Just Jennifer

Beautiful Malice Rebecca James (Bantam, July 13, 2010)

Australian author Rebecca James’s U.S. debut begins with the sentence “I didn’t go to Alice’s funeral.”  From there, it is a roller coaster ride as shy, reserved Katherine Patterson is drawn into the world of popular, social Alice.  Katherine is spending the last year of high school away from her parents with her aunt in a new city, as the family heals and recovers from a tragedy that left Katherine’s younger sister dead.  Alice quickly gains Katherine’s trust and draws Katherine into her inner circle, only for Katherine to learn too late that Alice is a narcissist and has her own agenda, one that will destroy one, or both, of the girls.  While the living circumstances of the the two girls (Alice is also spending her senior year away from her family, though she has her own apartment) is a bit unbelievable, the voices of the two girls are authentic. Through the suspense that is built as readers slowly learn what happened to Katherine’s sister and what roll Katherine played in it, readers will come to understand Katherine more and as the story is revealed, Alice’s motives become all too clear.   The strong characters and plot twists help move this psychological thriller at a fast pace.