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Malice by Chris Wooding reviewed by Aaron Stagoff-Belfort

Submitted by watchungbooksellers on Thu, 11/12/2009 - 2:06pm
Seth and Kady have heard the whispers.  You gather the things, say the ritual, and Tall Jake takes you away to a terrifying and horrible world called Malice.  But when Seth attempts the ritual as a joke, everything goes horribly wrong and Seth and Kady are sucked into a world where there is no escape.  Part novel, part comic book, Malice is a suspenseful thriller that will make you sleep with one eye open.   
       
  Seth and Kady are best pals, but their friend Luke has been acting strange.  They had all heard the rumors of Malice and the infamous Tall Jake, but they dismissed them for a stupid myth.  Then Luke disappears.  There have been a series of vanishings in the kids' hometown of London.  Parents just think it's another kidnapping.  But Kady and Seth know better.  After searching Luke's room, they discover the Malice comic book there.  The books are supposedly bought by kids who want to know about the horrific world of Malice.  Created by an unknown artist named Grendel, Seth and Kady open the comic, only to find that it is blank. 

              Seth and Kady embark on a quest to find Malice and the comic store that sells it.  This is how they come across Black Dice Comics.  After stealing a comic from the creepy shop owner, they read it only to find that it says there friend Luke is dead.
              Seth decides to avenge Luke's death by trying to travel into the world that took his friend.  After gathering the ingredients, he says the words and asks Tall Jake to take him away.  Kady decides to join her friend to defeat Tall Jake and avenge Luke's death.

Then the kids find out that if you somehow do get out of Malice, your memory is erased and you go mad.  But once you get into Malice there is only one way to get out. 
              Malice was truly terrifying, a fantastic read.  I give it a10 out of 10.  It kept me on my toes the entire time.  The plot was very interesting and certainly thrilling.  There were some great moments where the suspense was as good as any book I have ever read.  Malice certainly delivers.

              One of the interesting things about Malice is that, although it's primarily a novel, it has some parts where the book is narrated as a comic instead of text.  Ever since the award-winning book Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick, books that have comics in them are a great way to get kids to read, while also adding a little extra flair to the story.  The pictures in this book were interesting and well drawn.

              I only had two main criticisms of Malice.  First, the characters weren't developed extremely well.  You didn't get a great sense of who they were; however, I'm sure that we will get to know them better when the sequel and other books in the series come out.  Second, since the book was part novel, some of the outlandish fantasy aspects of the book were hard to depict in just a few short slides.  Still Malice was so full of energy and suspense you couldn't turn away.

              Malice is a great book for children 10 and up.  It's great for kids who like action and adventure or scary books.  It's a great book to get kids into reading because of the comic book elements.  I would definitely recommend it and can't wait for the sequel Havoc to hit shelves in 2010. (Ages 12 & up)

Malice: Book 1 (Hardcover)

By Chris Wooding
$13.49
ISBN-13: 9780545160438
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Scholastic Press, 10/2009
Other Editions of this Title
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#1Submitted by polopoui on Mon, 03/01/2010 - 2:02pm.

Thanks for the great review

Thanks for the great review Aaron.It makes me wat to read it again.Check the latest email extractor software.

Maya King,