takarakei's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
- Black girl magic
- Sapphic
- Gothic
- Plant magic/apothecary
- Greek mythology
[audiobook] - Immediately immersive and interesting. Reads very easily and quickly. I was fascinated by all the plant information, must have taken quite a bit of research. I loved Bri's parents and their relationship. I'm excited for the sequel and glad I already have it on my shelf.
SO now I'm gonna read The Secret Garden (as this is a retelling)...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Death of parent
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Animal death, Grief, and Racism
Spoiler
Death of parent on page (poison)cardanrry's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death of parent
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Murder and Racism
sirilpotter's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Murder, and Medical content
noellelovesbooks's review
adventurous
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
Content Warnings : Loss of parent[s], toxic friendships, blood, injury, violence, grief, torture, self-harm, gun violence, and racism.
Wow! What a fantastic read...and one I'm glad I read after book two has already been released 😅
Before starting this book I really had no idea what kind of story it was going to be, I knew that the main character had an affinity for plants but that's about it.
So we meet Briseis who was adopted as a baby by two amazing moms who've loved and supported her through everything...even the strange affinity she has with plants. I mean they opened a floral business, named after her, so that she could have a safe place to be near and work with plants.
Always needing to be hyper-vigilant to ensure no one outside of their little family finds out about her affinity...has led to a pretty isolating way of life. The few friends Briseis attempted to have never seemed fully comfortable around her when plants started acting abnormally so she never felt like she could truly express or explain herself.
Out of nowhere a mysterious estate lawyer shows up and says "hey, so you're aunt...oh you didn't know you had one?...well anyways she left you a family estate. Here are the keys and a few letters. Have fun!"
We get to go along with Briseis as she uncovers the rich and mysterious history of her birth family as she tries to learn more about her connection to plants and what it all might mean.
This was such a fun read! The first half of the book felt a bit longer than it needed to be but that second half felt like a whirlwind! I LOVED how we got so many mythology crumbs as Briseis was diving deeper and deeper into her bio-families history.
I look forward to getting my hands on This Wicked Fate so I can find out what more Briseis has to uncover.
Wow! What a fantastic read...and one I'm glad I read after book two has already been released 😅
Before starting this book I really had no idea what kind of story it was going to be, I knew that the main character had an affinity for plants but that's about it.
So we meet Briseis who was adopted as a baby by two amazing moms who've loved and supported her through everything...even the strange affinity she has with plants. I mean they opened a floral business, named after her, so that she could have a safe place to be near and work with plants.
Always needing to be hyper-vigilant to ensure no one outside of their little family finds out about her affinity...has led to a pretty isolating way of life. The few friends Briseis attempted to have never seemed fully comfortable around her when plants started acting abnormally so she never felt like she could truly express or explain herself.
Out of nowhere a mysterious estate lawyer shows up and says "hey, so you're aunt...oh you didn't know you had one?...well anyways she left you a family estate. Here are the keys and a few letters. Have fun!"
We get to go along with Briseis as she uncovers the rich and mysterious history of her birth family as she tries to learn more about her connection to plants and what it all might mean.
This was such a fun read! The first half of the book felt a bit longer than it needed to be but that second half felt like a whirlwind! I LOVED how we got so many mythology crumbs as Briseis was diving deeper and deeper into her bio-families history.
I look forward to getting my hands on This Wicked Fate so I can find out what more Briseis has to uncover.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Toxic friendship, Death, Murder, Torture, Death of parent, Self harm, Grief, Blood, and Racism
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic friendship, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Grief and Gore
Minor: Cursing, Racism, and Pregnancy
slayergirl3281's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book… was fricken amazing. It felt like a mash of the secret garden, Percy Jackson and little shop of horror.
Bri has always had power over plants and at birth was adopted by her two amazing mothers(who imo steal the show and are one of the best parts of this whole book). Knowing nothing of her heritage, she is one day approached by an attorney who tells that her biological aunt has died. Left now in Bri’s possession is a massive house with all her birth families history in it. Curious to find out more about her powers and birth family, Bri and her moms decide to move to the house to help Bri connect to her powers and birth family. But all the sudden strange people start showing up, asking questions and demanding things Bri had no idea ever existed. The house and her birth family hold a secret that goes as far back to the Greek gods. And now as the last of her line, it is Bri’s secret to uncover and carry forward.
