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caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Thanks to Bloomsbury YA for the free advance copy of this book.
- Time for a QUEER SCREAMING review! Adoptive moms! Bisexual heroine! Sapphic longing! Magic! Plants! Mystery! Mythology! THIS POISON HEART is twisty and suspenseful and full of incredible imagery and I loved every page.
- I loved watching Briseis come into her power while she unraveled family secrets. I also loved that her moms were so loving and engaged - so wonderful to see in a YA novel.
- I've always been a big fan of Greek mythology, and it was great to see some of the women who often get pushed aside in those stories get the spotlight.
- Let's also talk about how most of this book took place in a small town that was in the midst of defunding its police department and sent a social worker out on distress calls!
- THAT CLIFFHANGER THOUGH. I need the sequel!
- Time for a QUEER SCREAMING review! Adoptive moms! Bisexual heroine! Sapphic longing! Magic! Plants! Mystery! Mythology! THIS POISON HEART is twisty and suspenseful and full of incredible imagery and I loved every page.
- I loved watching Briseis come into her power while she unraveled family secrets. I also loved that her moms were so loving and engaged - so wonderful to see in a YA novel.
- I've always been a big fan of Greek mythology, and it was great to see some of the women who often get pushed aside in those stories get the spotlight.
- Let's also talk about how most of this book took place in a small town that was in the midst of defunding its police department and sent a social worker out on distress calls!
- THAT CLIFFHANGER THOUGH. I need the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Stalking, and Violence
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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
*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.
THIS POISON HEART is about a Black girl coming into her own in a place made for her, and taking on the strange power and responsibility of her birth family's history in the process.
I like the world building and backstory in terms of place and history, but where this really thrives is in its characters. Bri's relationship with her moms is complex and nuanced, conveying years of personal history between the three of them without crowding the page with in-jokes. Her lapsed friendships have enough detail to feel like they matter to her, and maybe mattered a great deal more previously, but they don’t take up too much space with characters who will barely appear in this story. The cast of named townspeople is numerous enough to feel full, but it’s a manageable number of characters (something that felt especially important as the various lies and half-truths start to become evident). Bri herself is glorious, thriving in a strange and unexpected place. The focus is on her as she explores the house and town, starting to make a space for herself where she isn’t constantly hiding.
Given that this is the first book in the series, I think the pacing is great. For the first 75% of the book the felt like it could maybe be standalone in the sense that plot flows really well, I understood why characters were where they were and were doing what they were doing, and the bits that I didn’t understand were obviously part of the mystery at the core of the story. There’s a reveal that happens late in the book that turns the first part of it from good to brilliant. It takes choices by various characters which seemed to Bri to be illogical or contrived in some way and gives them a new weight and context. The text handles that transformation smoothly, making the whole book better without invalidating the first impression.
I liked this and I'm excited to see where the rest of the series goes!
THIS POISON HEART is about a Black girl coming into her own in a place made for her, and taking on the strange power and responsibility of her birth family's history in the process.
I like the world building and backstory in terms of place and history, but where this really thrives is in its characters. Bri's relationship with her moms is complex and nuanced, conveying years of personal history between the three of them without crowding the page with in-jokes. Her lapsed friendships have enough detail to feel like they matter to her, and maybe mattered a great deal more previously, but they don’t take up too much space with characters who will barely appear in this story. The cast of named townspeople is numerous enough to feel full, but it’s a manageable number of characters (something that felt especially important as the various lies and half-truths start to become evident). Bri herself is glorious, thriving in a strange and unexpected place. The focus is on her as she explores the house and town, starting to make a space for herself where she isn’t constantly hiding.
Given that this is the first book in the series, I think the pacing is great. For the first 75% of the book the felt like it could maybe be standalone in the sense that plot flows really well, I understood why characters were where they were and were doing what they were doing, and the bits that I didn’t understand were obviously part of the mystery at the core of the story. There’s a reveal that happens late in the book that turns the first part of it from good to brilliant. It takes choices by various characters which seemed to Bri to be illogical or contrived in some way and gives them a new weight and context. The text handles that transformation smoothly, making the whole book better without invalidating the first impression.
I liked this and I'm excited to see where the rest of the series goes!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Stalking, Blood, and Medical content
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