Malice by Pintip Dunn

by Pintip Dunn
Genres: Dystopian, Young Adult
Goodreads

What I know: a boy in my school will one day wipe out two-thirds of the population with a virus.

What I don’t know: who he is.

In a race against the clock, I not only have to figure out his identity, but I’ll have to outwit a voice from the future telling me to kill him. Because I’m starting to realize no one is telling the truth. But how can I play chess with someone who already knows the outcome of my every move? Someone so filled with malice they’ve lost all hope in humanity? Well, I’ll just have to find a way—because now they’ve drawn a target on the only boy I’ve ever loved...

*ARC provided by Entangled in exchange for an honest review*

I’m not going to lie. Malice by Pintip Dunn took me by surprise. The book takes my favorite YA tropes of Dystopian Sci-Fi, and Thriller and we come away with a really entertaining read.

Alice is just your typical teenager when a mysterious voice begins to tell her that if she doesn’t do what it says, the world is essentially doomed. Oh yeah, and the voice is her, ten years in the future. Alice is of course skeptical at first, but as the voice shows her what would happen in the future, Alice realizes that the voice is telling her the truth and that if she can’t figure out who is responsible for the virus and how to stop it, life as she knows it will end. Two thirds of the world’s population is destroyed as the virus makes individuals allergic to the thing that brings life, the sun. Seriously diabolical. Alice’s future self becomes increasingly desperate for Alice to try and stop the virus but can’t tell her too much or it might end up changing even more things that it shouldn’t. As more is revealed, Alice begins to creep into the consciousness of her future self and sees her soulmate and honestly, I lived for these moments.

I honestly couldn’t put this one down. I loved the twists and turns in the story and really didn’t expect the thriller aspect to it which was fantastic. I mean, it is really obvious as to who could be responsible but there’s enough twists to the story as to why, that it still casts doubt. You do have to suspend some disbelief when it comes to the time travel but I enjoyed it and plus, it’s time travel. Who really knows how or why it works.

I loved Bandit. He’s funny and goofy, and is really the comic relief in the book. The romantic side plot was on point and really sweet. It adds a lot to the story and was my favorite aspect of the book. The plot and pacing are well done and entertaining and I didn’t put the book down until I finished the book. I am looking forward to reading more from this author and checking out her other books. 4.5 Stars.