I loved this so much!!!

Malice – Heather Walter

LGBTQ+, retellings, Sapphic, Sleeping Beauty, fiction. 

Rating 12/10

Alyce is known as the Dark Grace. Her blood is green and more deadlier than her fellow Graces. However, she is made harmless as she can’t use magic to cause harm as it is illegal. Her ancestors cursed the Briar’s women. The women unless they kiss their true love they die at the ripe age of 21. Aurora, the last surviving heir, is almost turning 21 and she must find her true love so that she can rule and change the rules. She meets Alyce and both combined alliances work towards making the world fairer towards Graces. Alyce finds her father and he reveals that Alyce is not only half Grace but half Shifter. He slowly teaches her about her untapped potential. There are darker forces at hand that do not want change for the better but rather for the worst. The one who breaks the Aurora’s curse is one twist that no one in the Kingdom would expect. 

I had heard and seen this book everywhere. I don’t really love Sleeping Beauty but I don’t hate her. She is an alright princess. However, this book was hyped and I understand why. This was so well written and kept me hooked from page one to the last page. I finished this within a day which is hard because some days are busier than others for me. I just was like thrown into this world I didn’t want to leave. Another book caused me to have a book hangover. The whole idea that Maleficent and Aurora together really was something I wasn’t expecting. I highly recommend this book. It is so good and I can’t wait for the sequel. I’m anticipating the sequel since this was marked as the first in a duology.

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Not A Fairy Tale, A Nightmare Here

Sleeping Beauties – Stephen King and Owen King

Horror, apocalyptic, sleeping epidemic, women, possessed, fiction, survival.

Rating 10/10

In a town called Dooling, a sleeping epidemic is spreading but the only victims to fall into this never-ending sleep is any female. There is no age barrier, only if a female falls asleep. The female’s bodies become consumed by moths and cobwebs. One guy thought it would be safe to remove the cobwebs but made a fatal mistake that kills him. Anyone to wake these sleeping beauties, the women become ravenous and possessed to kill. Undisturbed the fallen sleeping women are in a lovely dream state. Only a few women survive but with the assistance of caffeine or drugs that force them to be awake. In the meantime, most of the world’s women are asleep and leaving all the men alone. This creates chaos since men can’t be controlled so this becomes a violent era to live in until women start to wake up from the sleeping epidemic.

As a lover of Stephen King, I had found this book slow at first, but it builds up tension. It was nearly impossible for me to put down the book. King has done it again with this novel, scaring the shit out of me then proceeding to make me rethink reality. What if this does happen, what would be the result? It is scary to think about how this might be King’s phobia. Pretty much since most of his books are based off phobias possibly of his own or others in general. On the other hand, this incredible novel was a collaboration between Stephen King and his son, Owen King. Father like son, Owen King had executed the same chilling story telling his father, Stephen King, had with all his novels. I want to see both authors work on something together in the future.