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A review by bookishbette
This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
Oh. My. God.
When I say that this is easily in my top five books EVER, I am NOT kidding. I cannot WAIT to get my hands on the sequel!!!! I started this at work during a lazy day and I could BARELY put it down to do my actual job, and started back up the SECOND I got back home. It's so wonderfully emotional, telling the the story of Briseis and her blood family so well and genuinely that I feel like I'm part of them as well. The descriptions are so vivid, I could picture the flowers before I even attempted to Google them, and I've learned about so many cool new flowers and plants that I definitely should avoid!
It's a very medium pace right up to the end, when so much happens all at once that it's the best kind of whirlwind imaginable—one you almost don't see coming. I'm usually pretty mid about medium-paced books, because I feel like it takes me a while to read them, but this? I was ASTOUNDED when I realized I was nearly halfway through it, and it was SUCH a bittersweet revelation! To know that I was getting close to the climax, to finding out the answers to so many questions that I shared with Bri, but also know that meant I was that much closer to being done? Bitter and sweet!!!!
Truly, if you have not read this book, you are depriving yourself. It is masterful, gorgeous, and a truly wonderful depiction of a story that girls who look like Briseis don't usually find themselves centered in—and have long deserved to.
When I say that this is easily in my top five books EVER, I am NOT kidding. I cannot WAIT to get my hands on the sequel!!!! I started this at work during a lazy day and I could BARELY put it down to do my actual job, and started back up the SECOND I got back home. It's so wonderfully emotional, telling the the story of Briseis and her blood family so well and genuinely that I feel like I'm part of them as well. The descriptions are so vivid, I could picture the flowers before I even attempted to Google them, and I've learned about so many cool new flowers and plants that I definitely should avoid!
It's a very medium pace right up to the end, when so much happens all at once that it's the best kind of whirlwind imaginable—one you almost don't see coming. I'm usually pretty mid about medium-paced books, because I feel like it takes me a while to read them, but this? I was ASTOUNDED when I realized I was nearly halfway through it, and it was SUCH a bittersweet revelation! To know that I was getting close to the climax, to finding out the answers to so many questions that I shared with Bri, but also know that meant I was that much closer to being done? Bitter and sweet!!!!
Truly, if you have not read this book, you are depriving yourself. It is masterful, gorgeous, and a truly wonderful depiction of a story that girls who look like Briseis don't usually find themselves centered in—and have long deserved to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Pregnancy
This book heavily features adoption and the feelings that come with being an adoptee, as Briseis is adopted. There are also vivid depictions of poison and its effects, since Bri inherits a poison garden. , but most notably in the last few chapters, right as Bri transmutes the liquid and Mrs. Redmond kills her mom. I skimmed past it to make sure I could handle it, and it wasn't too awful for me, but warnings ahead anyway. There are also definite moments of body horror, in the scene where Marie and Bri are in the graveyard, and get attacked. . Use discretion and you should be fine, as there isn't anything plot-relevant in the descriptioms themselves.