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3.12 AVERAGE
3.12 AVERAGE
This was a fun little read. When I was given the chance by the Poison Diaries team to read and review the second book, Nightshade, I jumped on the chance but first I had to read the first book. ^.^. I'd first heard of this when I was in Japan and could only get ahold of the free preview on HarperTeen. I didn't finish it then because I hate staring at my computer screen to read but I filed it away as an interesting tidbit and went on my way. Man, am I glad I didn't finish it then! At the end of this book my heart was wrenched out and I was dying for the second installment. Luckily, thanks to Poison Diaries team, I had it!
Jessamine Luxton, is a sheltered 16 year old girl who lives alone with her father, an apothecary. She learns all about plants and their uses and she feels drawn to her father's forbidden poison garden. By chance, she meets an unwanted appropriately named boy, Weed. Weed changes everything for her and that's when the book starts getting interesting.
I do have to say that I was a little concerned about the blossoming of love. It seemed a little forced and weird at first. But after a little while things clicked and everything fell in place and I was rooting for Jessamine and Weed. I think you will too.
I don't think the romance plot is the best part of this novel though, I think it's this dark presence that just floats around through the second half of the novel. It just makes it a little...different. It's not quite the light read I was expecting but that just made it all the better.
Jessamine Luxton, is a sheltered 16 year old girl who lives alone with her father, an apothecary. She learns all about plants and their uses and she feels drawn to her father's forbidden poison garden. By chance, she meets an unwanted appropriately named boy, Weed. Weed changes everything for her and that's when the book starts getting interesting.
I do have to say that I was a little concerned about the blossoming of love. It seemed a little forced and weird at first. But after a little while things clicked and everything fell in place and I was rooting for Jessamine and Weed. I think you will too.
I don't think the romance plot is the best part of this novel though, I think it's this dark presence that just floats around through the second half of the novel. It just makes it a little...different. It's not quite the light read I was expecting but that just made it all the better.
Worst.
Book.
Ever.
If you value good books, do not read this at any cost.
Book.
Ever.
If you value good books, do not read this at any cost.
Check out this and other reviews at http://bathtubreader.blogspot.com
Jessamine lives with her father on the outskirts of town. He is the local healer who works with herbs and is respected because, unlike the doctors, he will not bleed a person or leech them, he uses the old ways to heal. The father has a mad obsession with learning all the secrets of plants and collects plants from all over the world, creating a locked poison garden. One day a man rides to their door with a boy. The boy, Weed, has a special, mystical relationship with plants - he knows their secrets. When Jessamine falls ill it is up to Weed to save her, but things are not as they appear and no one is innocent.
I'm really conflicted about this novel. One way I know how much I love a book is how quickly I read it or, I should say, how difficult it to put down. This is the first of a trilogy with the first two books written by one author and the concluding book written by a different author. That makes me nervous and I almost didn't read the book because of that but I bought it so I figured I should read it. I put the book down more often than I should have but not a ton. The book is strange. It is good. It's an entertaining read and I for the most part I really liked it BUT (you saw that coming, right?) it's not amazing or new. The last section of the book wasn't great either. Once Jessamine got sick the story took a turn that was just ok and sometimes annoying.
Really, I wanted more from this book. The title and concept is really interesting but the story itself is just so-so. Typical love story in someways, a bit jumpy and strange in other ways (and not the good strange). I really wanted something creepy and riveting but this just didn't deliver. It's still a good read and worth reading - I gave 3 out of 5 stars, I just wanted more. I might check out the next book and see what happens.
Jessamine lives with her father on the outskirts of town. He is the local healer who works with herbs and is respected because, unlike the doctors, he will not bleed a person or leech them, he uses the old ways to heal. The father has a mad obsession with learning all the secrets of plants and collects plants from all over the world, creating a locked poison garden. One day a man rides to their door with a boy. The boy, Weed, has a special, mystical relationship with plants - he knows their secrets. When Jessamine falls ill it is up to Weed to save her, but things are not as they appear and no one is innocent.
I'm really conflicted about this novel. One way I know how much I love a book is how quickly I read it or, I should say, how difficult it to put down. This is the first of a trilogy with the first two books written by one author and the concluding book written by a different author. That makes me nervous and I almost didn't read the book because of that but I bought it so I figured I should read it. I put the book down more often than I should have but not a ton. The book is strange. It is good. It's an entertaining read and I for the most part I really liked it BUT (you saw that coming, right?) it's not amazing or new. The last section of the book wasn't great either. Once Jessamine got sick the story took a turn that was just ok and sometimes annoying.
