Everything about This Poison Heart is right. The characters come from diverse backgrounds and there are all types of queer representation. The story seamlessly references Greek mythology with nods to the Victorian gothic and musical theater. I am required to share that there is a reference to Hamilton and two references to Hadestown. I simultaneously couldn’t put The Poison Heart down and tried to savor it because I never wanted it to end. This is definitely one of my favorite books of the year.

This Poison Heart is the gorgeous and lush story about Briseis, her beautiful family bond and her incredible, as the author put it, Black girl magic all coming together to prove that your purpose in the world will find you no matter what, whether through good or bad means.

I adored Briseis and her sassy ass moms. They had such a beautiful dynamic. I also loved that this book taught me about Mythology and poisonous plants, through the book itself and also through my curiosity that led to me googling far too much. Books that teach you new things are so important and this book has so much to give its readers.

The ending of the book was the most OH BTW THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL ending I have ever read. I was sooo mad and yelling YOU BETTER GO GET HER!

Rating:
🎃🎃🎃🎃.5/5

I really enjoyed this book! I found it to be a major improvement from Cinderella is Dead (which wasn't bad, but this was superior). I wasn't able to put this down. I was invested in the characters and the plot. Highly recommend checking this book (and this author) out asap!

I know that folx say not to judge a book by its cover but I saw this one, the author, and the description and I knew it was gonna be good! Briseis is an awesome main character. She's loving, intellectually curious, but not stupid. Her relationship with her moms is sweet, playful, and tight-knit. Despite being adopted, it's clear that she and her family are open about her adoption and feel no conflict with staying at her birth mother's home. When I was growing up, a lot of YA books showed family units where the teens hated their parents or kept a ton of secrets from them. This Poison Heart displays healthy communication within Briseis's family and I absolutely love it.

This Poison Heart is medium to fast-paced. While it takes a little bit to pick up in the beginning, the story never feels like it's dragging. There are plenty of action scenes in the book and following Briseis through her encounters with the people in this new town was intriguing. I found myself trying to guess who might be duplicitous time and time again. It's definitely the type of book you can get lost in. Which is why I was so sad when it ended! I know that this is only the first book in a series, but now I'm upset that I'll have to wait to find out when the next one will be out.

[Spoilers ahead!]
My only critique of this book is the hint of a relationship between Briseis (who is underage) and a Marie who is actually over 300 years old... I really don't like that a person who is supposed to be that old is attracted to and trying to date a teenage girl. I understand that Marie looks like she's "seventeen forever," but that's really uncomfortable for me. It seems predatory.

Verdict
I highly recommend this book to just about everyone! I got my mom the audiobook and she finished it in one day. You need this in your life!

Kalynn Bayron has become an auto buy author for me! I loved her take on classic Gothic tropes and have learned so much about poisonous plants! Can’t wait for the second book!!!

Huge thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy to review!

Okay let me start by saying I have been DYING to get my hands on this book!

For those of you that follow my reviews or keep up with me on socials you know how much I LOVED Cinderella Is Dead.. and now after reading This Poison Heart I can say with complete confidence that Kalynn Bayron will be a new auto-buy author for me.

Among the many things I LOVED about this book is that it was a fantasy grounded in contemporary.. it was a contemporary story with small fantasy elements that made it feel so real and so entrancing.

I also LOVED the mythology elements in the story.. and have found recently that I ama huge sucker for them. This Poision Heart had so many of my favorite elements in a story, and it was so refreshing to go into this story with very little knowledge about the plot beforehand because I got to watch it unfold in awe.

I am BEYOND thrilled this is going to be more than one book because part way through I realized the size of it wasn't going to be enough.

If you haven't already.. do yourself a favor and pick this up immediately!

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron is a young adult urban fantasy featuring Briseis, a teenager with the peculiar power to grow flowers simply by touching seeds or plants. When her aunt dies and leaves Bri a mysterious estate in rural New York, she and her moms move there for the summer, away from the bustling concrete jungle that is Brooklyn. Surrounded by verdant forests and bucolic scenery full of plants and flowers for the first time in her life, Bri hopes to use this opportunity to learn more about herself and gain better control of her gift.

