Beautiful Malice, By Rebecca James

"Were you glad, deep down? Were you glad to be rid of her? Your perfect sister? Were you secretly glad when she was killed?" Sibling rivalry is often found at the heart of teen fiction, and Rebecca James's entertaining melodrama takes this raw emotion to new extremes.

At the start of the novel, all we know is that the novel's bookish narrator, Katherine, has recently lost a sister, and somehow she's implicated in her violent death. Having moved to a new city and a new school, she lives a life of quiet anonymity, until recently acquired best pal Alice - a pleasingly toxic creation - starts to undermine Katherine's fragile happiness.

This hyped debut kicked off a bidding war, selling to over 30 countries, and at the very least deserves a place in the beach bag next to the latest Stephenie Meyer.

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