The characters in this poison hearts were all so amazing and fleshed out. I loved Bri’s moms they made the book for me. The way they loved Bri and each other so much.
Cw/tw
Violence
Gore
Light racism
Death of a parent
Bri has always had power over plants and at birth was adopted by her two amazing mothers(who imo steal the show and are one of the best parts of this whole book). Knowing nothing of her heritage, she is one day approached by an attorney who tells that her biological aunt has died. Left now in Bri’s possession is a massive house with all her birth families history in it. Curious to find out more about her powers and birth family, Bri and her moms decide to move to the house to help Bri connect to her powers and birth family. But all the sudden strange people start showing up, asking questions and demanding things Bri had no idea ever existed. The house and her birth family hold a secret that goes as far back to the Greek gods. And now as the last of her line, it is Bri’s secret to uncover and carry forward.
The characters in this poison hearts were all so amazing and fleshed out. I loved Bri’s moms they made the book for me. The way they loved Bri and each other so much.
Cw/tw
Violence
Gore
Light racism
Death of a parent
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Gore and Violence
Minor: Racism
noyastan's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Murder, Violence, and Racism
readwithanne's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
Minor: Racism
foreverinastory's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved this so much!! I need the sequel right now!! I really enjoyed Cinderella Is Dead when it came out, but This Poison Heart has me at stan levels for Kalynn Bayron. Ma'am can do no wrong. I will read ANYTHING she writes. Also desperate for the sequel *cries in queer*
This Poison Heart is about Briseis, an adopted Black girl with two moms. She's always been able to grow plants well past what would be considered normal. Then when a lawyer comes to visit, she tells Briseis that she's inherited a manor from her biological mom and aunt. Together, Briseis and her moms decide to try it out for a month. Briseis finds letters from her aunt and begins to learn there's much more to her family heritage than she thought.
I loved Briseis's character so much. Her knack with plants was so cool. I loved seeing all she could do with her magic and seeing her bring her family's apothecary back. I really hope we get to see more of the apothecary in book 2. Honestly, give me a novella just about Briseis growing the plants and selling them to her customers, I WOULD LOVE IT.
I didn't know there was Greek mythology in this until like a couple days before I read it. I am a hoe for any type of mythology, so my interest and fascination skyrocketed and this book fucking delivered. Between the mystery of the manor and Bri's blood family, to murder and magic, I was captivated by this book and I did not want it to let go. Honestly, I'm ready to reread this now.
There's just a small hint of romance in this book and I'm so curious to see what will bloom between these two. I'm rooting so hard for them. Yes these are plant puns.
Rep: adopted Black pansexual female MC with two Black moms, sapphic Black female love interest, Black male side character, Black female side character.
CWs: Blood, death, death of parent, injury/injury detail, murder, violence. Minor: mentions of racism and past instances of police brutality.
This Poison Heart is about Briseis, an adopted Black girl with two moms. She's always been able to grow plants well past what would be considered normal. Then when a lawyer comes to visit, she tells Briseis that she's inherited a manor from her biological mom and aunt. Together, Briseis and her moms decide to try it out for a month. Briseis finds letters from her aunt and begins to learn there's much more to her family heritage than she thought.
I loved Briseis's character so much. Her knack with plants was so cool. I loved seeing all she could do with her magic and seeing her bring her family's apothecary back. I really hope we get to see more of the apothecary in book 2. Honestly, give me a novella just about Briseis growing the plants and selling them to her customers, I WOULD LOVE IT.
I didn't know there was Greek mythology in this until like a couple days before I read it. I am a hoe for any type of mythology, so my interest and fascination skyrocketed and this book fucking delivered. Between the mystery of the manor and Bri's blood family, to murder and magic, I was captivated by this book and I did not want it to let go. Honestly, I'm ready to reread this now.
There's just a small hint of romance in this book and I'm so curious to see what will bloom between these two. I'm rooting so hard for them. Yes these are plant puns.
Rep: adopted Black pansexual female MC with two Black moms, sapphic Black female love interest, Black male side character, Black female side character.
CWs: Blood, death, death of parent, injury/injury detail, murder, violence. Minor: mentions of racism and past instances of police brutality.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Police brutality and Racism
imstephtacular's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Medical content, and Violence
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Blood, Classism, Murder, Cursing, and Racism