The premise of this novel—a poison garden, ancient magic, and a gothic home packed with secrets—is absolutely delicious, but I felt like I was constantly waiting for the plot to take off. Bri discovers an apothecary fully stocked with mysterious plants and a poison garden (inspired by the actual Poison Garden at England’s Alnwick Garden) hidden within her new home, and beyond Bri realizing her specialty is in handling poisonous plants, the plot seems to stall for a while here. I kept wondering what she would do with her powers, other than creating elixirs and growing ingredients for eccentric townsfolk who abruptly barge into her home requesting remedies only she can provide. The novel is heavy on exposition, and the awkward pacing made the first half a struggle to get through.

The charming if odd host of friends, family, and new acquaintances Bri makes is one of the best parts of this novel. In Brooklyn, Bri’s friends aren’t very understanding or kind towards her, and Bayron effectively illustrates how lonely it can feel to have bad friends. It’s so satisfying to experience Bri cultivate some real friendships as her story unfolds. Bloom where you’re planted? More like bloom where you’re transplanted.

Bayron subverts familiar, maybe even predictable metaphors and symbols associated with gardening and nature. This is especially noticeable in Bri’s close relationship with her parents; she’s adopted, and Bayron is especially thoughtful outlining Bri’s concerns about hurting her mothers’ feelings in wanting to explore her biological family’s lineage to learn more about herself. I love that Bri’s bond with her mothers is so strong that even though she worries about hurting their feelings, she never actually tries to hide her curiosity about her ancestry or her desire to learn more about her heritage. The openness in their relationship is refreshing, and it’s so comforting that that angst is never true cause for any grief in her life.

Bayron’s use of Greek mythology as a foundation for the magic surrounding Bri’s powers and bloodline is one of the most unique elements of this story, but it takes too long before it's fully revealed to readers. Bri and her parents don’t even arrive at their summer residence until a quarter of the way through the book, and the process for Bri to stumble onto clues about her magic and heritage is too drawn out and convenient. I never quite understood why so many clues were hidden throughout the house if Bri’s biological family didn’t intend for her to discover those secrets. Perhaps they never anticipated she would be in the house, but then why were the clues there at all? There are so many questions and so few answers, though I should point out this novel's the first in a series, so maybe this ambiguity is by design.

This Poison Heart puts a fresh new spin on the nature vs. nurture dialogue (quite literally where the plants are concerned!), and its strength is in the relationships Bri establishes, nurtures, and grows. While the mythology aspect is interesting, the info dumping was difficult to process, and the story at the end of this book left us with far more questions than answers. I can only hope the seedling that is this book will sprout into a series that is a bit more fully realized because I otherwise like all the individual elements of this world.

Absolutely stunning. Kalynn Bayron is a talent to watch. I loved everything about this book, and I look forward to seeing what the author writes next.

Absolutely loved Cinderella is Dead so I had to jump into this book the first chance I got. Bri has a secret gift or curse with plants and she’s trying to figure out why she has this special ability to cause plants to grow. She is desperate to understand this ability especially since she doesn’t know her biological parents. She ends up inheriting a house outside the city - so her and her parents jump at the chance to explore her family’s past.

Greek mythology, secret garden retelling, poison Ivy vibes, lgbtq+ reps - go grab this great book!

I enjoyed this so much! I adored all of the characters and the progression we saw in Briseis. Her internal struggle between fully embracing who she is and who she has felt she needed to be was written fantastically. There were so many different layers to this book, from family, to romance, and most importantly self discovery and each one was executed perfectly!

I loved this book so so much!

I haven’t read Cinderella is Dead yet but this was an amazing introduction into Kalynnn.’s storytelling. I loved the characters, the world, and the romance.

This book was intense. Beautiful, but intense. The storyline was original and fun to read about. YA or middle grade. Safe for children to read. It also normalizes being adopted, having two lesbian moms, and being bisexual. I love that. I was upset to realize that it is the first in a series, though.

I really loved this read. I thought this was such a fast pace read. I also really loved how this story cobined both fairytale and mythology elements. I also really thought this book had so many twists and turns that I did not see coming. I also really enjoyed the magic system that developed throughout this read! I found this to be super engaging read and I am dying for book 2.

Trigger Warning: Murder, poison and stalking

This book, folks, has given me so much! I was never bored, and I couldn't put it down; bread crumbs were leading me through this book, leading me to a delicious heart of this book.
I am blessed with the characters, family ties, betrayal, suspense, mystery, and magic.
With an absolute perfectly written flow, we slowly see both us, the reader and the main character's world descend into the magical world around them. Then, as danger arises, we see the importance of COMMUNICATION - like she told her moms what was happening, and I was beyond thrilled.
ALSO, this book gave me so many emotions; I laughed and swooned over friendships, I cried at this ending, and I literally wanted to throw the book across the room because a certain scene because I was so mad, I felt the betrayal, like it was done to me.

