MALICE NON-SPOILER REVIEW | JOHN GWYNNE 🗡

MALICE NON-SPOILER REVIEW | JOHN GWYNNE 🗡

#malice #faithfulandthefallen #johngwynne

[PetrikLeo]

Too bad that this didn't fully click with you, Elle! If you feel inclined to continue with Valor, I know several readers who disliked the first book but the series ended up becoming their favorites after reading Valor and so on! So, if Valor still doesn't engage you, drop the series! :)

[JessieMaeBooks]

I can’t WAIT for you to get to I think it really does fix a lot of your issues! There’s also the most awesome additional female perspective that gets added that I hope you love as much as I did!!!

[alexnieves]

There are definitely some bumps in the road with Malice and that's from someone who really enjoyed it. I've mentioned it plenty of times before but I truly believe that Valor is better in every single way and should fix at least a few of your issues.

[Ridghost]

Valor is a large step up from Malice, and then Ruin & Wrath even more so.

[mmaguire]

I have only read 170 pages of Malice so far and the only characters I've grasped so far are Corben and Cywen. And I only know corban because he is an adolescent and Cywen is his sister. I have to go back to remember who the other characters are constantly. And its not because they are boring. Its as you say, they all blend together. At least I am not the only one the intro has confused.

[Bloomgirl_books]

I completely felt the same when I first started reading Malice. I actually had to write down character names and how they related to each other so that I could visually see where they belonged. That being said, if you haven’t done so already, keep reading! If Malice was slow to start, Valor is a fast paced ride, and it’s fantastic. I’m about a third of the way through Ruin, and it’s also fantastic! You definitely get to know the characters better and start to care about most of them and see where they fit in the grand scheme of things.

[markh]

I feel similar with this one. Everyone was raving over it and I just did not fall in love with it. It wasn't terrible, it just didn't blow me away. I do have valor waiting for me and will start it at some point.

[mikalahood]

I've been teetering on the fence forever about whether or not to try Gwyne, I'd heard his female characters weren't great or were non-existant, which I find I have less and less tolerance for. I do love the look of his newest epic In the Shadow the Gods. I think I'll skip Malice and just go straight to that

[charlespeter]

Malice had a lot of heavy lifting to do so that the rest of the story can just be told instead of having to explain much

[adomaya]

I'm currently reading this book Eliott and am
The world is so over whelming thus making the initial part of the book a slog. And I wouldn't mind that if I was attached to the but that was even more disappointing, the multiple povs are all so similar. Almost all young boys/men between 14 to 19 with similar plot. Ughh I really wanted to like the book too!

[cnb]

I completely agree with this review. Will swing by to see what you think of valor. I found the writing improved significantly but the action sequences became more prominent and I felt that slowed down the overall pace and made the characterization take a back seat.

I think the best way to describe Gwynns books is they read like novelizations of action RPG games.

[TheLibraryofAllenxandria]

Great review, Elle! Like people have said below, I do think many of your criticisms are addressed in the next books (except for the many battle scenes...those continue), especially the 'no characters you really loved or really hated'. That will DEFINITELY change in Valor lol

[romeoreads]

I understand what you mean by it’s slow paced with action, and I did like that personally. Being that this was one of the first adult fantasy books I read after watching game of thrones, the pacing kind of gave me a similar vibe to that with a little less politics of course. Really liked it tho, nice review👌🏾

[Psittacus_erithacus]

A genuinely useful review … much appreciated.

[edsheeran]

Malice is a good book overall, but valor is where this series really comes into its own

[csd]

Loved this book. I had no problems distinguishing the characters but I don't have the preferences you seem to have. Entertaining review.

[DavidDecero]

I skipped Malice and went straight to Shadow of the Gods (Couldn't resist that cover. lol). I noticed a few things you're saying here could be said about SotG. The three pov characters basically feel like the same person at different stages of being a warrior (The rookie, the warrior in her prime, and the old grizzled veteran who had retired from that life.). I think Gwynne describes everything in such fine detail that it slows the pace a bit no matter how much action is there. At some point I'll circle back and check out his earlier works like Malice. Great review!

[adamborst]

Great to see another review for Malice. Personally I truly enjoyed the fast pace, and the part where they are chasing after the folks that are captured/taken, it made me realize that no one in the Banished Lands is safe from being killed. I wonder too, if there should have been a little more about why the culture is the way it is other than just a really really brief blurb in the front of the book. Can't recall if it was prologue or something else. Keep up the great content, can't wait for you to hopefully finish the series!

[jackmckenzie]

Loved this book. Didn't find it slow paced at all. And the series gets better and better.

[sabrielsbell]

I'm glad I found your review! I left this book feeling very meh and then heard everyone rave about it and couldn't figure out what I was missing. I agreed with a lot of the main points you made about the female character and trouble distinguishing between the male characters. I feel like people give a lot of positives about the second book but I've got so many others I want to read first. I hope you do a review if you read the second book! I'd be interested to see if its worth it for someone who wasn't as into the first.