Really, I wanted more from this book. The title and concept is really interesting but the story itself is just so-so. Typical love story in someways, a bit jumpy and strange in other ways (and not the good strange). I really wanted something creepy and riveting but this just didn't deliver. It's still a good read and worth reading - I gave 3 out of 5 stars, I just wanted more. I might check out the next book and see what happens.
Didn't hold my attention and oddly gender normative
The Poison Diaries is about a 16-year-old girl who lives with her father, an apothecary, in an abandoned monastery. The story is set in late 18th century England, so historical romance fans will love this book. Jessamine's father works to heal others through the use of herbal medicine, yet he has a locked garden of poisonous plants. In time, a stranger joins their household and has an amazing knowledge of plants and healing that Jessamine's father is desperate to unlock. A love story develops, but things are not as they seem in this thrilling and intriguing book. Students who love romance and mystery will devour this spellbinding, young-adult book.
Official Rating: 1.5
Thoughts:
Okay. Wow. I didn't expect to be finished with that so quickly.
To start off with, I'd just like to say that any book that has as the big-bad antagonist is going to leave a bad taste in my mouth.
As unfortunate as it is to kick off reviewing books on Goodreads with a negative opinion, The Poison Diaries just didn't do it for me. At all.
At first, it had promise. I wasn't exactly sucked into the novel for the plot, though; the only reason I got so pulled in was because of how quickly I was actually progressing through it. (For a book intended for a YA audience, it sure felt like I was reading Middle Grade.)
Sadly, this promise never flourished. Where Jessamine had the potential to grow out of her diminutive, childish ways, she stayed stock still. Weed was whiny, pouty and patronising (oh my!). Jessamine's dad was a freak poorly disguised as a workaholic disguised as a scientist.
The narrative itself grew gradually more and more absurd, with the plot points becoming more convoluted and less creditable by the page. That's right. Page.
The first half of the story had to be dragged by its ears to get anywhere, and the second half had so many expository scenes and "twists" that I had to check the cover a few times to make sure I was still holding the right book. The final arc of the story felt like I was reading a tacky RPG.
By the last page, The Poison Diaries had somehow achieved the feat of making me both exhausted and mind-numbingly bored at the same time. Although, perhaps the lack of interest came from the sheer disappointment I had with the characters.
Jessamine frustrated me to no end. I understand that this book falls under the historic genre, and I can have historic-accuracy preached to me by every history-devoted-historian in the world, but I will never have any affection for Daddy's Obedient Perfect Princess Who Can Cook, Clean and Swoon. At some point in the novel she mentions something about wanting to study poisons and her father not allowing it, which is fair enough. What I can't buy is the main character spending the first half of the novel ranting on and on about how for the first 16 years of her life she had begged her father to let her into his locked-up garden, only to forget all about it after being in there once, clutching the hand of her beloved and following after him with her thumb in her mouth.
Weed was annoying. (If you're going to throw in a POV change, do it at the start of the novel, not in the last 80 pages.) With more mood-swings than Edward Cullen, the guy left me with one distinct thought: dude, you really need to get out more.
Jessamine's dad was... well, I saw it coming, and it still didn't detract from how disturbingly abusive he was. His character was messed up, and not in a fun, "you're-so-quirky" way. Rather, in a way.
The Poison Diaries left much to be desired. So much. "Much" includes: likeable characters, weed killer (in more ways than one), a plot, and my afternoon back. The story was a good idea, but very poorly executed.
Seriously, though,? Weird. Pair them with the word "seductive", though, and I just can't take you seriously.
Thoughts:
Okay. Wow. I didn't expect to be finished with that so quickly.
To start off with, I'd just like to say that any book that has
Spoiler
manipulative, talking plantsAs unfortunate as it is to kick off reviewing books on Goodreads with a negative opinion, The Poison Diaries just didn't do it for me. At all.
At first, it had promise. I wasn't exactly sucked into the novel for the plot, though; the only reason I got so pulled in was because of how quickly I was actually progressing through it. (For a book intended for a YA audience, it sure felt like I was reading Middle Grade.)
Sadly, this promise never flourished. Where Jessamine had the potential to grow out of her diminutive, childish ways, she stayed stock still. Weed was whiny, pouty and patronising (oh my!). Jessamine's dad was a freak poorly disguised as a workaholic disguised as a scientist.
The narrative itself grew gradually more and more absurd, with the plot points becoming more convoluted and less creditable by the page. That's right. Page.
The first half of the story had to be dragged by its ears to get anywhere, and the second half had so many expository scenes and "twists" that I had to check the cover a few times to make sure I was still holding the right book. The final arc of the story felt like I was reading a tacky RPG.
By the last page, The Poison Diaries had somehow achieved the feat of making me both exhausted and mind-numbingly bored at the same time. Although, perhaps the lack of interest came from the sheer disappointment I had with the characters.