ALL I will say for the ending is ahhhhhhhh; I cannot wait for the sequel. I won't be getting over that plot twist anytime soon! READ THIS BOOK!

Brilliant. I loved Cinderella is Dead but I think this one is even better, Kalynn Bayron is quickly becoming one of my must read authors. In this new contemporary fantasy YA series (yeah!) Briseis has a particular gift; she can grow plants with a single touch. When an aunt she didn’t know existed leaves her an estate, she will finally get a chance to learn how to control her powers. But everything is not as it seems in upstate New York… so good, I cannot wait to book talk this in class. #pernillerecommends

Thank you so much to Bloomsbury YA and Netgalley for letting me read an eARC of This Poison Heart! I had seen this book everywhere before I was approved for the eARC, so when I was approved, I was the most excited! Life got in the way, so I wasn't able to finish it/get this review out until after the book was published (This Poison Heart came out on June 29), but that's good for y'all because you can go grab it as soon as you're done reading my review!
This Poison Heart 5/5 Stars

Summary from Goodreads:
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.

Ooooo this book was soooo good!!!! I really, really enjoyed it! It started a little slowly, but as soon as Briseis inherits the estate, things start getting more interesting. Rhinebeck is such an interesting little town in New York and Selene and Circe's family estate (that's now Bri's estate with her moms) is super cool! So many hidden rooms and so much space and those gardens! I'm not going to lie, I was a little worried that it would be hard for me to connect with the plants aspect of this book, because I am the worst in the garden- I've pretty much killed all the plants I've tried to keep alive (although, I did recently get a new aloe and it seems to be doing alright so far), but all of the garden/plants/botany stuff within the books (plus the fact that Bri's moms are florists) made me even more excited about the premise of the book, Bri's power, and the everything she was doing in Rhinebeck. I also really loved the fact that there was so much Greek mythology in there- that wasn't something that I was expecting at all, but it was threaded throughout the book and Greek mythology is my favorite, so I loved it! Marie was a great friend/possible love interest for Bri and I really liked how she helped her figure out her family history and where she came from in unexpected (unexpected to me anyway) ways (I hope that's vague enough to not be a spoiler haha). And omg that whole ending section was so intense and amazing and left me wanting so much more! I cannot wait to read book 2 and I definitely think that y'all need to read this book ASAP so you're ready to wait for book 2 with me!!!

Briseis has a gift: she can grow entire plants from next to nothing. It’s a gift she’s had to tamp down and keep secret, because plants like her and she doesn’t want another Incident to happen. She’s down for chilling through a quiet summer in the city—working at her moms’ flower shop, enjoying life in Brooklyn, and ignoring the way her best friend has been ghosting her. Until a lawyer shows up and tells Bri that her aunt—the sister of Bri’s birthmom—passed away and left Bri an entire estate in upstate New York. With a little trepidation, Bri and her parents head north. But weird shit is happening, the people seem to expect something from Bri, and there’s a garden filled with poison plants only she can enter. Something strange is about to go down, and it’s up to Bri to figure out the secrets of her birth family before it’s too late.

When we pull into the town of Rhinebeck, the closing cords of the final song played out. Mom sobbed through Eliza’s farewell as Mo dramatically held her hand like she was the actual sad ghost of Alexander Hamilton, with my dying of embarrassment in the back seat. “What key are y’all singing in?” I asked.

“It’s in B-Quiet,” Mo said, turning to Mom.

How do you explain perfection in a sentence?

Easy: This Poison Heart.

There is so very much jam-packed into this nearly 400-page book, and I ate up every single sentence like I would die without another word of Bri, her moms, and the weirdness and magic. There’s Greek mythology mixed with racism and micro-aggressions, mystery and magic, and enough jump scares to rival Get Out. Throughout it all, however, are Bri and her moms, and never have I ever wanted to befriend two women more (Mo and Mom, not Bri, who is a literal child despite being smart as hell).

“Let’s keep moving and come back to it later,” suggested Mo.

