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offservicebookrecs 's review for:
The Poisoner
by I.V. Ophelia
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
And then in the strange way things happened, their roles were reversed from that day. The Hunted became The Huntress. The Hunter became The Prey.
Such is the tale of The Poisoner and her Creature - two deadly vipers caught in a twist of lies and bloodthirsty ruthlessness amidst the gaslit alleys and cobblestone streets of Victorian London. Alina List, botanist by day and amateur poisoner by night, kills conceited and dangerous men as her preferred form of charity work. When she targets arrogant playboy Silas Forbes, she's shocked to later find him amongst the vile concoctions of her apothecary days later, eyes bright and fangs out - and the world as she knows it will forever change. Human men are a problem she knows how to solve - "creatures" are another story.
As this deadly pair play in and out of society, each pushing the other to their limits, their unlikely association sparks gossip amongst polite society, turning heads and garnering attention - and not all attention is good attention. As Alina and Silas become undeniably more entwined with one another, finding more than death at the ends of their bared nails and teeth, lurking foes, hidden identities, and unsolvable questions linger at the border of their relationship, and in London at large. Will these killers find love amongst coldhearted blood, or are they doomed to failure at the ends of another's marionette strings?
I.V. Ophelia, the macabre poet that you are. This was such a lush, sultry, atmospheric debut, and I was equally scandalized and entertained the entire way through (and WHAT was that ending, and what do you mean the sequel doesn't come out until next April??). Here we have a love story to be sure, but this is the kind of love that I hope never finds you - to be understood is one thing, to be left bodies at the doorstep in the vein of cat bringing you a dead bird as a sign of affection is just not practical in these modern times. There is nothing morally grey about these characters - yes, Alina kills for a cause, but we are not kidding ourselves that she mostly does it for herself, and Silas basically does whatever he wants - all that to say, if you like characters behaving badly (which I do - that's half the fun of fiction), this is absolutely the book for you.
Other indications that this book might be for you: Gaslamp magical realism sounds up your alley; you love games such as tag and hide-and-seek with an ~adult~ twist; you enjoy a good garden party with plenty of time for a romp side quest; you love a dynamic author who curates a beautiful, aesthetic vision for the story she's telling; you stan a woman in STEM; you enjoy being betrayed; you're an audiobook girly who yearns for a duet with voice actors with RANGE (hint: this is it); a little poisoning/murder is basically a treat; you like the Bridgerton aesthetic of having a house in the country and a picnic but also there may be bodies in the woods; and you love a solid vampire-esque sm*tty tale of decadence, rot, corruption, and perhaps a true vein of love thrown in to mess with you when things start going WAY off the rails.
All this to say, this was a most excellent book (sensitive readers will want to check the trigger warnings before reading, of course, there is a lot of unhappiness here and it's a book about murderers at baseline), I still think about it weeks later, and I will be comping at the bars of my enclosure until the sequel comes out, thank you and I will be forwarding you my dental bills.
Such is the tale of The Poisoner and her Creature - two deadly vipers caught in a twist of lies and bloodthirsty ruthlessness amidst the gaslit alleys and cobblestone streets of Victorian London. Alina List, botanist by day and amateur poisoner by night, kills conceited and dangerous men as her preferred form of charity work. When she targets arrogant playboy Silas Forbes, she's shocked to later find him amongst the vile concoctions of her apothecary days later, eyes bright and fangs out - and the world as she knows it will forever change. Human men are a problem she knows how to solve - "creatures" are another story.
As this deadly pair play in and out of society, each pushing the other to their limits, their unlikely association sparks gossip amongst polite society, turning heads and garnering attention - and not all attention is good attention. As Alina and Silas become undeniably more entwined with one another, finding more than death at the ends of their bared nails and teeth, lurking foes, hidden identities, and unsolvable questions linger at the border of their relationship, and in London at large. Will these killers find love amongst coldhearted blood, or are they doomed to failure at the ends of another's marionette strings?
I.V. Ophelia, the macabre poet that you are. This was such a lush, sultry, atmospheric debut, and I was equally scandalized and entertained the entire way through (and WHAT was that ending, and what do you mean the sequel doesn't come out until next April??). Here we have a love story to be sure, but this is the kind of love that I hope never finds you - to be understood is one thing, to be left bodies at the doorstep in the vein of cat bringing you a dead bird as a sign of affection is just not practical in these modern times. There is nothing morally grey about these characters - yes, Alina kills for a cause, but we are not kidding ourselves that she mostly does it for herself, and Silas basically does whatever he wants - all that to say, if you like characters behaving badly (which I do - that's half the fun of fiction), this is absolutely the book for you.
Other indications that this book might be for you: Gaslamp magical realism sounds up your alley; you love games such as tag and hide-and-seek with an ~adult~ twist; you enjoy a good garden party with plenty of time for a romp side quest; you love a dynamic author who curates a beautiful, aesthetic vision for the story she's telling; you stan a woman in STEM; you enjoy being betrayed; you're an audiobook girly who yearns for a duet with voice actors with RANGE (hint: this is it); a little poisoning/murder is basically a treat; you like the Bridgerton aesthetic of having a house in the country and a picnic but also there may be bodies in the woods; and you love a solid vampire-esque sm*tty tale of decadence, rot, corruption, and perhaps a true vein of love thrown in to mess with you when things start going WAY off the rails.
All this to say, this was a most excellent book (sensitive readers will want to check the trigger warnings before reading, of course, there is a lot of unhappiness here and it's a book about murderers at baseline), I still think about it weeks later, and I will be comping at the bars of my enclosure until the sequel comes out, thank you and I will be forwarding you my dental bills.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Murder