Author: Kalynn Bayron
Publication Date: 29 June 2021
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Page Count: 384
Dates Read: Mar 16 – 23
Reading Method: Audiobook – Subscription Backlog
Review
Another book in my backlog challenge completed! This Poison Heart came in a past Owlcrate box and has been sitting on my shelf for a hot minute. I wasn’t totally in love with Cinderella is Dead, so I hesitated to pick this one up. Boy, do I feel stupid.
This Poison Heart was absolutely fantastic. Briseis has a gift for plants. Everywhere she goes, plants are drawn to her and she is able to make them bloom from almost nothing. When she finds out her birth mother left her a house in the country, Briseis and her moms head out of the city to start a new adventure and potentially learn more about the woman who gave her up and how she ties in to Bri’s gift. But when they arrive at the house, strange things start happening. People are showing up, trespassing on the property, and all the answers Bri is seeking are shrouded in mystery.
Bri is a fantastic main character. I absolutely loved her! She is inquisitive, sensitive, and strong. She is welcoming to everyone and seeks answers before punishments. Perhaps my favorite characters are her moms. Their back and forth is some of the funniest bits of the book. Bri also finds friends in Karter and Marie (maybe more than friends…) but they both seem to be hiding something.
I’m not going to lie, the first half of the book was incredibly slow. There’s a lot of backstory and set up to get to a place where movement makes sense. If you can get through it, it’s worth the investment. The weaving of mythology and the modern world was fantastic. I can’t wait to pick up in book two. We were left on a major cliffhanger!
About the Book
Briseis has a gift: with a single touch she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms.
When Briseis’s aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents hope that surrounded by plants and flowers, she will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they never expected―it comes with a mysterious set of instructions, a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world, and generations of secrets. There is more to Bri’s sudden inheritance than she could have imagined, and she is determined to uncover it
About the Author
Kalynn Bayron is the award winning author of the YA fantasy novels CINDERELLA IS DEAD and THIS POISON HEART. Her latest works include the YA fantasy THIS WICKED FATE and the middle grade paranormal adventure THE VANQUISHERS. She is a classically trained vocalist and musical theater enthusiast. When she’s not writing you can find her watching scary movies and spending time with her kids.
She currently lives in Ithaca, NY with her family.
