Response To "Beautiful Malice" By Rebecca James

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Wide Reading Response Title: Beautiful Malice Author: Rebecca James Genre: Novel Date Finished: 11th April 2011 I liked this book because it kept getting more interesting after each chapter. The chapters are all from Katherine’s point of view, but they alternate between three times in her life: the time when she is Alice’s friend, four years later when she is on holiday with her daughter, and the night six years previously when her sister was murdered. The constant switching back and forth had the potential to be very confusing but it actually wasn’t; in fact, quite the opposite. It kept the ball rolling and made me want to keep reading. For example, at the end of one chapter Alice asks Katherine “Were you glad to be rid of her? Your perfect sister? Were you secretly glad when she was killed?” and then the chapter ends with you wondering what Katherine’s reaction will be. But then the next chapter goes into four years later, when Katherine is on holiday with her daughter, Sarah. But because you want to find out what happened since you last read about Katherine and Sarah, you keep reading and don’t skip the chapter so you can find out what Katherine’s reaction to Alice’s question will be. This is what kept me interested in the three plotlines, and I thought it was very cleverly done. Another reason I liked this book is because there are three different times that the book is set in, parts of the plotline of one time will reveal only part of the plot, and you have to rely on the chapters set in other times to discover the rest of the plot. This was a very effective way of making sure that the entire plot wasn’t revealed too quickly. One example of this is when you read the first sentence of the book “I didn’t go to Alice’s funeral.” you immediately know that Alice is dead, and Katherine didn’t go to her funeral. But then you’re left to rely on other

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