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cneighbors36's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-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
3.5
Bethany Baptiste's debut urban fantasy, "The Poisons We Drink," offers a unique take on the genre, blending intricate potion-based magic with contemporary social and political issues. While the story's beginning might feel a bit slow, patience is rewarded. The world-building is meticulous, carefully crafting a magic system where potions are not just concoctions but potent tools woven into the fabric of society. The magic system feels fresh and thought-provoking, from brewing emotional elixirs to concocting political influence brews. However, the true power of this debut lies in its ability to blend fantasy with reality seamlessly. The narrative tackles themes of social injustice and political corruption. While the pacing might initially feel sluggish, the story picks up around the 50% mark, where action sequences become more frequent and the plot thickens. Initially introduced gradually, the characters come alive as they navigate the complex web of magic and societal pressures. There are, however, some shortcomings. The slow start can be off-putting for some readers, and while the ending is satisfying, it leaves room for further exploration. Overall, "The Poisons We Drink" is a promising debut with a unique magic system and a relevant social commentary. While the pacing might need some fine-tuning, the world-building and thematic depth make it a worthwhile read for urban fantasy fans looking for something fresh. I would rate this book 3.5 out of 5 stars, and I am interested to see if the author continues to build within the world.
Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Gun violence
caseythereader's review against another edition
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.
- 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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
daniellereadslikealot_'s review
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
4.0
I have two words to describe this book: FREAKING COOL. Witches, potions, social justice, really nuanced and badass characters, The Poisons We Drink was a wild and impressive ride. While the plot is certainly page turning and exciting, the characters and their dynamics with each other and the world around them is what really hooked me with this book. I thought the magic system was incredibly unique and interesting. I loved how it was incorporated into modern day D.C. politics. This book explored so many topics like classism, prejudice, grief and trauma and it handled them so well. It’s a pretty fast paced book, but the last 60% was where things REALLY got going. The ending was fantastic and definitely open enough for a sequel (hint hint). My only complaint (such a minor one) is that the romance felt very out of place. I think it just needed a little more…something. Overall though, I really enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to see what other readers think!
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Gun violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Vomit
libraryofnyla's review against another edition
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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
storiesatstarfall's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Hate crime, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Murder
natraf_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
A beautifully written book reflective of real political issues and a history of racism. The witchers represent black people in America and the discrimination that has historically and unfortunately continues to be committed against this population.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
kimwritesstuff's review
dark
inspiring
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
3.25
This book was a little bit of a slow burn for me and took me a few chapters to really get into it. Venus is a tough-as-nails character who brews love potions in order to support her family. Magic has a cost, and being a brewer means there are horrific blowbacks from potions. Every time Venus brews, her potions have effects on her, such as broken bones or burned skin.
Regardless of the blowback, Venus is the main breadwinner of her family. Her mother, Clarissa, sacrificed her magic by breaking a magical vow, and her father is dead. When Clarissa is killed with iron bullets, Venus is sucked further into the underground trade of magic potions. The world is about to burst with humans demanding that witchers be on a public registry, a registry that would allow people to find them and likely kill them. Venus gets roped into a political scheme to poison senators with love potions to sway their opinions.
The story builds its tension beautifully, and while I did find some plot points fairly predictable, this book still had plenty of twists and turns. Venus's little sister Janus can create portals and is determined to follow in her activist father's footsteps. A lot of Venus's motivation is to protect Janus. I thought the push-pull of their relationship was so realistic and well done. I also have a half-sister, and the dichotomy is similar.
Presley's character was easily my favorite character. I thought the expression of their gender fluidity/non-binary expression was well done. Too many people get caught up in the idea of pronouns. Presley didn't have a painful coming out or confrontation. They just were. I enjoyed that the author didn't try to add an additional level of struggle.
I did think that the secondary storylines were a bit hobbled together. We understand Venus's motivation isn't political, but the other characters seem to have no motivation but power. It just didn't flow well. I kept expecting like a villain info dump to better understand the power dynamics and struggles. The issues between humans and witchers also lacked nuance, which sort of made sense when looking at the parallels of racism.
Overall, I thought this was a good read, and I'd read the next in the series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Blood
Minor: Vomit
booksthatburn's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood and Alcohol
Minor: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Police brutality
beccisays's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
Definitely recommend you to read this book, the magic system is so unique that I struggle to draw comparisons to anything else I’ve read recently.
