Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Poisoner

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

one_more_chapter96's review

dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Unique and really cool premise to the book, enjoyed the historical gothic setting and the oddities of the main character but she was strong and intelligent and likeable. Some cool twists to the story that I didn’t expect near the end, it got quite dark towards the end which was unexpected but overall a great story and look forward to the sequel to see what happens!

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zoelzebub's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

What a wonderfully macabre and interesting romance.

This book will not be for every reader. But as a lover of horror, unusual characters, romance, and Victorian era settings - this has become one of my all time favorite books.

I truly look forward to the next two books in this series as they come out.

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woodsybookworm's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The Poisoner follows Alina, a botanist who also happens to be a well accomplished poisoner - she's taking out shady men left and right and getting away with it too. That is until she runs into Silas, an avid playboy who is seemingly immune to all her tricks. Silas happens to be more than just a snake in the bedroom, he's downright vicious, and now he's got his sights set on tormenting Alina. In a game of cat and mouse between two killers, which creature will come out on top?

I really truly wanted to love this book but I found myself so annoyed by the main characters and their actions. I was screaming at certain chapters like "just talk to each other like normal people!" Is it absolutely gorgeous? Yes! The cover, the artwork, the little details were absolutely stunning. Is it something I find myself wanting to read again? No.

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crinkledmochi's review against another edition

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Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

UM… imma be honest I was enjoying this until the last few chapters, there was a warning at the beginning of the book but why did all the characters just act like that was normal

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fireinherveinzz's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

It had all the ingredients I loved to make a good dark academia but having 2 rape scenes … is a huge no . Also the plot holes ? Like if she’s poisoning successfully members of the nest why wasn’t Silas affected ?
and just the cringey syltherin snake smut vibes not in a fun way .
Silas is a giant obnoxious man child . The only redeeming factor was the writing was lush and good and phoebe and her leaving it all behind to move elsewhere.

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csmoke85's review against another edition

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dark 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? No

4.0

A deliciously wicked cast of characters. I loved them and hated them all at the same time. Definitely a book for dark romance readers who like a villain. I enjoyed this story, especially the darkest parts.

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novellearts's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

No star rating yet as I'm not sure how I feel about this one at the moment. I picked this book up for the beautiful cover and because I thought it was a horror book. I was very surprised once I started getting into it and finding out that it was more vampiric dark romance.

That being said, I liked Alina a lot as a character, I liked Silas a lot less. There were some really hot scenes and there were some that I didn't care for. I will say that I personally hate when books include any version of knotting. I find the concept repulsive and invasive especially as the books that include knotting usually love to use it as a "surprise."

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, kissing the skin on my shoulder and up to my neck, his fingers tangling in my hair and keeping me in place, pushing his hips firmly into mine. “You said you wouldn’t,” I breathed. “I lied,” he said lowly. “Why?” “Because you are mine.”
Quote of Silas and Alina's conversation after he knotted her, saying that he wouldn't and that he "doesn't do that to humans."

I did mostly enjoy the banter in this book, but I wish that it centered more around Alina's job and her actually poisoning men.

Overall, I think I liked this until around chapters 46 and on. Up until this point, there were definitely a lot of instances of abuse, stalking, and toxicity but (and I know this sounds crazy) it was a tolerable level. Both characters mostly reciprocated the same energy to each other and it wasn't completed unwanted. Chapters 47 and on took a turn. Chapters 48 and 50 were not my cup of tea.

The rape scene with Viktor in Chapter 48 really pissed me off, especially with how he "revealed" what he did to Silas. Then in Chapter 50 with Viktor and Silas both feeding from Alina.

The Poisoner story felt incredibly reminiscent of Haunting Adeline to me. It just felt like a vampire version. Though I will say, I liked this story more than Haunting Adeline and I liked the characters much more. I also kept finding myself wishing that Alina would just end up with Phoebe, because let's be honest, that would've been much better than Silas or Viktor.

The ending of this was unsatisfying to me as well. It was so rushed and incredibly open-ended. We didn't learn as readers how

Alina and Phoebe made it out or what happened to anyone in the Nest.

I understand that this is book 1 and that it'll most definitely be covered in book 2, but I personally would've liked a lot less ambiguity here.

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