Jessamine frustrated me to no end. I understand that this book falls under the historic genre, and I can have historic-accuracy preached to me by every history-devoted-historian in the world, but I will never have any affection for Daddy's Obedient Perfect Princess Who Can Cook, Clean and Swoon. At some point in the novel she mentions something about wanting to study poisons and her father not allowing it, which is fair enough. What I can't buy is the main character spending the first half of the novel ranting on and on about how for the first 16 years of her life she had begged her father to let her into his locked-up garden, only to forget all about it after being in there once, clutching the hand of her beloved and following after him with her thumb in her mouth.
Weed was annoying. (If you're going to throw in a POV change, do it at the start of the novel, not in the last 80 pages.) With more mood-swings than Edward Cullen, the guy left me with one distinct thought: dude, you really need to get out more.
Jessamine's dad was... well, I saw it coming, and it still didn't detract from how disturbingly abusive he was. His character was messed up, and not in a fun, "you're-so-quirky" way. Rather, in a
Spoiler
"I'm really uncomfortable reading about you, oh my God am I really supposed to believe you're a good guy"The Poison Diaries left much to be desired. So much. "Much" includes: likeable characters, weed killer (in more ways than one), a plot, and my afternoon back. The story was a good idea, but very poorly executed.
Seriously, though,
Spoiler
talking plants
This book felt kind of like it changed halfway through from one kind of story into another. I was enjoying the story throughout the first half; it was mysterious and different, and I wasn't sure exactly where it was heading (although I had my suspicions about the character of Weed). And then in the second half it became... weird and confusing. Like all of a sudden, the world this was set in was revealed more clearly, and it was not exactly my style. This is sounding super vague because otherwise I would spoil things, so here are some spoilers under the tag:
The way it ends certainly leaves me with questions, which I hope will be answered in book 2. I think it could have been a standalone, though, if some more resolution had been given to the story.
Also, I was never really feeling the romance here... Jessamine seems to fall really quickly and then it just develops even though the chemistry, for me, wasn't there.
There are some interesting questions revolving around morality that are raised towards the end, and it could strengthen the series if these are addressed more deeply in the next book. I also liked the irony that was present in the climax of the book ().
Spoiler
Basically, I'm talking about the part where all of a sudden we get introduced to talking plants. I mean, I knew Weed had some kind of connection to plants -- it's not exactly subtle -- but when they're sneering and laughing and showing off their appreciation of dark comedy, it's just... too weird for me. I've never been a fan of talking animals in books, and talking plants are no different. Maybe even odder. And then we get introduced to Oleander, who's some sort of prince/dark angel (I mean, it's not really explained, but he *does* have wings), and things got even stranger. Basically, it went from a historical story about healers and poisons (with a touch of magic) to a fantasy story about talking plants and a Prince of Poisons and some morality tests that I still don't quite understand the point of.The way it ends certainly leaves me with questions, which I hope will be answered in book 2. I think it could have been a standalone, though, if some more resolution had been given to the story.
Also, I was never really feeling the romance here... Jessamine seems to fall really quickly and then it just develops even though the chemistry, for me, wasn't there.
There are some interesting questions revolving around morality that are raised towards the end, and it could strengthen the series if these are addressed more deeply in the next book. I also liked the irony that was present in the climax of the book (
Spoiler
that Weed's desperation for Jessamine to live leads him to kill an innocent, and Oleander gives this as the reason that Weed is considered unworthy to be with her and must leave in order for Jessamine to receive the cure
https://librarianonthelake.wordpress.com/2015/01/11/the-poison-diaries-by-maryrose-wood/
This book is a confusing one because I don't really know if you can define it as YA, adult or middle grade. It's got psychologic aspects and it's got love and lust, but it kind of starts out innocent and cute like a middle grade book.
The characters are Weed and Jessamine and her Father. They are all keen on botany and interested in poisons and antidotes but this interest which has thoroughly consumed her father's life, results in some BAD consequences later.
Weed's abilities are really unique and I hadn't ever thought of the idea before so from that aspect I really liked the story, however the ending of the book is not what I had hoped that it would be and on the whole it felt a bit too underdeveloped and short in some places.
A good read if you like flowers or if you like fantasy powers.
The characters are Weed and Jessamine and her Father. They are all keen on botany and interested in poisons and antidotes but this interest which has thoroughly consumed her father's life, results in some BAD consequences later.
Weed's abilities are really unique and I hadn't ever thought of the idea before so from that aspect I really liked the story, however the ending of the book is not what I had hoped that it would be and on the whole it felt a bit too underdeveloped and short in some places.
A good read if you like flowers or if you like fantasy powers.