the Wall Street
Journal.
James's novel depicts the relationship between Katherine, a
solitary girl whose sister was brutally murdered, and gorgeous
fun-loving Alice, who befriends her. Alice's influence is
transformative, but as Katherine emerges from her grief, she discovers
her new best friend can be chilling as well as charming.
This book is
going to be huge and will appeal to teenager girls as well as women.
I absolutely loved it, I haven’t read anything like it in ages – if ever, really. Her style of writing has a freshness to it – I’m not sure how to explain what I mean - it just feels different. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see ‘who, how and when‘ and couldn’t finish it fast enough. It was a simple and complex story all at once, filled with love laughter and sadness. You genuinely feel for the characters throughout the unfolding of the story. I hope it isn’t too long before Rebecca James releases another book.
Reviewed By a Booktopia Reader I saw Rebecca James interviewed at the 2010 Sydney Writer’s Festival, along with Kristin Tranter. They were two young, newly published Australian writers who had both sold their manuscripts for large sums of money. I’d read Tranter’s book (and enjoyed it), and had bought Beautiful Malice but hadn’t read it. I wondered whether the book had been over hyped, but for once the hype was justified; from the opening paragraph I was hooked by the simple yet evocative writing, and the casual yet determined tone.
The protagonist (and narrator), Katherine, although aged between 15 and 22 during the course of the story, has a maturity developed by the tragedies in her young life. Cleverly managed by the author, the reader can see that Alice isn’t all that Katherine thinks she is, and this forms much of the tension throughout the book. The dialogue is punchy and rings true, and the plot, despite jumping back and forth in time, allows the story to flow at a satisfying pace.
Despite the reader insight, Beautiful Malice leads us through a range of emotions, as Katherine’s grief rings true to those of us who have suffered bereavement. And although the story starts at the end (almost), there are plenty of plot twists to allow the tension to last to the final page, making this book indeed a ‘page-turner’.
I thoroughly enjoyed Beautiful Malice and highly recommend it to readers of all age groups.
Like many, I eagerly awaited the release of Rebecca James', Beautiful
Malice after reading her inspiring story of discovery. (As an author, I
am a sucker for such success stories.)
When the book arrived I dropped everything and curled up on the
couch with it, only moving for coffee fixes and loo breaks. Naturally
my expectations were high, which is rarely a good thing because what
can ever live up to that?
The story -- or rather two stories -- concerns the murder of
main character Katherine's sister, Rachel, told through flashbacks, and
Katherine's efforts to make a new, anonymous life for herself in Sydney
after these life-shattering events. Once in Sydney, Katherine is
befriended by the popular, effervescent Alice, and for the first time
since Rachel's death, feels there is actually some hope of life beyond
tragedy. Alice, however, has other ideas.
As the story progresses it becomes more and more evident that
Alice is mentally unhinged. It is Alice's state of mind as well as her
actions that drive this story to its climax -- a climax which, I have
to say, I found unsatisfying and as unlikely as it was dramatic. One
major mistake I feel James made was to foreshadow the demise of two
major players early in the novel. As a result I found it difficult to
emotionally bond with one of these characters in particular knowing
that he would soon be gone. (And it wasn't rocket science figuring out
who would perpetrate this.)
To sum up: Beautiful Malice is at its heart a great story, but
it feels a little too cobbled together and therefore doesn't live up to
the back cover promise of being 'an addictive, psychological thriller'.
With some fine-tuning it could have been. Also, I found the story of
Rachael's murder far more thrilling and well-written than the main,
which tended to merely drift along at times. Still, for the most part I
enjoyed reading this and would recommend it to teens, which, of course,
it is intended.
Beautiful Malice is a novel by Australian author Rebecca James and what a brilliant novel it is.
My sister (who had a proof-reading copy) recommended this book to me and I was hooked from the very first page, the very first line even.
It is a suspenseful and often thrilling story that doesn’t reveal itself to the final chapter – it is well worth the read.
I was so enthralled with this novel that I had trouble going back to work after reading it in my lunch break.
A brilliant novel that I would whole-heartedly recommend for all to read.
I loved Beautiful Malice. I received it at work and started reading it in my lunch break and I had it finished by 11.00 pm that night.
The story was captivating, the characters were likeable and the ending was sad. Teenage novel – nah. I’m in my thirties, an avid reader and thought it was great.
I’ve passed it on to family members and friends who share my opinion.
ISBN: 9781742373003
ISBN-10: 1742373003
Audience:
Teenager / Young Adult
Format:
Paperback
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 304
Published: 1st May 2010
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Dimensions (cm): 23.1 x 15.5
Weight (kg): 0.398
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