Kalynn Bayron

Darkness blooms in bestselling author Kalynn Bayron's new contemporary fantasy about a girl with a unique and deadly power. Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch. When Briseis's aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents decide to leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they could never have imagined--it comes with a specific set of instructions, an old-school apothecary, and a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world that can only be entered by those who share Bri's unique family lineage. When strangers begin to arrive on their doorstep, asking for tinctures and elixirs, Bri learns she has a surprising talent for creating them. One of the visitors is Marie, a mysterious young woman who Bri befriends, only to find that Marie is keeping dark secrets about the history of the estate and its surrounding community. There is more to Bri's sudden inheritance than she could have imagined, and she is determined to uncover it . . . until a nefarious group comes after her in search of a rare and dangerous immortality elixir. Up against a centuries-old curse and the deadliest plant on earth, Bri must harness her gift to protect herself and her family. From the bestselling author of Cinderella Is Dead comes another inspiring and deeply compelling story about a young woman with the power to conquer the dark forces descending around her.

This Poison Heart

Really cool but kinda confusing sometimes, or I'm just slow

Sheridan Sweeney 

Minnie Mazuera

 Whenever you hear a story about villainous women, you should ask who's telling the story. 

“Whenever you hear a story about villainous women, you should ask who’s telling the story. ”
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To start off, let’s get one thing straight. Any book revolving around, or even mentioning Hecate is a good book by me. This is my one weakness. This is my red line. You mention this bitch, and I am 100% in for the ride.

So, with that disclaimer out of the way, I can safely announce that this was a good book. All the Hecate references aside, I really enjoyed that the story wove in the Greek mythology references somewhat subtly, while keeping an original streak within the plot. It doesn't bank down hard on the mythology but keeps it going under the current, which made the whole thing more interesting. The main character was likable enough, the magic was pretty cool, and most importantly, it was not predictable (which is a crucial criteria in YA books for me).

My one deal breaker with this story was (-and watch me end this review with a cliffhanger for those not wanting to be spoiler-ed about a somewhat main plot point) (view spoiler)[the romance. I mean, the age gap between the two characters was somewhere around 250 years. This is so weird. Please, please stop with this shit. (hide spoiler)]

Janice

The premise of this book really appealed to me, it borrows elements of Greek mythology, is set in an old manor and revolves around magical plants. It doesn't stop there though, it's filled with secrets that I was all too eager to find out.

I will admit that the beginning was a bit slow and too descriptive for me, but the chemistry that Briseis and her moms had made up for that. It eventually gets less descriptive luckily and that's also where the story becomes really fascinating and Briseis starts uncovering the secrets that her family left behind. It got so intense that I often found myself sitting on the figurative edge of my seat.

All in all I would recommend this book.

I loved it until I didn’t, which truly disappointed me as I really wanted to love it until the end and read the next book but I won’t be doing that anymore…
Briseis frustrated me at times with her decisions <spoiler>why would you show someone a poison garden that could kill them after knowing how deadly it is and how clumsy the person is</spoiler>. I could look past that but I personally can’t look past <spoiler>the huge age gap between her and marie, it also felt too insta lovey for me</spoiler>

Victoria Trzeciak

** spoiler alert **
           (4.5)

 *Buddy Read* 
I really liked this book, I loved the concept of the powers and the poison garden! The Greek mythology added in was really interesting and I wish we got more of it. I feel lush some characters could have been fleshed out more like Alec and Marie they were kind of lacking background. We didn’t get much of Marie’s powers from the Heart and she came off as creepy to me at first with how she acted towards Bri and I didn’t like their insta-love either. Bro had more chemistry with Karter tbh. As well as some characters were only there to move the story along like the candle shop owner and Dr.Grant’s father, we never got an explanation of who he was or how he knew that Briseis could transform things even when she didn’t know. It felt like the author forgot about them. The author did a good job with Karter’s character, I liked him for most of the book until he choose his mother over what was right. The foreshadowing for him was also good and made me suspicious of him when Dr. Grant didn’t know him and Marie said the bookshop was new. The death of Bri’s mother was heartbreaking and brutal. I liked the reveal of Ms. Remond elaborate plan and how Circe just showed up in the end.

