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A review by queer_bookwyrm
The Kinder Poison by Natalie Mae
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
3.5 ⭐ CW: violence, blood, death of a parent mention
The Kinder Poison by Natalie Mae is book one in the Kinder Poison trilogy. I went in knowing very little about this other than that it was a YA fantasy. This was fine. I didn't dislike it, but it didn't really hold anything special for me.
We follow Zahru, a stable girl, who dreams of going to the palace to see the event leading up to the Crossing, a race of the royal siblings to decide the heir to the throne. When her friend tries to sneak Zahru onto the boat to the capital using a fake name, she is mistaken for a contender for the teams for the race. Since Zahru is only a Whisperer, meaning she can communicate with animals, she doesn't have the power to help anyone win a race through the desert. Through a turn of events Zahru finds herself having a dangerous role in the Crossing and must find a way to escape the siblings.
I wanted a little more world-building from this book. We get a little bit about some of the different abilities, but we don't see many of them. Whisperers are seen as a low level talent, but I would love to be able to talk to animals. I found Zahru to be a bit annoying, and all the characters felt pretty one dimensional aside from Maia, the shape shifter. We have Kasta, the first born son, broody, mercurial, and paranoid, obsessed with beating his brother; Jet, the second son from a different mother who doesn't want to rule, but is obviously the better choice (also the love interest); and Sakira the younger daughter who parties and has a chip on her shoulder about being a girl. None of the characters really have any significant development aside from the predictable one that Jet goes through. I just wanted more from these characters. There were a few side and background characters mentioned that were queer, but none of our MCs are queer.
I think the whole race across the desert thing would have made more sense if we knew more about this world's religion and their gods, but since we didn't really learn about any of it, it just felt like a poorly thought out McGuffin. There wasn't really anything bad about the book, but I won't be finishing the series, because I have many more interesting books I'd rather read
The Kinder Poison by Natalie Mae is book one in the Kinder Poison trilogy. I went in knowing very little about this other than that it was a YA fantasy. This was fine. I didn't dislike it, but it didn't really hold anything special for me.
We follow Zahru, a stable girl, who dreams of going to the palace to see the event leading up to the Crossing, a race of the royal siblings to decide the heir to the throne. When her friend tries to sneak Zahru onto the boat to the capital using a fake name, she is mistaken for a contender for the teams for the race. Since Zahru is only a Whisperer, meaning she can communicate with animals, she doesn't have the power to help anyone win a race through the desert. Through a turn of events Zahru finds herself having a dangerous role in the Crossing and must find a way to escape the siblings.
I wanted a little more world-building from this book. We get a little bit about some of the different abilities, but we don't see many of them. Whisperers are seen as a low level talent, but I would love to be able to talk to animals. I found Zahru to be a bit annoying, and all the characters felt pretty one dimensional aside from Maia, the shape shifter. We have Kasta, the first born son, broody, mercurial, and paranoid, obsessed with beating his brother; Jet, the second son from a different mother who doesn't want to rule, but is obviously the better choice (also the love interest); and Sakira the younger daughter who parties and has a chip on her shoulder about being a girl. None of the characters really have any significant development aside from the predictable one that Jet goes through. I just wanted more from these characters. There were a few side and background characters mentioned that were queer, but none of our MCs are queer.
I think the whole race across the desert thing would have made more sense if we knew more about this world's religion and their gods, but since we didn't really learn about any of it, it just felt like a poorly thought out McGuffin. There wasn't really anything bad about the book, but I won't be finishing the series, because I have many more interesting books I'd rather read
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Blood
Minor: Death of parent