Reviews with content warning for Violence - This Poison Heart

I thought this book was cute but came together a little too far in the end abs quickly for my taste- still might pick up the sequel to see what happens though.

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aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

5.0

I loved this! I'm a sucker for modern takes on myths/legends. I will def check out the sequel. Enjoyed the characters, enjoyed the story, and looking forward to what the next book brings. Hopefully we can see how Briseis' relationships change/grow with everyone in her life and where this quest takes her.
Honestly, enjoy this the most out of the books I've read from this author.

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escapismforlife's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This Poison Heart is definitely for black women who like greek mythology. And of course sapphic lovers. So it's perfect I got to finish this first week of June.

Briseis is a young teen female protagnist that has lots to learn. For one about her birth family when she gets the news her biological mom Selene and sister Circe left her the estate mansion in Rhineback, New York. And of course the way she got her ability to grow plants and safety against poison. With two moms that raised her, Bri leaves New York City for a summer in the upstate New York town.

Now the mythology that is a part of this is so intricate. But at the same time makes sense. Brisesis through discoveries of in the mansion learns about the work and ancestry. Notnto mention who she meets from living in this mansion. Who they descend from, the work their apothecary and garden did for certain locals brings about a new world thats dangerous but gives her some more depth about her identity. The gift becomes more dangerous with the fact its goes back to Hecate and old relative Medea.

She finds out the risks of this world and power quick enough. With one seceret and dangerous heart plant that was under Selene and Circes protection in there garden. This being the major danger that causes the plot. With her family throughout and the end of this story.

I can't wait to see what new details are revealed in This Wicked Fate. But at the same time am extremely nervous with how this one concludes.

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asreadbykat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

True Rating: 3.5 Stars

Content/Trigger Warnings: Discussions of adoption, Violence, Poisoning, Death, Discussion of mythology-based filicide, Mildly grotesque imagery

"Whenever you hear a story about villainous women, you should ask who's telling the story."

This is my first Kalynn Bayron read, and I picked it up because while I wanted something good for spring/summer, I wanted it to have a nice edge to it. I'm not a full-on S/S girl, so I was looking for something summery but also spooky or creepy. This seemed to fit the bill. Did it work? Well...kind of.

Criticism

The Main Character

My biggest problem with this book is our main character, Briseis. While her power is undoubtedly cool and I wanted to learn more about it, and we get tidbits about her life, Bri felt very...bland. She felt very much a part of the scenery, and not the story. By the end of the book, all I could really tell about her personality is that she loves her adopted moms, and she is terrible at trusting people. There was almost nothing else about her that endeared me to her. No true quirks, no personality pluses or minuses, just...a literal blank canvas. This was a problem because the plot really does require us to feel SOMETHING about Bri, but I just didn't. I got more of her moms' personalities than I did hers. I wanted her to do something; either pull a Poison Ivy and be all secretly super into poisonous plants and/or using the plants to help her, or a complete plant nerd who treats them all like her babies and loves them more than people, or...just, something.

There was so much potential for Bri's character in this novel, and it fell flat because it felt like the author cared more about hitting certain plot beats and vibes than even creating a compelling MC. She isn't the worst MC I've ever read about, but she's also not anywhere near good, either. She's definitely just...there. Barely.

Plot Pacing

This is one of the cases where I wish the book were actually longer, or certain plot points had been saved for a different book. There was so much going on, by the last third I knew there was no way the novel could end satisfactorily. We've got family secrets, a spooky old house and a secret garden, a family history with the local town, mysterious deaths, strange neighbors....Yeah, it's a lot, and there was no way this one book was going to do all of it justice. It means that certain plot beats get a lot of focus, and some of them don't. Unfortunately, the plot beats that got more were all backstory-related, and not the ones with the biggest impact on the climax. This meant some plot points meandered, some went super fast, some got stalled...it was a little bit jarring.

Hinted Romance

There is a hinted queer romance here, and all I can say is....it may be the most rushed thing I've ever read, and makes no sense at all. Just...no.

Praise

The Worldbuilding

One of the best things about this story is definitely the worldbuilding. I was so intrigued by the family/world history the author was creating. I wanted to know more about the women in this family and where they came from, how they started their business, why they settled in this house, how the community came to kind of accept and protect them, etc. I wanted the entire book to just be about that and almost nothing else because it was so interesting. It helps that the history was inspired by Greek myth, which I've been interested in for years, but turned on its head. You can tell the author really had love for this world she was creating just from reading this.

The Family Dynamics

Bri's relationship with her moms is absolutely beautiful. I love Angie and Thandie; they're loud, funny, and unapologetically themselves, and they love their daughter with everything they are, and are willing to do anything to make her happy. It's a really nice change of pace to see a family being supportive of a child's powers instead of being terrified of it. Bri herself is a typical teenager embarrassed by her moms, but she also reciprocates their love and wants to keep them safe no matter what. This is the kind of "romance" I love in books, and it was great to see.

The Inspiration

In the acknowledgements at the end, the author states that the inspirations for this novel were not just Greek myth, but also the idea of What if the "little bit of land" from The Secret Garden contained a plant like Audrey II from "Little Shop of Horrors." Just the mix of those ideas is super interesting and intriguing, and while it could have been better executed, knowing those inspirations made the novel even more interesting.

Overall Thoughts

This is far from the best book I've read this year, and I'm giving it a fairly neutral rating. I wouldn't really recommend buying it, but I would say see if you can borrow it from a library or get it cheap secondhand if you're interested. The backstory is intriguing enough that I want to read the second book just to see what happens.

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