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asreadbykat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
True Rating: 3.5 Stars
Content/Trigger Warnings: Discussions of adoption, Violence, Poisoning, Death, Discussion of mythology-based filicide, Mildly grotesque imagery
"Whenever you hear a story about villainous women, you should ask who's telling the story."
This is my first Kalynn Bayron read, and I picked it up because while I wanted something good for spring/summer, I wanted it to have a nice edge to it. I'm not a full-on S/S girl, so I was looking for something summery but also spooky or creepy. This seemed to fit the bill. Did it work? Well...kind of.
Criticism
The Main Character
My biggest problem with this book is our main character, Briseis. While her power is undoubtedly cool and I wanted to learn more about it, and we get tidbits about her life, Bri felt very...bland. She felt very much a part of the scenery, and not the story. By the end of the book, all I could really tell about her personality is that she loves her adopted moms, and she is terrible at trusting people. There was almost nothing else about her that endeared me to her. No true quirks, no personality pluses or minuses, just...a literal blank canvas. This was a problem because the plot really does require us to feel SOMETHING about Bri, but I just didn't. I got more of her moms' personalities than I did hers. I wanted her to do something; either pull a Poison Ivy and be all secretly super into poisonous plants and/or using the plants to help her, or a complete plant nerd who treats them all like her babies and loves them more than people, or...just, something.
There was so much potential for Bri's character in this novel, and it fell flat because it felt like the author cared more about hitting certain plot beats and vibes than even creating a compelling MC. She isn't the worst MC I've ever read about, but she's also not anywhere near good, either. She's definitely just...there. Barely.
Plot Pacing
This is one of the cases where I wish the book were actually longer, or certain plot points had been saved for a different book. There was so much going on, by the last third I knew there was no way the novel could end satisfactorily. We've got family secrets, a spooky old house and a secret garden, a family history with the local town, mysterious deaths, strange neighbors....Yeah, it's a lot, and there was no way this one book was going to do all of it justice. It means that certain plot beats get a lot of focus, and some of them don't. Unfortunately, the plot beats that got more were all backstory-related, and not the ones with the biggest impact on the climax. This meant some plot points meandered, some went super fast, some got stalled...it was a little bit jarring.
Hinted Romance
There is a hinted queer romance here, and all I can say is....it may be the most rushed thing I've ever read, and makes no sense at all. Just...no.
Praise
The Worldbuilding
One of the best things about this story is definitely the worldbuilding. I was so intrigued by the family/world history the author was creating. I wanted to know more about the women in this family and where they came from, how they started their business, why they settled in this house, how the community came to kind of accept and protect them, etc. I wanted the entire book to just be about that and almost nothing else because it was so interesting. It helps that the history was inspired by Greek myth, which I've been interested in for years, but turned on its head. You can tell the author really had love for this world she was creating just from reading this.
The Family Dynamics
Bri's relationship with her moms is absolutely beautiful. I love Angie and Thandie; they're loud, funny, and unapologetically themselves, and they love their daughter with everything they are, and are willing to do anything to make her happy. It's a really nice change of pace to see a family being supportive of a child's powers instead of being terrified of it. Bri herself is a typical teenager embarrassed by her moms, but she also reciprocates their love and wants to keep them safe no matter what. This is the kind of "romance" I love in books, and it was great to see.
The Inspiration
In the acknowledgements at the end, the author states that the inspirations for this novel were not just Greek myth, but also the idea of What if the "little bit of land" from The Secret Garden contained a plant like Audrey II from "Little Shop of Horrors." Just the mix of those ideas is super interesting and intriguing, and while it could have been better executed, knowing those inspirations made the novel even more interesting.
Overall Thoughts
This is far from the best book I've read this year, and I'm giving it a fairly neutral rating. I wouldn't really recommend buying it, but I would say see if you can borrow it from a library or get it cheap secondhand if you're interested. The backstory is intriguing enough that I want to read the second book just to see what happens.
Content/Trigger Warnings: Discussions of adoption, Violence, Poisoning, Death, Discussion of mythology-based filicide, Mildly grotesque imagery
"Whenever you hear a story about villainous women, you should ask who's telling the story."
This is my first Kalynn Bayron read, and I picked it up because while I wanted something good for spring/summer, I wanted it to have a nice edge to it. I'm not a full-on S/S girl, so I was looking for something summery but also spooky or creepy. This seemed to fit the bill. Did it work? Well...kind of.
Criticism
The Main Character
My biggest problem with this book is our main character, Briseis. While her power is undoubtedly cool and I wanted to learn more about it, and we get tidbits about her life, Bri felt very...bland. She felt very much a part of the scenery, and not the story. By the end of the book, all I could really tell about her personality is that she loves her adopted moms, and she is terrible at trusting people. There was almost nothing else about her that endeared me to her. No true quirks, no personality pluses or minuses, just...a literal blank canvas. This was a problem because the plot really does require us to feel SOMETHING about Bri, but I just didn't. I got more of her moms' personalities than I did hers. I wanted her to do something; either pull a Poison Ivy and be all secretly super into poisonous plants and/or using the plants to help her, or a complete plant nerd who treats them all like her babies and loves them more than people, or...just, something.
There was so much potential for Bri's character in this novel, and it fell flat because it felt like the author cared more about hitting certain plot beats and vibes than even creating a compelling MC. She isn't the worst MC I've ever read about, but she's also not anywhere near good, either. She's definitely just...there. Barely.
