A review by fyoosha
The Poison Master by Liz Williams
5.0
So, first of all, from the reviews I'm getting the sense that people think Alivet is 16 and they're grossed out by the romance with Ghairen, who is at least 43. But.......Alivet is 22: "And it had been in the Month of Dragonflies that the Unpriests had come for Inkirietta: five years ago now, her sister and herself no more than seventeen." So why in the world do people think Alivet is a teenager or that this is meant to be a YA book? What am I missing here? Anyway, I enjoy May-December relationships so I enjoyed the romance, although I will say I wish there had been more of it! Alivet and Ghairen have perhaps one steamy scene, but the rest of the book is more heavily focused on their plot to overthrow the Lords of Night. I have this tagged as "villain romance" but it's.......really not. It's more like "enigmatic man" romance.
My enjoyment of this book is mainly rooted in my love for the main character, Alivet, who is frankly one of the better heroines I've come across in a while! She's got an admirable tenacity and resourcefulness, and takes things in stride in a way that I've often wanted to see in fictional characters. She's so practical and unfazed and even downright snarky, and it's wonderful to be in the head of a character like that. I also loved that she was an apothecary, and that particular skill itself is written in a fascinating way here; apparently, in this world, drugs have spirits that you can talk to.
This is a weird mix of fantasy and science fiction, which is one of my reservations about the book. I don't mean to say it wasn't done well, but I just don't tend to prefer a mixture of a medieval-type setting and highly advanced technology. It just doesn't mesh well for me. I can see why it was done and of course it makes sense within the narrative, but it's just not my jam. I also think this book was probably a tad too slow-paced, but I think it was purposely trying to mimic a Gothic novel (weirdly enough), and hey, I was never bored and I absolutely loved reading this, so kudos.
Finally, I think the writing here is so solid; it's lush and descriptive without being too purple. It feels just right for a high fantasy. It just has that old-school fantasy vibe that some books do, and I enjoyed it very much. I don't think it's going to become one of my all-time favorites but I still think it's a five-star read because of various aspects that I enjoyed about it, including the main character.
My enjoyment of this book is mainly rooted in my love for the main character, Alivet, who is frankly one of the better heroines I've come across in a while! She's got an admirable tenacity and resourcefulness, and takes things in stride in a way that I've often wanted to see in fictional characters. She's so practical and unfazed and even downright snarky, and it's wonderful to be in the head of a character like that. I also loved that she was an apothecary, and that particular skill itself is written in a fascinating way here; apparently, in this world, drugs have spirits that you can talk to.
This is a weird mix of fantasy and science fiction, which is one of my reservations about the book. I don't mean to say it wasn't done well, but I just don't tend to prefer a mixture of a medieval-type setting and highly advanced technology. It just doesn't mesh well for me. I can see why it was done and of course it makes sense within the narrative, but it's just not my jam. I also think this book was probably a tad too slow-paced, but I think it was purposely trying to mimic a Gothic novel (weirdly enough), and hey, I was never bored and I absolutely loved reading this, so kudos.
Finally, I think the writing here is so solid; it's lush and descriptive without being too purple. It feels just right for a high fantasy. It just has that old-school fantasy vibe that some books do, and I enjoyed it very much. I don't think it's going to become one of my all-time favorites but I still think it's a five-star read because of various aspects that I enjoyed about it, including the main character.