This was such a cute book I absolutely devoured it! I can’t wait to read what the author writes next

Small Business BookTok ARC Reviews: "The Poisons We Drink" by Bethany Baptiste

Note: This ARC was given to me for free by the author and I am reviewing this book voluntarily.

Determined to support her family in a world where supernatural beings known as witchers and humans are divided by systematic prejudice, Venus Stoneheart spends her time conducting secret dealings in love potions. When her mother is found murdered and the Grand Witcher offers Venus a chance to avenge her mother, Venus will make a decision that will shake up society. The cost will be high and a power she’s held back for far too long will be unleashed!

This YA Fantasy was truly a thought-provoking read that combined Contemporary Fantasy with important social commentary. Venus as a character acts as an Antihero who, because of an unjust environment and societal pressure, feels that she has to bottle up her emotions and go to extreme measures in order to protect herself and her community. Her struggles in itself act as a commentary on systemic prejudice, or how community foundations create systems that are accessible to one group of people, but makes it harder for another group to gain these same accessibilities. This can be evident in the effective world-building dynamic between humans and Witchers and how the humans put constant measures in place to make it even harder for said community to live.

This narrative is also effective in themes of grief as throughout the narrative, we see Venus battle these conflicts and learn to process the death of her mother through the four stages of grief; Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. The reason I emphasize this commentary? Prejudice, hate crimes, and authoritarian brutality and how it negatively affects specific groups is still an issue that’s being faced in today’s climate. With that being said, Ms. Baptiste invites readers through a paranormal lens to reflect on these themes in a way that is both innovative and powerful! If you’re looking for a YA Fantasy packed with tension, mystery, magic,
and is sure to start constructive conversations, you can check out this book when it
hits store and online shelves on March 5, 2024!

Rating: 4/5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice Meter: 3/5 🌶🌶🌶

-Tropes to Expect: Murder Mystery, Secret Society, Magic and Potions, Familiars, Political Conflicts, Sabotage Missions, Secrets and Lies, Witches, and Paranormal Romance.

-Trigger Warnings: Death of Family Members, Authoritarian Brutality, Systemic Prejudice, Emotional Abuse, Family Conflicts, Sacrifices, and Near Death Experiences.

Thank you for the opportunity to read the e-ARC for The Poisons We Drink. I enjoyed the magic system and intriguing world building, but it took a while before I felt immersed and struggled picking it back up again. There was also lore dropped that would impact decisions later in the book, but it never circled back around to include how that would change characters choices. That's one of my biggest irks in books, so this book fell flat for me.

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. The cover, gorgeous and I loved all the DC references because I used to live in Colombia Heights. I love the concept of this story but I found myself struggling to finish some parts because I felt like they dragged. However I enjoyed this read and the world building is great and the magic system is very clearly defined.

Favorite Quote: “All witchers possessed two things: a birthright and a calling”

Favorite Scene In 1-3 Words: Senator Wilbur Edwin

When Venus’s mother is murdered and Vee is summoned by the Grand Witcher herself to brew a potion for her, she realizes very quickly that she’s in way over her head. As Venus navigates the politics she was never supposed to be a part of, her deviation is also becoming an issue and with each potion brewed, her body takes the beatings less and less well. Can she and her sister Janus and her cousin Ty survive this game of policy and politicians while also solving her mother’s murder? Or will they all perish in the web of lies and deceit?

This was action packed! The only thing was it was a little hard to follow all the moving pieces but overall I loved Venus and her character. She’s so very real and represents so many people in the world!

A stunning debut that will leave you wanting more for Bethany Baptiste! Taking place in Washington D.C. this ya urban fantasy world deals with some of the same issues we have still, sadly, today in our world. I found myself intrigued from the beginning of the first chapter all the way to the end, devouring it in one sitting. I really can’t wait to see what Bethany brings to the table next and I hope it is just as great as her debut.

The world seems so interesting. I wanted the author to expand on the world. I want to know more about how those with magic live in the world where humans are scared and are trying to impose strict regulations on those with magic. I wanted to know more about the familiars.

