A review by hearth_hobbit
The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 I received a free copy of this eAudiobook from Netgalley and RB Media in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars: I liked it

Genre: Urban Fantasy, YA/New Adult

You may like this book if you like:

• Playing as Dark Urge in Baulder’s Gate III
• Witchy Fantasy
• Lost Girl (SyFy Series)
• The Magicians (the series not the books)
• Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury
• X-Men

Summary: Venus Stoneheart is a brewer of illegal love potions that are organized and sold by her mother, Clarissa. When Clarissa is found dead after being shot with an iron bullet, Venus is given the chance to take revenge on her mother’s killer. However, the price for revenge may be steeper than Venus is willing to pay.

Thoughts: While I enjoyed this book overall, I think it was a bit crowded for one book of this length. I think it either should have been split into two parts or longer. There’s such a rich world to be explored and so much that happens that I felt like I didn’t have time to get to know the world and the characters as much as I would have liked. I also felt like the romance subplot could have been drawn out farther into the book or even to the second book. I felt like I wanted to know more about the couple separately and what drew them together. They have a history but I felt like that wasn’t enough to convey why they’re compatible. That may just be me though because I want everything to be slow burn.

After reading this book, there’s nothing I want more for Venus than to put her on a cruise or something because she’s been through so much and needs a break. I think for everything Venus is put through she handles it pretty realistically, which is to say she’s falling apart throughout the book. I appreciated that because to be grieving and finding out things that affect her life and the lives around her, it was very understandable for her to not be okay.

The characters were pretty compelling but there were a lot of them and at times I had a hard time remembering who was who. I loved the family relationships. I liked how integrated the family was in each others’ lives. Venus and Janus’s relationship was my favorite. They felt realistically like sisters.  

 I thought the world building in this story was very accessible. The story is told with excerpts of newspaper articles, encyclopedia clips, and media within the world at the start of each chapter, which I think is a  fun way to world-build.

The magic in this book was one of the best parts. There were some powers that I hadn’t ever seen before. For example, the main character is a “negative empath”, so she’s able to catch on to all negative emotions around her and even be a magnet for negativity at times. It doesn’t sound like the funnest power to get, especially paired with a shit-stirring demon living inside one’s body but it did add more drama to the story. There was also a woman who tells fortunes and she does so by journaling her premonitions which I thought was a very cool idea but also I was daydreaming about all the stationary I would buy if I was her.

I thought the brewing process was interesting to read about. I loved the description of the ingredients and the significance of each one. Flowers and their meanings were brought up many times throughout the story. I love that kind of thing so I really enjoyed that detail.

I also loved the way familiars are set up within this book. Familiars are magical pets that look out for the families they belong to. They can basically live forever if they aren’t killed and the longer they live, the stronger they become. The Stoneheart family familiar actually played a significant part within the story and was a character in its own right. 

If you’re interested in this book it’ll be available starting tomorrow, March 5, 2024.