I've had this on my radar for a while, and I'm glad I finally picked it up. It was so much fun. I loved Bayron's interpretation of the myth of Medea and Jason. It was such a fresh spin on a Greek mythology retelling. My favorite thing was the magic system; I found it so fascinating. I loved how Bri could command all these different plants and how she was immune to even the most toxic of them. I also liked learning more about her family's history and how she came to have these powers. My only issue was that I felt the plot took a while to kick off, but other than that, I enjoyed it and can't wait to pick up the next one.

Heather Harrington

Absolutely yes, this would be a recommendation I would give. I  adored how this world was created and the way that mythology lore was written in.

I will admit, some of the twists I called very early on, so I would say I found our MC somewhat naive at times. I can understand wanting to belong but at the same time she made some very poor decisions. I did not expect the ending though and I think I can see where the next book is heading! Very excited to finish this one. 

Tace

Absolutely yes, this would be a recommendation I would give. I  adored how this world was created and the way that mythology lore was written in.

I will admit, some of the twists I called very early on, so I would say I found our MC somewhat naive at times. I can understand wanting to belong but at the same time she made some very poor decisions. I did not expect the ending though and I think I can see where the next book is heading! Very excited to finish this one. 

✓ Dark magic
✓ Living gods
✓ Diverse cast

Maya Johnson

** spoiler alert **
           I had really high hopes for this book but I just didn't love it, I barely liked it. It goes at a very slow place, I just remember wishing something entertaining would happen but the writing is just so slow. I was happy that it had queer representation (as seen with the main characters two mothers). The relationship the main character ends up having herself has no depth, it's really unfortunate. I plan on reading the sequel because towards the end of the book things picked up and became more interesting,

lisa roeling 

mom and mo might be my favourite fictional parents ever 💗

4,5 stars - Greek mythology, mystery & a whole lot of Black Girl Magic to top it off. Looking forward to reading the sequel 👀​

Joy KBA

Yora

I LOVED THIS BOOK. Het begin was zo heartwarming en ik hou van de relaties in de sapphic familie. Het einde had echt een enorme plottwist en ik ben nu helemaal excited voor boek 2

This story follows magic, love, and shows the importance of trust

It is perfect for fans of Greek mythology 

Hannah Cromby 

This story follows magic, love, and shows the importance of trust

It is perfect for fans of Greek mythology 

Carrington Kinslow

I have very mixed feelings about this one. I thought some parts of this story were great, and I thought some were unnecessary. There would be times where I couldn’t stop reading, and then times where I had to seriously consider a DNF. 

Unfortunately, I don’t think Kalynn Bayron’s writing style is for me. A lot of this prose felt really awkward to me, and Bayron spends a ridiculous amount of time on very mundane things that I just don’t care about. It distracted from what was the actual point of the story. This book did not need several passages about Bri wandering around town trying to find a property attorney. Bayron is also fond of pop culture references, which I’m convinced no author can truly pull off. A lot of the dialogue was really cringe because of it.

I also thought that Briseis was really foolish sometimes and pretty inconsistently written. There were times where she was really clever and careful, and then times where she couldn’t figure something out that was painfully obvious and she acted weirdly reckless. It was giving me whiplash. 

There were strong elements of this story, though. The way Greek mythology was tied in was really interesting. I liked Marie a lot, and I would be a little interested to see what happens with Briseis and Marie and their budding relationship. I really liked the atmosphere of the story and the sleuthing around the house. 

I actually picked this book up because the sequel has just come out, but I don’t think I’ll end up picking it up. I mean, maybe? One day? But not likely.

