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hildegunn's review
4.0
Surprisingly entertaining and engaging story! Normally this kind of fantasy book isn’t my cup of tea, but this one drew me in and was hard to put away. Good storyline and writing. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series!
amloiandy's review
3.0
This book is ok. The writing is solid, even if does use a few more adverbs and cliches than strictly necessary. The characters are interesting, although not as developed as I like. This book is a highly metaphorical fantasy, and I do admit that fantasy isn't my thing. I picked this book up because I loved loved loved Mardoll's Twilight deconstructions. Ultimately, this book edges away slightly from fantasy and nestles up to mythology, which worked really well for me.
I love the King Arthur mythos. And the mythos allusions were my favourite part of this book. The playful dramatic irony of the High King faery dying as part of his quest to get Clarent back is delightful.
I feel like I should also love the diversity of the cast here. Mardoll creates a space where the stigmas attached to variance in race, gender, sexual orientation, neurotypicality and age don't exist. It's almost utopic. It's also quite effacing. The importance of those identities and experiences is undermined when they're rendered irrelevant. And I get that it relates to the fact that the altereds had their memories erased. But it was still kind of strange to me. I would have rather seen more emphasis on rediscovering former identities. I found some of the characters difficult to visualize because the details of their appearance/manner/age were so politically correctly sparse.
I'm sorry to say that I couldn't stand Rose. All of her self-esteem issues: the self-pity and the self-doubt and the constant need to have everyone around her remind her that she's not a bad person. Make it stop! I'm not saying she should have been some sort of mary sue who had all her shit figured out. I get how representations of mental illness and PTSD are important. But maybe there's some sort of happy medium?
Also. I liked the emphasis on consent throughout. I would even go so far as to say consent is theme of this book. I like how it was raised explicitly. I like how Mardoll demonstrated its relevance in all contexts, not just sexual ones. Everything single thing that happens in this story from how the faeries treat their "servants" in the first chapter to Clarent finding a place to stay in the last chapter is about consent. It's neat.
I love the King Arthur mythos. And the mythos allusions were my favourite part of this book. The playful dramatic irony of the High King faery dying as part of his quest to get Clarent back is delightful.
I feel like I should also love the diversity of the cast here. Mardoll creates a space where the stigmas attached to variance in race, gender, sexual orientation, neurotypicality and age don't exist. It's almost utopic. It's also quite effacing. The importance of those identities and experiences is undermined when they're rendered irrelevant. And I get that it relates to the fact that the altereds had their memories erased. But it was still kind of strange to me. I would have rather seen more emphasis on rediscovering former identities. I found some of the characters difficult to visualize because the details of their appearance/manner/age were so politically correctly sparse.
I'm sorry to say that I couldn't stand Rose. All of her self-esteem issues: the self-pity and the self-doubt and the constant need to have everyone around her remind her that she's not a bad person. Make it stop! I'm not saying she should have been some sort of mary sue who had all her shit figured out. I get how representations of mental illness and PTSD are important. But maybe there's some sort of happy medium?
Also. I liked the emphasis on consent throughout. I would even go so far as to say consent is theme of this book. I like how it was raised explicitly. I like how Mardoll demonstrated its relevance in all contexts, not just sexual ones. Everything single thing that happens in this story from how the faeries treat their "servants" in the first chapter to Clarent finding a place to stay in the last chapter is about consent. It's neat.
rtaire's review against another edition
I've tried to finish this book twice. I bailed out because the protagonist doesn't believe that the love interests actually love her despite very explicit and clear signals and statements that they do. It just got tiresome. There are some interesting explorations of trauma recovery and a lot of different types of gender expression, but the revolving door at the center of the romance was too annoying to me.
queerditchmarsh's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
ericxcherish's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jeanne_satre's review
5.0
Queer protagonist, sex positivity, intersectional feminism and an understanding of mental health issues and trauma. I loved it, and am buying the sequel as soon as I'm done typing this.
lirelyn's review
I really enjoyed this! Queer poly supernatural romance is pretty much right up my alley. I loved how thoughtfully it dealt with trauma and the ongoing aftermath as people band together to heal. The way the main character struggled to come to grips with her identity and self-worth, in the wake of how her trauma had changed her, resonated deeply with me, and showed once again how fantasy and magic can get to the heart of very real and everyday struggles.
I personally don't relate when there's instant attraction and connection between characters in a romance, and there was some of that here that gave me trouble staying with the story at parts. But all the characters are terrific and lovable in their different ways, and the relationship between the two female love interests in particular was very compelling to me. And the action/suspense sequences had me glued to the page.
All in all, well-written, a well-crafted world with people I want to spend more time with.
I personally don't relate when there's instant attraction and connection between characters in a romance, and there was some of that here that gave me trouble staying with the story at parts. But all the characters are terrific and lovable in their different ways, and the relationship between the two female love interests in particular was very compelling to me. And the action/suspense sequences had me glued to the page.
All in all, well-written, a well-crafted world with people I want to spend more time with.
jade_newcastle's review
5.0
This was a great book! The characters were complex and lovable (especially the main trio) as well as being good representation of diverse races, genders, and orientations. I love the fact that the version of faeries used hearkened back to their original mythology of being evil kidnappers. I also liked that in times of conflict, everyone's strengths were used to help. No one felt superfluous. This book had some great world building. It did a good job of being a complete story while still setting up for the rest of the series.
pussreboots's review
5.0
Poison Kiss by Ana Mardoll is the first Earthside book. It's a queer urban fantasy set in Texas. While there is romance and the most adorable polyamorous trio ever, it's mostly about the types of families you make for yourself
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2017/comments_08/poison_kiss.html
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2017/comments_08/poison_kiss.html
madeline_the_terrible's review
5.0
A romance fantasy novel with a pansexual polyamorous lead and multiple genderqueer characters? YES! It's so nice to read a normal book with multiple queer characters. Balm for my soul.