“Seriously?” I asked. “Mo, that’s how you miss the room that used to be a morgue or whatever and then, boom—we’re all possessed by demons.”

“Would you stop with the possession stuff?” Mom said, gripping Mo’s arm.

“Don’t worry, babe,” Mo said, shooting her a devilish grin. “I’ll protect you.”

“How?” Mom asked. “How you gonna protect me from a ghost?”

Seriously. For all that I loved Bri, her moms stole every single scene they were in. All of my highlighted quotes are about them. They were the perfect pair, a team dedicated in raising their daughter and managing their business and living, as hard as it was, with the rent being raised and their business not doing as well as they wanted. And I loved how they wanted to protect Bri, even when that protectiveness was a little smothering and bewildered by Bri’s ability with plants. And, of course, I really liked how they approached the whole going to a possibly haunted mansion owned by Bri’s birth family in an all-white town in upstate New York. Which made the ending even more heartwrenching, and why I need book two right now.

Anywho, there’s a lot going on in this book, but the prose kicks ass and I loved how everything wove together in this mystery, and how the twists and turns came even when I wasn’t entirely expecting them to come. I wasn’t quite expecting the bad guy to be the bad guy, and that made it ever more thrilling, particularly when I’ve been having such a hard time being wowed by YA fantasy recently.

This has a lot of the common tropes—the boy (although it’s like as a friend not love), the Chosen One, the magical powers no one else has, mysterious family, mythological creatures and people, the main character gaining independence/agency, and more—and yet the way Bayron subverts and twists each one into something new is just so fantastic.

And throughout everything, there is the sense of family, and a queer wholesomeness that just made my heart sing.

This is another review where I went and talked about my feelings instead of what the book is about—look, it’s relatively simple: girl has magical ability to grow plants and an affinity for the most poisonous plants of all, inherits a mysterious mansion from her dead, mysterious aunt, goes to investigate and finds that her family is integral to the community and that things aren’t what she’s been told, plus there’s a lot of mythological stuff and weirdness and possibly magic and also the expectation of labor from Black families to provide for white people.

So I will leave you final quote, again of how impossible parents can be—and how fucking delicious ice cream is.

The thought of being able to complete my wash-day routine in peace made me deliriously happy. Back home, Mom always seemed to have a craving for ice cram right in the middle of my twist out, knowing she’s been lactose intolerant her entire life, and knowing we all had to share the single bathroom.

Some things in life are just worth suffering for.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

Briseis’s aunt dies and leaves her an estate in Rhinebeck, NY. Bri and her parents were going through financial difficulties and the news of the inheritance arrives at the right time. They left Brooklyn for the summer. Kalynn Bayron introduce a fresh concept of Brieseis’ gift and I was totally enthralled from beginning to end. Of course, with every book there is always something not to like. I was not happy that Briseis was so naïve about trusting others.

This was such a unique, refreshing take on Greek mythology! I loved getting to know Briseis, her mothers, and reading about her adventure of identity discovery.

First of all, I love the representation of sapphic elders in this book. It's so rare that I see an LGBTQ couple in the spotlight over the age of... say 35? Reading the beautifully casual representation of that couple was so healing for me, as I have no queer "elder" role models, and it's sometimes so hard to imagine myself in a queer, lifelong relationship.

I think Bayron was masterful in writing quirky, fleshed out, lovable characters in this book. Seriously, I loved every single character! The plot development, character set-up, and writing was definitely a step up from Bayron's debut novel, Cinderella is Dead, although I was also a huge fan of that book.

I wasn't thrilled with the "immortal love interest" trope in this book. I think it's SO creepy to pair an underage character with a love interest who has the body of a 17 year old, but is actually like,, 350 years old. The inclusion of this trope in this book was /very/ disappointing to me, and although their romance is brief, (I'm expecting more of it in book 2) I was super grossed out by it, and probably wouldn't have picked up the book had I known that trope would be present.

Overall, I think this was a great read! Bayron does a fantastic job combining reality, complete with 21st century pop culture references, with the magic of Greek mythology, and I'm really looking forward to book 2!

I absolutely adored Bayron's previous work Cinderella is Dead so I knew if this book was even half as good I was going to adore it.
This book did not disappoint! I loved every second of reading this book. Bayron's has such a gift for writing characters and this book does a fantastic job of showcasing that. The characters in this book just felt so really.
I really enjoyed this book overall and I can not for what Bayron's has up her sleeve for next time!