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aprilbooksandwine's review against another edition
4.0
A Fierce And Subtle Poison by debut author Samantha Mabry is an intoxicating book featuring magical realism and an impossible, against-the-odds romance. Read my full review here
erika_briggs's review against another edition
3.0
Strange, a little hard to follow if you're not paying attention completely. Good.
foreveryoungadult's review against another edition
Graded By: Mandy C.
Cover Story: Montell Jordan
BFF Charm: Meh
Swoonworthy Scale: 3
Talky Talk: Sleepy Thriller
Bonus Factor: Mysterious Loner Lady
Relationship Status: Summer Fling
Read the full book report here.
Cover Story: Montell Jordan
BFF Charm: Meh
Swoonworthy Scale: 3
Talky Talk: Sleepy Thriller
Bonus Factor: Mysterious Loner Lady
Relationship Status: Summer Fling
Read the full book report here.
angelcwrites's review against another edition
5.0
Lush and intricate and gorgeous. More thoughts to come.
lucieferg's review against another edition
3.0
I got this book free from NetGalley in exchange for a review.
"A Fierce and Subtle Poison" opens in modern day Puerto Rico. Lucas is the son of a wealthy American hotel developer and spends his summers partying with his Puerto Rican friends. One day the girl he's been seeing goes up missing, and Lucas is sure the clues to her disappearance lie in the crumbling house at the end of Calle Sol, where local stories say a poisonous girl and her scientist father live.
The unpredictable plot kept me reading - I didn't know what to expect of its twists and turns. It wasn't clear whether the magical/mythical elements (a girl made of poison, cursed parents) would truly be more fantastical or whether they would be explained scientifically in the end. This tension was intriguing and kept the mystery alive, along with some exciting life-or-death moments at the end.
However, this book would have been a lot stronger without the whiny, tortured male protagonist. I didn't like Lucas, nor his attitudes towards others. While the author kept emphasizing his woes and tortured state, he really isn't that pitiable and much of his troubles he did to himself. His character made the book into a classic white-boy-experiences-the-mystical-natives book, which is just bad. If you are going to use a Puerto Rican setting and cultural elements to make a mystery, it would be better to really embed the story in it, instead of making it seem "other".
"A Fierce and Subtle Poison" opens in modern day Puerto Rico. Lucas is the son of a wealthy American hotel developer and spends his summers partying with his Puerto Rican friends. One day the girl he's been seeing goes up missing, and Lucas is sure the clues to her disappearance lie in the crumbling house at the end of Calle Sol, where local stories say a poisonous girl and her scientist father live.
The unpredictable plot kept me reading - I didn't know what to expect of its twists and turns. It wasn't clear whether the magical/mythical elements (a girl made of poison, cursed parents) would truly be more fantastical or whether they would be explained scientifically in the end. This tension was intriguing and kept the mystery alive, along with some exciting life-or-death moments at the end.
However, this book would have been a lot stronger without the whiny, tortured male protagonist. I didn't like Lucas, nor his attitudes towards others. While the author kept emphasizing his woes and tortured state, he really isn't that pitiable and much of his troubles he did to himself. His character made the book into a classic white-boy-experiences-the-mystical-natives book, which is just bad. If you are going to use a Puerto Rican setting and cultural elements to make a mystery, it would be better to really embed the story in it, instead of making it seem "other".
swirlnswing's review against another edition
4.0
Is this more magical realism or sci fi? Something in between? Yes to all of the above.
I dig this book. Not everyone will.
But I did.
I dig this book. Not everyone will.
But I did.
saffyre's review against another edition
4.0
Gorgeous book. I loved that it was set in Puerto Rico and had a lot of Latin mythology and culture incorporated into the story.
skelleycat's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
I've had some trouble putting my thoughts together on this book, and I'm not sure why. On the one hand, A Fierce and Subtle Poison was an interesting experience, with a setting and theme that aren't my typical fare. On the other hand, I suppose I felt a bit disconnected from the story.
The book is set in Puerto Rico and I think this is one of my favorite things about it. At times, I almost felt like I was there -- I could feel the heat and humidity, imagine swatting those mosquitoes away -- and I really enjoyed being able to test what I remembered from Spanish class, thanks to all of the words and phrases en Español peppered throughout the book. In fact, I even got excited and started reading the book with an accent, until I realized that the MC (thus, narrator) was a white kid. Boo!
There are a handful of mysteries in this book, and I must admit that some intrigued me more than others. It's a shame when the woman in the refrigerator gets put there before I really have a chance to care about her, because it dampens my overall investment in the story. The mysteries I was more curious about were definitely the scientific and magical elements (which probably says something about my typical reading interests), and I was mostly satisfied with the attention they were given within the story.
I'm struggling to pinpoint many things that truly stood out to me — in any way — and so I feel like I'm just coming to the conclusion that this book didn't impress me, but didn't really disappoint me either. My 3.5-star rating speaks for itself then: it was enjoyable, but not overly so. (I did get to see a hardcover of it and it's *very pretty*. Alas, I did forgo the purchase.)
I've had some trouble putting my thoughts together on this book, and I'm not sure why. On the one hand, A Fierce and Subtle Poison was an interesting experience, with a setting and theme that aren't my typical fare. On the other hand, I suppose I felt a bit disconnected from the story.
