Reviews with content warning for Vomit - The Poisons We Drink

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The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste

9 reviews

aroma_of_books's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense 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? Yes

5.0

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bellebookcorner's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

3.0

I have mixed feelings regarding this book….

There are some parts that I like and some parts that didn’t really work out for me even though the blurb sounds very interesting.

The characters are well developed and very complex, there’s a lot of morally grey characters with their own secrets and reasons for their actions which sometimes makes it hard for me to pin point the culprit behind Venus’s (FMC) mom murder.

Venus was a great character, I admire her love for her sister, her intelligent and her strength.

The world building is unique but at the same time it’s also quite complicated, especially regarding the witches and their powers.

I struggled to remember all the terms and information given at the beginning which sometimes can be confusing for me.

I found out there’s a glossary at the end of the story that explains some of that information. It would be nice if it was put at the beginning of the story.

This story felt too long and also dragging in some parts, the main plot also didn’t start until it hit the 30% mark. Although, the last few chapters are quite intense and I was surprised by that plot twist!

Just a warning that some parts/topics in this story can be sensitive to some readers, there’s a list of trigger warnings inside the book but I’ll listed here for you if you want to know beforehand.

For a debut novel, it was pretty good – I love the plot idea and the unique world building.

It would've been better if the length was shorter and maybe made this into a series so the readers can immersed into the world building slowly.

Thank you to Turn the Page Tour, Netgalley, author and publisher for giving me an e-ARC of the book and for having me on this book tour. I’m leaving this review voluntarily!

⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: This story contains morally grey characters, complicated parent-child relationships, police brutality, fantasy violence, fantastical racism, magical coercion, gun violence, politics, parental death, child death, and dying/death.

In addition, there are depictions of post-traumatic stress disorder anxiety, and depression.

Self-harm, blood, gore, sexual situation, fantasy drugs, underage drinking and profanity.

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bookcaptivated's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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themelleh's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes

4.0

I loved it. I wasn’t sure where it was going at times, but I absolutely loved it.

This world that Bethany has started building is so gorgeous and I am gagging to know more. More about the magic system, how it works, it’s just so delightfully fascinating!

Not sure if my favourite character is Patches, but, it is possible. We love a hard working and protective good boy. But then I also just loved the relationship between Venus and Janus and how they communicate at different stages through the book. Being a sister is hard and being the older sister is hard so we see you Venus!

I’ll just be sitting over in the corner hoping there’s a part 2 so we get more Venus and Presley. 😍

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daniellestarredpages's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

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

3.5

3.5 Stars.

"The Poisons We Drink" by Bethany Baptiste was on my list of most anticipated releases of 2024 and I am glad to have read an ARC of it. I enjoyed the story and think this is a book that I could very easily recommend.

The magic system Baptise created for this story was well-crafted and a delight to read. I found the drawbacks to being a 'Witcher' in this world, whether it being the possibly deadly recoil of potion brewing or the pain of shapeshifting on your own, to be a great addition to the story as it not only added stakes and tension but it also does a job of reining in the magic so that it is not some all-powerful force Witchers possess.

I found it interesting that Baptiste wrote Witcher Stigma in the place of Racial Stigma, I was actually quite relieved at the fact that I didn't have to see the characters dealing with Racism AS WELL AS the discrimination due to their magic. The way it was handled however still made it obvious that the discrimination of Witchers was a critique and representation of real types of discrimination in the world. I am quite glad with how the characters fought back and took charge of their situations.

The relationships between the characters in this book were written well. The sibling relationships in particular felt very realistic, especially with how they cared for each other while being angry with each other. I found the dynamic between Venus and her mother to be particularly interesting and I love how it was written. I especially loved how even though Venus came to learn about how deeply her mother cared for her, her mother was not absolved of the things her mother did and the way she treated her and her sister Janus.

I do have to say though, while I was interested in the story from the very first page, I found myself just passively taking in the story until about 50% of the book, which is when I really started to love the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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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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daniellereadslikealot_'s review against another edition

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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.

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kimwritesstuff's review against another edition

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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.

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butterbrioche's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Huge thanks to Sourcebooks fire for approving my arc request of this.

Man, between this and So Let Them Burn I’m so fired up about familial relationships and how they inspire us to go farther and say “to hell with it all! I’ll do anything for my blood.” There’s something so powerful about this form of love and watching the way that Venus and Janus loved each other, in their own ways, was so beautiful to witness.

There were a couple of things that threw me off but ultimately I really enjoyed the pacing of this book. I enjoyed the way the characters felt so captivating and uniquely themselves. One of my favorite things was that I felt like no one character’s voice was lost or seemed to similar to the other. I felt myself being curious and interested in all characters presented in this story. It was so action-packed and the witches were not just witches in names only. Too often these days it feels like books are about witches without them actually practicing magic! The magic system that Baptiste created was so much fun to read as well.

I think this book is so prescient right now for many reasons and in order to find out why, I think you should read it. I feel like I’ve been consistently blown away by fantastic debuts for 2024 and this year as well. Definitely grab a copy from your local bookstore or library!

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