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bookishmillennial's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
We follow third-person limited POV of Venus Stoneheart, as she meets with and prepares for a new client, who wants a love potion for his son. Venus' mom Clarissa (this is not a spoiler because it's in the premise/description lol) is murdered so Venus begins to investigate what really happened to her mom. She also has to look out for her younger sister Janus, whose dad Malik is absent from her life, while continuing to make ends meet with potion-making, which is incredibly dangerous and risky! Venus is also navigating being reunited with her former best friend Presley (they/them), which is fascinating because *something* happened three years ago that caused them to stop speaking to each other!
I especially enjoyed the first 30% and last 20% of this novel! I think Bethany Baptiste has such great promise, with such relatable and authentic character dynamics (familial, romantic, platonic, systemic), fun worldbuilding, and bittersweet mysteries. I really appreciated that the cast of characters was representative of the world we live in, with an array of identities represented: bi, nonbinary, aroace, and aspects of mental health were discussed (PTSD, anxiety, depression). Venus' family is Black, and there are South Asian characters too, like Nisha and Matrika.
The twists and turns were a bit hard for me to keep up with at times, because I felt like there was a lot going on. The corruption in politics and commentary on how morally bankrupt certain people or witchers were (the ones after so much power) was woven in moreso throughout the latter half of the book, but no doubt, mirrored our American society. This would be a fun book to adapt onscreen! Overall, I had fun in this world, and I would read from BB again in the future!
We follow third-person limited POV of Venus Stoneheart, as she meets with and prepares for a new client, who wants a love potion for his son. Venus' mom Clarissa (this is not a spoiler because it's in the premise/description lol) is murdered so Venus begins to investigate what really happened to her mom. She also has to look out for her younger sister Janus, whose dad Malik is absent from her life, while continuing to make ends meet with potion-making, which is incredibly dangerous and risky! Venus is also navigating being reunited with her former best friend Presley (they/them), which is fascinating because *something* happened three years ago that caused them to stop speaking to each other!
I especially enjoyed the first 30% and last 20% of this novel! I think Bethany Baptiste has such great promise, with such relatable and authentic character dynamics (familial, romantic, platonic, systemic), fun worldbuilding, and bittersweet mysteries. I really appreciated that the cast of characters was representative of the world we live in, with an array of identities represented: bi, nonbinary, aroace, and aspects of mental health were discussed (PTSD, anxiety, depression). Venus' family is Black, and there are South Asian characters too, like Nisha and Matrika.
The twists and turns were a bit hard for me to keep up with at times, because I felt like there was a lot going on. The corruption in politics and commentary on how morally bankrupt certain people or witchers were (the ones after so much power) was woven in moreso throughout the latter half of the book, but no doubt, mirrored our American society. This would be a fun book to adapt onscreen! Overall, I had fun in this world, and I would read from BB again in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Cursing, Death of parent, Abandonment, Murder, Death, Grief, Violence, and Blood
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: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Hate crime, Alcohol, Blood, Murder, Police brutality, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Medical content, Gore, Grief, Vomit, Cursing, Death, and Death of parent
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: Violence, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, and Murder
Minor: Vomit
libraryofnyla's review
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: Death of parent, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racism, Colonisation, Murder, Cursing, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Child abuse, Sexual content, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, Classism, Gaslighting, Death, Blood, Bullying, Hate crime, and Violence
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: Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Xenophobia, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent, Gun violence, Death, 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: Murder, Violence, Racism, and Gun violence
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, and Grief
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: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Grief, Hate crime, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Death of parent, Police brutality, and Racism
snapeygan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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? Yes
5.0
OMG, that was so good!!! I fell in love with the books in the first few pages, and I had to go back to the beginning and notes everything in the notes app to be sure I was following EVERY lead and remembering every character correctly! It was so well written, the world building was great and each character was complex and nuanced, I LOVED IT!! The only negative thing I could say about this book was that it wasn’t long enough! But then, I could’ve read thousands and thousands of pages of that book, so that’s on me hihi!! Oh and also, I love how one of the character used the pronouns they/them and it wasn’t a big deal at all! Everyone just went with it, it wasn’t in the spotlight or anything, I loved it!
If you’re searching a book with a black girl with magic, a great critic of the world and of racism, a good story that’ll make you laugh, cry and reflect, The Poisons We Drink is the perfect book for you!
*thank you Netgalley for the ARC!
If you’re searching a book with a black girl with magic, a great critic of the world and of racism, a good story that’ll make you laugh, cry and reflect, The Poisons We Drink is the perfect book for you!
*thank you Netgalley for the ARC!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Blood, Murder, Police brutality, Death, Death of parent, and Abandonment
elizajaquays's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
If you believe that magic should have consequences, The Poisons We Drink delivers. The magic system feels unique and fresh with witchers having different callings and then an entirely separate classification of potion brewing. While I loved the concept of it, I definitely found myself struggling to follow along with some of its complexities and keep track of all of the rules.
Venus and her relationship with the deviation It that lived within her made for a fascinating main character. Venus has a tense relationship with her mother, feeling like she’ll never be good enough to earn her mother’s approval. Which means when her mother dies she’s not only trying to figure out why while keeping her sister safe, she’s also trying to prove herself.
Overall, this was an interesting story and I’m glad I read it. I definitely was not the target audience, but I can see people who are that audience loving it. Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the ARC, all thoughts are my own. 3.5 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Hate crime, and Death of parent
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: Blood, Death of parent, Violence, and Murder