This Poison Heart - 2.75 Stars

priyam/august 

Sonja H

Ich würde dem Buch 10 Sterne geben, wenn ich könnte

•Air•

Such a sweet idea that I personally think was perfectly executed. I really enjoyed the characters, the simple plot, and the introduction to her story. I loved the aesthetics the book brought me. Only complaint was that it took me a bit to get into. But I can’t wait for the next one!

Bi Black girl magic plant Percy Jackson  mystery. 

Teagan <3

** spoiler alert **
           “Imagine plants are kind of like people. Tell a person they’re worthless, hurt their feelings everyday—they’d wither, too.“

TW death of a parent, murder, blood, violence

I’m in love with this book. I knew I would love it since I love Kalynn Bayron’s writing but oh my it exceeded expectations. 

This book has made me realise that plant and nature related magic is a theme that needs to be explored so much more in books, I loved it so much. I’m very clueless about plants but I found myself so engaged even in just the little things like Briseis’s comments about different types of plants. I would search on the internet everytime a plant was mentioned just to see pictures of it which I thought was really fun to do.

Briseis as a character I also loved, her whole family dynamic was really comforting and I would find myself smiling along at every cute domestic family moment. The dynamic between breseis and her parents was also just perfect, the humour between them never felt tiring for me.

The references to greek mythology wasn’t something I expected or even realised until about halfway through but I loved that it genuinely added to the storyline. 

I’m usually the worst at imagining things in my head, especially setting but it was so easy for me to imagine the home and the garden because of how beautifully they were described.

Inez 

The mc inherited a property from the sister of her birth mother. She also has some weird powers involving plants. At this property she starts to discover a lot about herself and her birth family.
I loved how the story came together at the end and can't wait for part 2, but as the mc was discovering a lot of things I found that sometimes it was just a too big of a coincidence how she found some information. I was like owh yeah sure no that happens. That was the only thing I didn't like. 
I loved the characters and the Greek mythology in the book and enjoyed reading it.
It's definitely a good book if you love stories with a ancient family history, sketchy houses and a little bit of magic.

Kassia Skorzewska

I really enjoyed this book!!! I found it a bit slow to get into, and I went through a reading slump where I didn’t read for a few days, but closer to the end of the book, I was hooked and couldn’t put it down! I’m really looking forward to June for when the second book comes out! Also, can we talk about the LGBTQ representation in both of Bayron’s books! I love that!!!

Sabetha Danes

This book made my poisonous plant loving heart sing. 

Kalynn writes strong characters, from the side to the main, everyone is well developed and has all the good and bad you'd find in your own life. So much emotion from each person is packed into this book, so I am warning you now to grab a tissue. 

When we meet Briseis, she is cautious, reserved and always tense from holding back her powers. But when we leave her, she has come to life. Bold, daring and confident, her growth in this story is one of my favorite parts. She makes mistakes, miss judges, and fumbles but she keeps pushing forward to discover the secrets of her family lineage. The author captures her age so perfectly, none of the weird whiny YA trope junk. Just a girl trying to find her way as a young adult, in a world that won't understand her powers.

I loved her family, her parents are so nurturing, and warm with the right amount of stern / spice. 

It was impossible to put this book down to life, the story moves forward in a way that keeps you engaged with the action, while building up lore. The tie ins for Greek mythology is fantastic. There aren't enough stories about hecate, and I adored Kalynn's take on history. All of the magical / witch type elements are mysterious, yet believable. I hope we get more in depth history of some of the town folk as the series progresses.

I can't wait for the next book in this series, the ending is such a huge cliffhanger, yet completely wraps up the plot for this book, which is insane. 

You'll love this book if you love magic in plain sight, family history, and modern day quests.

lauren carla

Kendra Negron

Stick this one out!!! Like many fantasy journey this take a while to get going but once it did I was hooked!! The last bit had me yelling! And the potential this leaves to continue is so exciting!!’

Linda 

Absolutely loved it, black girl magic at its finest and I liked the fact that the book is about plant magic, you don't see that a lot.

This Poison Heart

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