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allaurae's review against another edition
1.0
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 plantsbookgirl4ever's review against another edition
2.0
Jessamine's father is an apothecary obsessed with find a lost book from a monastery with recipes for herbal treatments and cures. His particular interest lies in finding healing treatments using poisonous plants. A nearby asylum brings a young man, Weed, who appears to have much herbal healing knowledge. Weed has a special gift where he is able to communicate with plant life. Of course, Weed is incredibly hot and he and Jessamine fall in love. When Jessamine falls ill, Weed listens to the advice of the poisonous plants, fulfilling tasks that compromise his ethics in order to learn secrets to cure Jessamine.
Predictable.
Jr high and high school reading level.
Predictable.
Jr high and high school reading level.
sqeeker's review against another edition
1.0
- This was an awful book! It made me SO mad! Not the good kind of mad either!
- The story and characters were not thought out very well. The book didn't feel like a final draft. It was more like a 2nd or 3rd draft.
- My reactions while reading: This is interesting. . .nothing is happening. . .nothing is happening. . . oh, something happened. . .the father is acting really weird. . . what the heck just happened? . . . what? the last part of the book is in a new perspective? . . . WHAT THE CRAP!? . . .I'm so sickened and confused. . . feels like a completely different story. . . this is horrible! . . . GAH!
- The story started out interesting, but in the end, I was so sickened and angry. The whole point of the book is murder. I can't stand needless killing, especially needless killing of animals! What the heck!?
- Some of the personalities were really inconsistent. The father was all over the place. I could not figure out his character. Weed was fine until we got in his head, and then he sounded like Jessamine.
- I really didn't like switching to a new perspective for the last few chapters. The story should have been written in third person, so that when Jessamine became incapacitated, we didn't have to get in Weed's head.
- Don't read this! It isn't worth the time.
- The story and characters were not thought out very well. The book didn't feel like a final draft. It was more like a 2nd or 3rd draft.
- My reactions while reading: This is interesting. . .nothing is happening. . .nothing is happening. . . oh, something happened. . .the father is acting really weird. . . what the heck just happened? . . . what? the last part of the book is in a new perspective? . . . WHAT THE CRAP!? . . .I'm so sickened and confused. . . feels like a completely different story. . . this is horrible! . . . GAH!
- The story started out interesting, but in the end, I was so sickened and angry. The whole point of the book is murder. I can't stand needless killing, especially needless killing of animals! What the heck!?
- Some of the personalities were really inconsistent. The father was all over the place. I could not figure out his character. Weed was fine until we got in his head, and then he sounded like Jessamine.
- I really didn't like switching to a new perspective for the last few chapters. The story should have been written in third person, so that when Jessamine became incapacitated, we didn't have to get in Weed's head.
- Don't read this! It isn't worth the time.
cleah's review against another edition
4.0
Jessamine knows more about plants than you do - her father runs an apothecary out of their house and grows all of his own plants for the medicinal recipes. He even has a garden full of plants that are poisonous to humans. Jessamine has been watching him and learning the trade secrets her entire life. Then one day a mysterious boy is brought to their door, named Weed. At first he seems like an unwanted orphan boy, but as Jessamine and her father quickly learn, Weed may have a special talent when it comes to being around plants.
I feel as if I can't say too much here without giving away the plot surprises, but I will do my best. I liked this story a lot! I definitely have to say that the diary parts were minimal compared to the rest of the book, and because of that, I liked it a lot more. The first half of the book surpassed my expectations, but the second half completely captured my attention. I thought the little tidbits about what medicinal properties some pants have were fascinating. I enjoyed Maryrose Wood's soft, poetic prose and writing style. Weed was totally my favorite character, and all I wanted was to learn more about his unique talents!
I feel as if I can't say too much here without giving away the plot surprises, but I will do my best. I liked this story a lot! I definitely have to say that the diary parts were minimal compared to the rest of the book, and because of that, I liked it a lot more. The first half of the book surpassed my expectations, but the second half completely captured my attention. I thought the little tidbits about what medicinal properties some pants have were fascinating. I enjoyed Maryrose Wood's soft, poetic prose and writing style. Weed was totally my favorite character, and all I wanted was to learn more about his unique talents!
libertyskies's review against another edition
1.0
Okay, I didn't like this book, but that's not to say some one else might. I thought the idea of this book was new, original and could have been great.
For starters, I found the blurb of this book misleading. It suggested that this would be a romance novel, but frankly there was little romance. The characters were undelvelopped and all plot development was inconceivable.
I felt that the main character seemed spoilt and naive and therefore understandably fell 'in love' with the only boy/ man she'd ever met that wasn't her father. This 'love' interest was deranged. And so was the father. In fact, the only sane character in this book was a minor character who had to put up with the craziness of the love interest. Even minor characters were mentally deficient, ranging from a woman who had no care about the death of her child, to a humanised plant. All this topped up with the crazy father's actions and hunger for power, the cruel nature of the love interest and the heroine spending the climax of the story in a hallucination or dream. (this is a debatable point).
As for the plot? Every aspect seemed focussed on the perculiar idea that the plants had voices, not neccesarily bad but things only got worse. The aforementioned humanised plant was in fact the prince of poisons and seemingly the villain of the story. There was no moral to the story and a rather melodramatic ending with no building up to the climax.
I develop the animal cruelty point below. If you still feel like reading this book then skip to the end of the stars.
