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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
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
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.isnoyafantasy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Violence, and Murder
emilyhv's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Cursing and Emotional abuse
emilyreads21's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was truly an incredible read. This book exceeded all of the expectations I had for it. It was unique and incredibly well written from the plot to the characters. I was shocked that there was a lot of Greek mythology intertwined into this story. The author did an incredible job! The beginning of the book was kind of slow and progressively picked up the pace throughout. The imagery was too tier. I could visual everything from the house to the show, and the characters. I really good book needs really great imagery to captivate its audience and this author created magic. And who saw the plot twist coming… NOT ME! And the cliffhanger. I really hope this author comes out with another book, and soon! Highly, highly recommend this read!
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing and Death of parent
diamondpwrites's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-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? N/A
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Blood, Gore, Cursing, Body horror, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Stalking
booksalacarte's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
3.25⭐️ 1.5🌶️ (romantic tension only)
This book has a really interesting magic system and great background work in mythology and plants. I really enjoyed Bri and her relationship with her parents. I almost wish it was just those 3 saving this magic world.
There were a LOT of pop culture references. Like a lot. For a fantasy, it was a little interruptive.
I found the pacing in the first half of the book to be very slow and drawn out without the context to back up the pace. I felt like some dialogue was very forced and stilted, making the continued line broken and feeling like you flipped two pages instead of one.
The other thing that made me pause was the age gap romance. I don’t know why the age gap is an issue here for me.
This is a lgbtqia+ YA book. Be aware of language and other trigger warnings. I would recommend it for a 15+yo.
This book has a really interesting magic system and great background work in mythology and plants. I really enjoyed Bri and her relationship with her parents. I almost wish it was just those 3 saving this magic world.
There were a LOT of pop culture references. Like a lot. For a fantasy, it was a little interruptive.
I found the pacing in the first half of the book to be very slow and drawn out without the context to back up the pace. I felt like some dialogue was very forced and stilted, making the continued line broken and feeling like you flipped two pages instead of one.
The other thing that made me pause was the age gap romance. I don’t know why the age gap is an issue here for me.
This is a lgbtqia+ YA book. Be aware of language and other trigger warnings. I would recommend it for a 15+yo.
Content Warnings
Minor: Murder, Death of parent, Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Gaslighting
mtnest's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gaslighting, Violence, and Cursing
micaelamariem's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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? No
5.0
Last summer, I ordered a one time box from OwlCrate and got this gorgeous editiion of This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron, published by Bloomsbury. It only took me six months to start reading it!
This Poison Heart is a wonderful YA fantasy, a Greek mythology retelling involving Medea and Hecate. The main character, Briseis, has always had a unique power with plants. They reach and grow for her. But she suddenly discovers she is also immune to poisonous plants. This discovery comes along with an inheritance of rundown mansion with gardens from her birth family–but everything isn’t as it seems.
I loved this book! I wasn’t sure what to expect, because this author’s book Cinderella is Dead was just okay to me, and I thought perhaps this book would also be average. But it was so much better! Filled with a gothic atmosphere, deadly plants as if it was The Little Shop of Horrors, Black girl culture, family secrets, and Greek mythology, I was here for all the vibes that came together nicely.
The writing itself was beautiful, and you can tell Bayron has a passion herself for plants alongside her main character. It really added to the story. Plus Briseis’s relationships added another dimension–it was refreshing to see loving Queer moms, the beginning of healthy friendships, but also townsfolk who seemed shady in their own interactions.
There wasn’t much in the book that I didn’t like. I will admit that there were a couple of times that the dialogue got cringey when trying to refer to Black popular culture, as if the author were trying to hard to showcase the culture, but the cringe moments were still few and far between. I also am curious to see more about Marie. I don’t think we learned enough about her in the first book, and she seemed to be too conveniently absent in the last big part of the book.
I am looking forward to the sequel, This Wicked Fate. There was a bit of a cliffhanger at the end and I’m ready to find out what happens next.
I’d highly recommend this book to YA fantasy readers, fans of Greek mythology, and those who want to read more diverse books. Five stars!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Animal death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, and Death