The story is heavily steeped in deep lore, originality and magical elements, which truly show the author’s creativity and charm. I wish we could have seen more of these aspects, like make-dos, magical artefacts and other character’s gifts, earlier on as they were really captivating. Chapters began with excerpts of articles, books, letters etc, which reminded me of Fourth Wing and really helped to flesh out your understanding as a reader.
The world Bethany Baptiste weaves is rich in black culture, history and sociological commentary, the parallels between the plight of witchers in her society and POC in our own is enlightening and thought provoking. Especially so with the rights movement and the ample blood spilled and lives lost on the road to freedom. The representation for realistic and true to life ethnicities, cultures, genders and sexualities was refreshing, particularly within a fantasy book.
It did take a while for me to get immersed into the book, I would say around at 50% things took a turn and I finished the rest in one sitting.
The story is heavily steeped in deep lore, originality and magical elements, which truly show the author’s creativity and charm. I wish we could have seen more of these aspects, like make-dos, magical artefacts and other character’s gifts, earlier on as they were really captivating. Chapters began with excerpts of articles, books, letters etc, which reminded me of Fourth Wing and really helped to flesh out your understanding as a reader.
The world Bethany Baptiste weaves is rich in black culture, history and sociological commentary, the parallels between the plight of witchers in her society and POC in our own is enlightening and thought provoking. Especially so with the rights movement and the ample blood spilled and lives lost on the road to freedom. The representation for realistic and true to life ethnicities, cultures, genders and sexualities was refreshing, particularly within a fantasy book.
It did take a while for me to get immersed into the book, I would say around at 50% things took a turn and I finished the rest in one sitting.
Thank you Sourcebooks for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
womanwill's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-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 was a magical and political debut YA/NA fantasy from Bethany Baptise that faltered occasionally only by trying to do too much. I loved Baptiste's overall focus on the juxtaposition of human power v magic and how humans wield their fear as power to even control witchers who are full of immense magic.
Baptiste deftly outlined some of the divides of our current society and politics--divisions between those we see as other--and projected them onto a SFF dystopian DC. This backdrop of DC gentrification and proximity to power illuminates her theme that not all monsters are bad--some act out of love against oppressive forces.
The pacing was a bit off at times - driven by Baptiste taking on too much and not spending more time on flushing out characters. I enjoyed the first part of the book as the worldbuilding unraveled, and Baptiste introduced characters, but then the story spun its wheels for a while. I think Baptiste could have threaded some of the political underpinnings earlier in the story. Then, at about 80%, it's pure action until the end. The pacing made parts of the story confusing. Some of the side characters were flat enough that I couldn't remember who they were or what their motivations were. Even Janus's anger at Venus didn't make sense to me at times because we weren't allowed to sink into it as readers.
But overall, I loved the world building, the special Witcher magic, the attention Baptiste put into the brewing and potions, and the setting of a dystopian ish DC where witchers carve out a place of belonging and resistance much like Black people have in the U.S. for centuries.
I can't wait to see what Bethany puts out next and how she settles into her voice as an author.
Baptiste deftly outlined some of the divides of our current society and politics--divisions between those we see as other--and projected them onto a SFF dystopian DC. This backdrop of DC gentrification and proximity to power illuminates her theme that not all monsters are bad--some act out of love against oppressive forces.
The pacing was a bit off at times - driven by Baptiste taking on too much and not spending more time on flushing out characters. I enjoyed the first part of the book as the worldbuilding unraveled, and Baptiste introduced characters, but then the story spun its wheels for a while. I think Baptiste could have threaded some of the political underpinnings earlier in the story. Then, at about 80%, it's pure action until the end. The pacing made parts of the story confusing. Some of the side characters were flat enough that I couldn't remember who they were or what their motivations were. Even Janus's anger at Venus didn't make sense to me at times because we weren't allowed to sink into it as readers.
But overall, I loved the world building, the special Witcher magic, the attention Baptiste put into the brewing and potions, and the setting of a dystopian ish DC where witchers carve out a place of belonging and resistance much like Black people have in the U.S. for centuries.
I can't wait to see what Bethany puts out next and how she settles into her voice as an author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder