Love this one. So interesting. The cover is great too. Will recommend it to friends. What an ending!

The Poison Garden is a story about a young newlywed woman, Elise, who comes home unexpectedly and finds her husband in bed with another woman. The beginning of the book was engrossing and had the tension a good mystery thriller should possess. Unfortunately it quickly became ridiculous with improbable and convoluted plot lines. Elise and the others characters soon became unbelievable. This multiple murder story fell flat for me. I did receive a copy of the book from Netgalley so I felt I should finish reading it. This is my own unbiased review.

This is my second book I read from this author. And this is the second book I’m putting into my reading later’ pile. I was really excited about this release but it didn’t grab my attention right away.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Poison Garden by A.J. Banner.

Elise, who has a contended life of living in a lovely home while working with herbs, discovers devastating news about her marriage on her one year anniversary. And now she doesn't know where to turn, or who to trust.

Oh my goodness, this book was so silly! It was just over the top campy, so very obtuse. I like a touch of believability in these types of suspense novels, but I almost felt like I was watching a half baked version of Family Guy.

Thank you A.J. Banner for the opportunity to read The Poison Garden.

I am a huge fan of A.J. Banner's writing and I have loved reading all of her books. The Poison Garden may be my favorite! The book starts off with the main character Elise finding her husband cheating on her in their bed, which starts a roller coaster of twists and turns that left me guessing until the very end of the book. Learning how the title of the book applied to the story was so intriguing and a major part of the suspense. The Poison Garden is a great suspenseful, psychological thriller, with just the right number of characters without too much detail. This book kept me on the edge of my seat and reading until my eyes wouldn't stay open. The ending was a complete surprise!!! I will recommend this book to all of my friends! 5 plus stars for me!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

Wow. This book had me all over the place trying to guess the guilty party and outcome. Layers and layers of story here, so many twists and turns; and I loved the ending. The story starts with Elise, running for her life through the woods, she can hear her assailant coming behind her, the first chapter ends as she falls down; next we go back three days. Elise is coming back home to the island to celebrate her fist wedding anniversary to her second husband, Keiran. She makes a shocking discovery when she finds her husband with another woman, but the conversation she overhears is even more disturbing.and Elise doubts everything she thinks she knows. She does not know who to rely on, and as she investigates more she wonders if her mother did die of her cancer or was her death hastened along; is Elise in danger and if so, who is she in danger from or has she been walking in her sleep again, or maybe she is losing it. Great original story and great ending.

a really enjoyable story with a perfect ending!
full review to follow!
so far man thanks #netgalley and the author for the copy!

This was an interesting book, to say the least. Given the ratings on Goodreads and my love-hate relationships with unreliable narrators, I went in expecting a decent book but nothing great. This was better than decent, it had the required spins to make it stand apart. It might have been the fact that I heard it on audio but I got swept away with all the constant back and forths on what the truth could be.

The narrative begins and predominantly stays with Elise, a woman who is happy about her approaching first anniversary. She gets a rude jolt as soon as she gets home. Within the span of the next few hours, things start spiralling further out of control than expected. There are multiple unknowns and although some parts were predictable, the timing was good enough that even the feeling of knowing what the future holds does not take the momentum away when the events finally do occur! 

The cast in the story is limited to a few players, almost all of them play significant roles in the deterioration of Elise's mental state. She is not the standard unreliable narrator with problems of addictions or bad experiences previously hindering lucid thought. She is an average woman who has excellent judgement at certain parts of her ongoing adventures, for the most part, reality and persuasion tends to crowd her concerns out and replace it with uncertainty about her own ability to judge the situation. It is fast-paced and has more than a single thread of a story woven through it. The epilogue/last chapter was more sedate than I expected given the pace through the rest of the book but otherwise, it was quite an enjoyable read (if you enjoy reading thrillers and are okay with using the word 'enjoy' in describing the experience)

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but ended up listening to my copy thanks to my Kindle Unlimited membership and this review is of the audio version.

The path splits here, the left track climbing upslope, and the right plunging into darkness. I must choose a direction-it's life or death. The sum of my choices has brought me here. Every decision I've made, every suspicion I've nurtured or ignored has led me into danger.

Elise Waters is recovering from her mother's sudden death. Recently married to her mother's doctor, living in the Northwest, and money in her bank account. Nothing is what it seems. Her mother's death, her marriage, and her house seems to be prison.

Elise must determine whom she can trust and that seems to change with discovery after discovery.

I like a good "who can I trust" thriller but this one left me at a disconnect. It was too many variables and thus was unbelievable. It did leave you wondering how it was all going to end. Was it a satisfying end. I will leave that up to you.

A Special Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest revie

The Poison Garden did what many books fail to do - it caught my attention in the first paragraph. A.J.Banner builds on your questions and anticipation all the way through the book. Having twists and turns that keep you wondering, pulls you in emotionally, and leaves you with all sorts of feelings is definitely a book worth reading! Thank you for letting me read this arc book and give my review on it.

This is the first book that I’ve read by this author and absolutely loved it.
It’s beautifully written and pulls you in from the first page. Once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down.
It’s the perfect domestic noir thriller with plenty of twists and unexpected turns.

Ms. Banner I have to comment you on this brilliant book! I loved it. I started reading, forgetting to eat for hours I could not put it down . I loved it!!! This is a Definitive domestic thriller.
Elsie comes home early to see her new doctor husband on their 1st. Anniversary. She finds him in bed with another woman and overhead them plotting her death. Shocked she kicks him out and soon finds out he may have murdered her Mother who he was treating through mysterious notes her Mother left in a book. Her Mother also named the herb he may have used. Her life is in chaos and she is in shock.
. She begins sleepwalking from stress and wakes up.over his murdered body unable to remember what happened. Is she being set up? Who really murdered him? The plot gets better and better and the last few pages had me rivited. This is absolutely one of the best thrillers I have read this year. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinions are my own. I highly recommend this book for all who enjoy a thriller with twist and turns to keep you guessing and turning pages into the night.

This book was very disappointing. The characters were very frustrating. I liked it but I didn't love it. I just couldn't really share a big enthusiasm for it.

The Poison Garden had a good enough start but 1/4 of a way in it started to just become a bit of a mixed up story. The outcome wasn't what I was expecting though. I thought the ending had happened then another couple of twists came but it wasn't necessarily keeping me locked in. I skimmed through a lot of it to get it finished. Characters werent as good as I thought. Elsie has everything. The house, the job, the husband but on her 1st wedding anniversary her world is turned upside down and she has no idea what is going on. She questions everything in her life and a few twists come along to greet her. It seemed like a tense read but as you got further on in it just didn't really flow as it should

I Loved the premise of the plot but unfortunately it fell flat for me. The plot ended up being too unbelievable and I couldn't connect to the characters. Again I'd like to thank netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to review the book.

Thank you to Lake Union Authors and Netgalley for a copy of The Poison Garden by AJ Banner in exchange for an honest review.

I did not love this domestic drama as much as I hoped I would. I did read it during my reading slump so take that opinion with that in mind. Elise starts out happy with her life and marriage. Finally in a good place since her mother does, Elise is married to the doctor she saw for her treatment and is coming home early to surprise him for their anniversary. When Elise comes home, things are not as she thought and suddenly everything she thought she knew comes into question.

I liked the pace and the length of this thriller, but I did find Elise a bit hard to follow. She has periods of sleep walking and blackouts that I thought really just threw the whole story into chaos rather than making it more suspenseful. It was a quick entertaining read but not one that I fully invested myself in.

When I picked up this book, a day before it was set to release, I couldn't make it to the end of Chapter 1. I had been studying and reading, every moment I had been awake, for a couple of weeks. So when the lead character, Elise kept talking about birds and how amazing her husband, I was annoyed and kept it aside because I am judgy when I am annoyed. I judged it to be yet another disappointing thriller. However, the description kept me in the loop of thoughts surrounding this book. It kept in a tiny light of excitement. So, on the day of release, I just stared at the book, murmuring an apology for being judgy and kept it aside again to read when I am in a good place. But girl, was I wrong about so many things!

Set in Chinook Island, Elise Watters returns home a day earlier, after a meeting with her financial Advisor, to surprise her husband, Dr Kiran Lund, on the occasion of their wedding anniversary the next day. Keiran had been her mother's doctor after she was diagnosed with Brain Tumor. After her mother's death, Keiran had been there for Elise as a shoulder to cry on.
When she gets homes, she finds her husband in bed with another woman. Not only is she shocked and betrayed, but she also hears the woman saying to Keiran about how she wants Elise gone while Keiran replies about some long game and to be patient. This throws her off course and she confronts them, throwing Keiran out of the house.
After that, she confides about this to her best friend and neighbour, Chantal and also her ex-husband Brandon hesitantly, since he is on the island working at Chantal's place. As the plot moves on, Elise uncovers terrible news related to her mother, through her mother's journal.
Due to increased stress, her sleepwalking returns and one night, she finds herself beside her husband's lifeless body-the day after she finds out she is pregnant-in the garden of her estate, she inherited from her mother. What happened? What had she done? Her paranoia spikes up while she unravels the threads of mystery obstructing her life. She has to fight for her life. And her baby's.

"Holy mother of Jesus! Finally, a domestic psychological thriller that didn't let me down and it has revenge in it! Why did I take so long to read this book? The book kept me guessing until the very end and the end, sweet god, was my suspicions wrong!" were my first thoughts after I finished reading it!

Fast-paced, riveting, beautifully woven and utterly conspiring, the book is one of the best read I have had this year! It has been a while since I bit my nails through the book. It's red and bleeding but the book makes it totally worth it because that's the kind of books I love these days after disappointing thrillers! I want my mystery/thrillers to drive me insane and make me savour everything about the experience! By the end of the book, I just wanted to hug Elise and kill anyone who dares to hurt her. I felt so maternal towards her. Whatever Banner was trying to make the readers feel, she succeeded in it! Every character is flawed yet so perfectly blended, in tune with each other and the storyline. Banner took my heart and stomped on it and then in the last chapter, she took care of my heart in the most beautiful way possible. This book turned out to be a quick read compared to other thriller reads but every moment of it keeps you wanting more! Banner doesn't beat around the bush but has the knack to keep the suspense going in an engrossing way!

I loved reading this book and I will check out the other books by the author! I swear to god, I will be talking highly about this book in the days to come!

Recommended: To everyone, read it already! Trigger warnings may include.

Wow! This is a sick/twisted story about a bunch of sick/twisted people who live on an island and aren't particularly happy with their lives.

After reading <strong><i>After Nightfall</i></strong>, IMO a 5 star read, this author went on my radar. I was ecstatic to be approved via NetGalley and have the opportunity to read this title. However, as I have said on many occasions, I am always skeptical to read a follow-up book because will the latest book be as good as the first.

Elise Watters, returns home a day earlier, after meeting with her financial advisor, to surprise her husband, Kiernan, since the next day is their 1st wedding anniversary. Elise and Kiernan met when he was treating her mother for a brain tumor.

But what she finds is her husband in bed with another woman. Not only is it shocking but what she overhears is terrifying. It appears the two may be plotting for her demise.

Over the next few days, she finds her mother's journals that she kept in her herbal shop. Recipes of different herbs for different ailments. But also in those journals, is a warning to Elise that Kiernan can't be trusted and if she dies it isn't from the tumor but she has been murdered. Another warning was about an herb, the Juliet.

She confides this to her best friend, Chantal, and even her ex-husband, Brandon, who has been doing construction on Chantal's house and who is now helping Elise change the locks on her own house. Elise has a history of sleepwalking and one morning finds herself outside standing over her husband's body. What has she done?

Each character has major flaws and one of them has a plot for revenge. I tried tenaciously to figure out which one it was but at every turn, my suspicions changed. Did I eventually figure it out? And then came a stone wall. At 80% read, it appeared that the mystery was solved, but how could that be, I still had 20% to read?

WOW...let me tell you, the last 20% was shocking! And no, I didn't solve it, I didn't even come close!!!

Kudos Ms. Banner!!!! Another 5 star review!!!!

Killer plants are always fun. And thus this book was fun too.

There are definitely some holes in the narrative and a frustrating information dump toward the end to help explain the solve, but it’s a quick and enjoyable read with multiple twists and lots of things that aren’t quite what they first appear to be.

A propulsive, light mystery with a satisfying ending.