****spoiler****spoiler****spoiler****spoiler****spoiler****spoiler****
To top it all off, there was this main theme of death and murder as well as animal cruelty. The love interest watched several deaths of animals, which, in nature is fair enough, but then he himself killed a stoat and then he killed a human and attempted to kill another (none less than the father of his 'love'). The heroine as well was responsible for the death of a cat and the father killed some asylum inmates just for knowledge.
***end****end***end****end***end****end****end****end****end****end****
I found the whole book insane and I am surprised I read all of it. I did so in the hope things would improve. I'm warning you now, Things DID NOT improve! Perhaps I'm a little biased as I feel so strongly against animal cruelty.
For starters, I found the blurb of this book misleading. It suggested that this would be a romance novel, but frankly there was little romance. The characters were undelvelopped and all plot development was inconceivable.
I felt that the main character seemed spoilt and naive and therefore understandably fell 'in love' with the only boy/ man she'd ever met that wasn't her father. This 'love' interest was deranged. And so was the father. In fact, the only sane character in this book was a minor character who had to put up with the craziness of the love interest. Even minor characters were mentally deficient, ranging from a woman who had no care about the death of her child, to a humanised plant. All this topped up with the crazy father's actions and hunger for power, the cruel nature of the love interest and the heroine spending the climax of the story in a hallucination or dream. (this is a debatable point).
As for the plot? Every aspect seemed focussed on the perculiar idea that the plants had voices, not neccesarily bad but things only got worse. The aforementioned humanised plant was in fact the prince of poisons and seemingly the villain of the story. There was no moral to the story and a rather melodramatic ending with no building up to the climax.
I develop the animal cruelty point below. If you still feel like reading this book then skip to the end of the stars.
****spoiler****spoiler****spoiler****spoiler****spoiler****spoiler****
To top it all off, there was this main theme of death and murder as well as animal cruelty. The love interest watched several deaths of animals, which, in nature is fair enough, but then he himself killed a stoat and then he killed a human and attempted to kill another (none less than the father of his 'love'). The heroine as well was responsible for the death of a cat and the father killed some asylum inmates just for knowledge.
***end****end***end****end***end****end****end****end****end****end****
I found the whole book insane and I am surprised I read all of it. I did so in the hope things would improve. I'm warning you now, Things DID NOT improve! Perhaps I'm a little biased as I feel so strongly against animal cruelty.
heather4994's review against another edition
5.0
This Gothic tale takes place in Northern England in the middle of nowhere. Jessamine and her father live in a burned out crumbling abbey. As I read it I imagined dirt floors and crumbling stone, wind blowing through the chimney and an eternal chill in the place. Jessamine is lonely, her father doesn't speak to her unless it's to say he's leaving and her only companions are her diary and her plants. But not the secret garden. She knows about it, but her father keeps it locked and she is not allowed in, even at the age of sixteen.
But things change when Weed shows up, dumped on their doorstep because the owner of the local asylum is angry that he's curing his patients. Jessamine's father takes him in wanting to know his secrets, but Weed has none. No formulas to give. The plants just speak to him. Slowly a relationship forms between Jessamine and Weed and finally Jessamine's loneliness is replaced with something she's missed since her mother died.
Jessamine and Weed are both innocent and naive about the ways of the world and what power will do to a person. They soon find out. Jessamine falls very ill and Weed will do anything to cure her. And such is the way with Gothic novels, the two young lovers are split apart tragically.
There is a paranormal element to this novel I've not seen before, a living breathing poisonous prince. Created by the secret garden, the collection of the plants there, Prince Oleander rises to power and uses Weed and Jessamine for his own purposes.
I really enjoyed this first book in the series and was so glad to have the second, Nightshade, right on hand to start as soon as I finished this one. Anyone that loves Gothic novels, ya paranormal, and just a good ya novel will enjoy this novel.
But things change when Weed shows up, dumped on their doorstep because the owner of the local asylum is angry that he's curing his patients. Jessamine's father takes him in wanting to know his secrets, but Weed has none. No formulas to give. The plants just speak to him. Slowly a relationship forms between Jessamine and Weed and finally Jessamine's loneliness is replaced with something she's missed since her mother died.
Jessamine and Weed are both innocent and naive about the ways of the world and what power will do to a person. They soon find out. Jessamine falls very ill and Weed will do anything to cure her. And such is the way with Gothic novels, the two young lovers are split apart tragically.
There is a paranormal element to this novel I've not seen before, a living breathing poisonous prince. Created by the secret garden, the collection of the plants there, Prince Oleander rises to power and uses Weed and Jessamine for his own purposes.
I really enjoyed this first book in the series and was so glad to have the second, Nightshade, right on hand to start as soon as I finished this one. Anyone that loves Gothic novels, ya paranormal, and just a good ya novel will enjoy this novel.
trisha_thomas's review against another edition
3.0
I'm still really on the fence about this one. It's odd....a really different idea. Not a lot is explained until the very end and even then, it's not a lot of detail or info. It's interesting and a unique story. I did appreciated that aspect. I think I'll read book 2.....maybe....
opticflow's review against another edition
5.0
Unexpectedly, I loved this. Halfway through I thought ok, an interesting historical danger romance beach read, the perfect guilty pleasure fodder. But the end twisted and turned into a supernatural mad science obsession horror à la Frankenstein. I have read nearly every non-fiction book about poisonous elements and plants but I never knew about Alnwick castle or the Duchess of Northumberland's poison garden. So thanks to this book I'm off on a research tangent and planning a trip to the north country. Any book that inspires a trip gets five stars, full stop.