The book is set in Puerto Rico and I think this is one of my favorite things about it. At times, I almost felt like I was there -- I could feel the heat and humidity, imagine swatting those mosquitoes away -- and I really enjoyed being able to test what I remembered from Spanish class, thanks to all of the words and phrases en Español peppered throughout the book. In fact, I even got excited and started reading the book with an accent, until I realized that the MC (thus, narrator) was a white kid. Boo!
There are a handful of mysteries in this book, and I must admit that some intrigued me more than others. It's a shame when the woman in the refrigerator gets put there before I really have a chance to care about her, because it dampens my overall investment in the story. The mysteries I was more curious about were definitely the scientific and magical elements (which probably says something about my typical reading interests), and I was mostly satisfied with the attention they were given within the story.
I'm struggling to pinpoint many things that truly stood out to me — in any way — and so I feel like I'm just coming to the conclusion that this book didn't impress me, but didn't really disappoint me either. My 3.5-star rating speaks for itself then: it was enjoyable, but not overly so. (I did get to see a hardcover of it and it's *very pretty*. Alas, I did forgo the purchase.)
booksofkings's review against another edition
3.0
Well, let's just say the scenery of this book was 5 stars all the way, the plot (for the most part) was 5 stars. The MC...not so much. If this book had focused around any of the Natives then maybe it would have been ALOT more interesting. Instead this book, that takes place in a beautiful tropical island with it's litttle old ladies and poisonous tropical plants has potentially the worst type of MC imaginable, a teenage white boy. Who apparently, after living there all summer every year and has a mother who's native here, DOESNT SPEAK SPANISH AT ALL! LIke he barely understands it which makes almost no sense. As much as I like that the book was then all in English (because I dont speak spanish and i've read a book where 1/3 of all conversations were in a different language..thanks for that assignment teach) and I could understand it, Lucas could have been ALOT better.
This book had such an interesting idea and plot behind it that sounded original to me. A girl that can grant wishes that locals had all sorts of myths and local legends about, awesome.
Even though Lucas was such a flop, Isabel and the plot were what kept me going. I enjoyed reading it and I would have loved it if the whole book was in a different POV like maybe Isabel's. The book could have been a different but still really interesting story.
It made all of the culture and scenery almost feel a little died down because we were seeing it all through the eyes of a teenage boy who wants to basically live like a hermit when he's older. I guess this is the type of book that has one of those unreliable narrators. Oh well.
While i dont "unrecommend" this book to anyone, I will say just be ready for a lot about Lucas and for Puerto Rico to kind of take the back burner in this. Even the ending wasn't all that special, the epilogue was kind of a snoozer and Lucas sure didn't change at all that much by the end of it.
This book had such an interesting idea and plot behind it that sounded original to me. A girl that can grant wishes that locals had all sorts of myths and local legends about, awesome.
Even though Lucas was such a flop, Isabel and the plot were what kept me going. I enjoyed reading it and I would have loved it if the whole book was in a different POV like maybe Isabel's. The book could have been a different but still really interesting story.
It made all of the culture and scenery almost feel a little died down because we were seeing it all through the eyes of a teenage boy who wants to basically live like a hermit when he's older. I guess this is the type of book that has one of those unreliable narrators. Oh well.
While i dont "unrecommend" this book to anyone, I will say just be ready for a lot about Lucas and for Puerto Rico to kind of take the back burner in this. Even the ending wasn't all that special, the epilogue was kind of a snoozer and Lucas sure didn't change at all that much by the end of it.
readbyashleyd's review against another edition
5.0
I bought this book solely because I fell in love with the cover and I must say, it's one of the best decisions I've ever made! This book was a totally unexpected gem and I absolutely loved everything about it from start to finish.
The story is so interesting and unique, I've never read anything like it! The whole concept captivated me right from the very beginning and I only became more and more enraptured by this story as it went along.
I really loved the setting of the story as well! I've never read a book set in Puerto Rico before so it was really interesting getting to see glimpses of the culture. I also really loved the beautiful, lush descriptions of the scenery. I almost felt like if I reached out my hands, I found touch the beautiful but poisonous plants myself!
I also really enjoyed the little bits of Spanish mixed in here and there, I thought it really added to the atmosphere of the story! Although I don't think I would have really known what they meant if I wasn't fluent in French (French and Spanish are actually pretty similar!) and if I hadn't taken a few basic Spanish courses in high school.
I honestly can't name one thing I didn't enjoy about this book! It was refreshing to read something so different from anything I've read before and I'm really glad this cover caught my eye and allowed me to discover this story!
The story is so interesting and unique, I've never read anything like it! The whole concept captivated me right from the very beginning and I only became more and more enraptured by this story as it went along.
I really loved the setting of the story as well! I've never read a book set in Puerto Rico before so it was really interesting getting to see glimpses of the culture. I also really loved the beautiful, lush descriptions of the scenery. I almost felt like if I reached out my hands, I found touch the beautiful but poisonous plants myself!
I also really enjoyed the little bits of Spanish mixed in here and there, I thought it really added to the atmosphere of the story! Although I don't think I would have really known what they meant if I wasn't fluent in French (French and Spanish are actually pretty similar!) and if I hadn't taken a few basic Spanish courses in high school.
I honestly can't name one thing I didn't enjoy about this book! It was refreshing to read something so different from anything I've read before and I'm really glad this cover caught my eye and allowed me to discover this story!