Plot Pacing
This is one of the cases where I wish the book were actually longer, or certain plot points had been saved for a different book. There was so much going on, by the last third I knew there was no way the novel could end satisfactorily. We've got family secrets, a spooky old house and a secret garden, a family history with the local town, mysterious deaths, strange neighbors....Yeah, it's a lot, and there was no way this one book was going to do all of it justice. It means that certain plot beats get a lot of focus, and some of them don't. Unfortunately, the plot beats that got more were all backstory-related, and not the ones with the biggest impact on the climax. This meant some plot points meandered, some went super fast, some got stalled...it was a little bit jarring.
Hinted Romance
There is a hinted queer romance here, and all I can say is....it may be the most rushed thing I've ever read, and makes no sense at all. Just...no.
Praise
The Worldbuilding
One of the best things about this story is definitely the worldbuilding. I was so intrigued by the family/world history the author was creating. I wanted to know more about the women in this family and where they came from, how they started their business, why they settled in this house, how the community came to kind of accept and protect them, etc. I wanted the entire book to just be about that and almost nothing else because it was so interesting. It helps that the history was inspired by Greek myth, which I've been interested in for years, but turned on its head. You can tell the author really had love for this world she was creating just from reading this.
The Family Dynamics
Bri's relationship with her moms is absolutely beautiful. I love Angie and Thandie; they're loud, funny, and unapologetically themselves, and they love their daughter with everything they are, and are willing to do anything to make her happy. It's a really nice change of pace to see a family being supportive of a child's powers instead of being terrified of it. Bri herself is a typical teenager embarrassed by her moms, but she also reciprocates their love and wants to keep them safe no matter what. This is the kind of "romance" I love in books, and it was great to see.
The Inspiration
In the acknowledgements at the end, the author states that the inspirations for this novel were not just Greek myth, but also the idea of What if the "little bit of land" from The Secret Garden contained a plant like Audrey II from "Little Shop of Horrors." Just the mix of those ideas is super interesting and intriguing, and while it could have been better executed, knowing those inspirations made the novel even more interesting.
Overall Thoughts
This is far from the best book I've read this year, and I'm giving it a fairly neutral rating. I wouldn't really recommend buying it, but I would say see if you can borrow it from a library or get it cheap secondhand if you're interested. The backstory is intriguing enough that I want to read the second book just to see what happens.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Cursing
melaniegrace91's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Injury/Injury detail
zombiezami's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, Death, Torture, Blood, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror
Minor: Pregnancy, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Police brutality
sar_lion's review against another edition
dark
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
Oh my God, so good. The premise was enough to draw me in, but the content was enough to hook me. The characters were so well written and felt real. A little slow in the beginning although it kept me intrigued enough to want to read the rest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit
noodlesny's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Blood, Murder, Violence, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Cursing
There's an unorthodox minor/adult relationship. It's not the standard type of disturbing of, say, a 30 yr old 'dating' a 16 yr old. It's a similar theme that comes up in certain anime at times, if you're familiar with those. It wasn't enough to make me stop reading but I was definitely uncomfortable with it and kept thinking about it throughout the reading.frawst_disasta_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
5.0
I couldn’t put down this book. I kept needing to know what happened next and it didn’t disappoint! I also loved the LGBTQ+ representation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Emotional abuse
mayachuchu13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
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
5.0
Everything was great. Love the story, romance, plot twists. All of it was well thought-out and the MC is so likable, I was rooting for her since chapter one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gaslighting, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Gun violence
Only two confusing things (#2 is a spoiler): 1. If Bri literally has magic powers it’s kinda stupid how she has this “there’s no such thing as magic!” attitude every time she learns something new. You literally grew up with magic powers, why are you so doubtful of witches and spells??blewballoon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
4 for the first half and more like 3 for the second half.
I had more fun at the beginning of this book than towards the end. Things got a little too goofy and the characters made some questionable choices as the story went on. I do think it's clear the author had a blast writing this and throwing in everything they wanted to, and I'm happy for them. I like media where I can tell the creators had a good time. If you've also read You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by this author, it might help you figure out one of the twists in this book. That was the case for me. I didn't love the twist there, and I liked it less here.I think that's because I'm more of a "power of friendship" type person who likes to see platonic relationships shine. I also didn't really like the love interest, Marie. Apart from being really pretty and nice to Briseis, she's kind of rude to everyone else and I didn't get a sense of her personality besides that. There's a scene with poison ivy that is completely implausible and inaccurate to how poison ivy works, which took me out for a bit and I had to complain about it to my boyfriend. For positives: I loved the two completely supportive and loving moms, they bring a lot of comedic relief to the story as well. I liked the plant magic and descriptions. I liked exploring a big old house with lots of secrets. There's a lot of fun stuff here, for sure. The writing is not bogged down by overly detailed descriptions or internal thoughts, so it reads quickly. This is definitely YA due to the age of the main character, but very readable and engaging for me as an adult reader as well. I did not realize this was a duology, I think it kind of works as a standalone even with the somewhat cliffhanger/open ending. I am not sure if I will read the 2nd book or not.
I had more fun at the beginning of this book than towards the end. Things got a little too goofy and the characters made some questionable choices as the story went on. I do think it's clear the author had a blast writing this and throwing in everything they wanted to, and I'm happy for them. I like media where I can tell the creators had a good time. If you've also read You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by this author, it might help you figure out one of the twists in this book. That was the case for me. I didn't love the twist there, and I liked it less here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and Death
Minor: Racism
bookishkellyn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Briseis "inherits" her birth mom’s ancestral home, embraces her familial botanist gifts as a real life “Black Poison Ivy“, and learns about her ties to Greek mythology and the dangers that accompany it. Fun and great representation. Ends on a cliffhanger. Points off for a slow start and some editing errors.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Violence
futureofmydays's review
adventurous
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Violence, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Racism