Reviews with content warning for Self harm - The Poisons We Drink

In this YA urban fantasy debut set in an alternate universe Washington D.C., humans and witchchers have been at odds for decades. At the heart of our story features Venus Stoneheart, a witcher love brewer, who is thrust into a world of D.C. politics to stop an anti-witcher law from being passed, while also looking to avenge her mother’s murder.

The Poisons We Drink is such an engaging read with parallels to current issues facing society today, as shown in Baptiste’s world-building for this book. I felt that Baptiste did a good job highlighting the various aspects of the withcher world and how that intersects in the human world (though it is considered an alternate universe). Additionally, I liked the character development in this book, especially when we get to see the conflicting values facing our characters, especially for Venus, as they try to decide what’s worth fighting for and the blurry lines that comes with power. Yet, at the focal point of the story, Baptiste illustrates the power of love as a call to action.

Overall, I can see a successful career for Baptiste after reading The Poisons We Drink. If you want a YA fantasy with a morally grey MC and their complicated family relationships, political intrigue, and how love influences our actions, I definitely recommend checking out this book.

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raikowlreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media, Recorded Books for giving me an advanced reader copy.

The story is about Venus, who makes money out of brewing illegal love potions. It's a dangerous business, and she gets in a lot of messed up situations after her mother get murdered. When the Grand Witcher, head of her coven, offers Venus the opportunity to avenge her mother's death, she must agree to a difficult demand: create harmful potions to control D.C.'s powerful politicians, all for the sake of justice.

Bethany knows how to write an emotion. The audiobook did a fantastic job of capturing these moments. Lynette R. Freeman knows how to voice act and drag you into the story, not letting you go. Her talent for voice acting truly brought the characters to life.

The Poisons we drink was high in my must-read list for 2024, and I was super honoured to see I got accepted for this copy. It exceeded all my expectations, leaving me eagerly anticipating owning a physical copy once payday rolls around. It took me a while to finish the book, pure because I lacked time, not because the book was slow paced. Furthermore, it was anything but slow paced. There are so many characters that you get to know. Some more likeable than others.

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for the free copy of this book.

- THE POISONS WE DRINK is a dark story, full of characters overflowing with rage and love, fighting against a system designed to eliminate them.
- I loved the world Baptiste built here. There’s a complex magic system that promises real rewards and major consequences. It’s also set in DC, which I love, and you can tell Baptiste has true familiarity with the city.
- There was so much going on in this book that it was often too much - the interpersonal relationships and politics became a bit confusing as the layers of treachery built, and it was a bit overly long for me in the portion in the middle where Venus was uncovering secrets.
- Still, I am excited to see where Baptiste goes as an author, since POISONS is stuffed full of unique and exciting ideas.

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readwithria's review

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This was very much a case of a good book not finding the right reader. It was easy for me to put down and hard for me to pick up.

I think that the premise is interesting, the magic is unique, and the themes are important. I hope this book finds the readers it deserves.

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libraryofnyla's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

1.0

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I was super excited to read this ARC as I'm always on the hunt for diverse fantasy and the premise of this book sounded exactly like the kind of story I would want/do read. An urban fantasy with diverse characters and gritty social-political commentary on real-world issues, plus, a stunning cover - what's not to love! Unfortunately, I didn't love it... at all.

To start, The Posions We Drink is marketed as YA which, in my opinion, is not the correct readership. I get that the YA label is an easier sell, but this book should have been a New Adult. The characters are not facing the kind of issues typical of a YA, the FMC is an established character whose main issue is dealing with providing financially for her family and protecting them whilst navigating political and criminal organizations in a world that is weighted with metaphors of real-life systems of oppression. I'm not saying YA readers can't read this material, I just don't see how that's the target audience. There is also frequent swearing, graphic violence, and sexual content - nothing egregious (I've read far worse) but, again, arguably not appropriate to be aimed at YA readers.

Secondly, the writing itself reads as very amateur. I understand this is a debut and an ARC, both of which could be contributing to the problem, but there is a number of copyedit issues. Such as: typos and awkward phrasing and repetitive prose. Beyond the opening chapter, which was very good, the rest of the book read like an early draft.

Thirdly, the storytelling is rough. The pacing is all over the place with long bouts of needless dialogue and interiority then back-to-back action interrupted by more clunky descriptions and dialogue. The book was just non-stop irregular pacing. Character development was also next to nothing, the FMC (and supporting cast) barely changed over the course of the entire book, despite the surplus of external circumstances that could have easily pushed character growth. The plot itself was also very predictable, even with the erratic story beats. I ended up checking the page count to see how much I had left to get through instead of hoping it wouldn't end.

Lastly, the worldbuilding... Ouch. The worldbuilding in the story had SO much potential and yet, it was so badly executed. Every chapter started with an excerpt from an article or a potion or the like outlining some aspect of the worldbuilding and magic system instead of having that information organically being fed to the reader through the story itself. This resulted in me literally skimming the majority and retaining none of that information whatsoever. Additionally, within the story, the worldbuilding isn't woven in but wedged into scenes via long-winded and clunky explanations. Honestly, the worldbuilding was the biggest disappointment because I really wanted this concept to work.

Overall, The Posions We Drink, was a huge miss for me. It had all the pieces to make a great diverse fantasy but unfortunately the execution really failed to bring this original and fresh idea to life

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