The first 40% of the book zoomed by. The pacing was great and I had a good time getting to know the characters.
After that thought, the pacing felt off. The story started to kind of drag and I wished those parts were shortened.

Besides the pacing, I didn’t like the FMC and her sister. They both fell flat and the book relied too much upon miscommunication, trust being broken, and the inability of the FMC to ask for help to move the plot along.

My expectations for the book were high, and Baptiste certainly delivered; it was an absolutely beautiful read! The portrayal of witchers, morally complex characters, political intrigue, and social injustices captivated me, but it was the depth of the characters and their narratives that truly compelled me to keep turning the pages. Venus was a standout, although there were moments where I was like “GIRL!!! BFFR!”.

The book offers a profound commentary on love within the Black community, particularly focusing on how Black women both experience and reciprocate love. Venus, despite being a love witcher, grapples with love herself, and witnessing her character evolve throughout the story was a highlight for me.

The ending took me by surprise! Baptiste skillfully laid breadcrumbs throughout the narrative, leading to a satisfying conclusion that left me thinking, "How did I not see that coming?" I highly recommend diving into this book. Additionally, I appreciated the inclusion of a glossary at the end for easy witcher reference, as well as the cute touch of including potion recipes.
Thank you #NetGalley for this ARC #ThePoisonsWeDrink

I really wanted to love this book. However it didn’t draw me in and I found it hard going and meandering. There is definitely a good book in there somewhere. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for the DRC.

OMG, that was so good!!! I fell in love with the books in the first few pages, and I had to go back to the beginning and notes everything in the notes app to be sure I was following EVERY lead and remembering every character correctly! It was so well written, the world building was great and each character was complex and nuanced, I LOVED IT!! The only negative thing I could say about this book was that it wasn’t long enough! But then, I could’ve read thousands and thousands of pages of that book, so that’s on me hihi!! Oh and also, I love how one of the character used the pronouns they/them and it wasn’t a big deal at all! Everyone just went with it, it wasn’t in the spotlight or anything, I loved it!

If you’re searching a book with a black girl with magic, a great critic of the world and of racism, a good story that’ll make you laugh, cry and reflect, The Poisons We Drink is the perfect book for you!

****THIS IS A NETGALLEY ARC REVIEW****

YALL NEED TO GET THIS BOOK NOWWWWW

I don’t think I’ve fallen this in love with a book in a long time. This book is literally a gift to 2024. Not only did we actually get an enjoyable main character, we got a fully fleshed out group of side characters, an interesting plot, non repetitive high stakes, legitimate consequences to magic use, and a magical system with laws that actually make sense and didn’t leave me with questions. Thank you God 😭 And thank you Bethany Baptiste. Your work is incredible.

Not only is Venus THAT GIRL, but she’s someone to root for. She knows the world around her and she knows the stakes of doing what she does. I loved reading how much love and care she has for her family, from her tightly knit relationship with her sister to her tentative bond with her mother. I loved seeing her grapple with the monster inside of her, and how willing she is to make sure that those around her are safe even if it means she’s not. She is the epitome of an older sister, but she’s also a hustler, a fighter, and someone who, given the opportunity, will go after her own desires. It’s giving antihero, and Imma support it.

Each and every character in this book, as I said above, is fully fleshed out, and it’s one hell of a breath of fresh air. Even the smallest characters are of some sort of importance, and even the ones you think don’t mean anything aren’t just a one-off scene. They come back, or their presence holds some importance over the story, and they move and push it along in important ways. The details are immaculate and will have you hooked all the way through.

The magic having legitimately harsh consequences was wild. Good, because other magical consequences aren’t something that has me fazed, but still wild. The physical toll that comes from its use isn’t something to play with, and to me, that added a lot more depth to the story and definitively heightened the stakes.

Now, onto the rules for magic use and the world building— FLAWLESS. FUCKING FLAWLESS. At least to me, anyway. I never felt left with questions, I loved the little blurbs before each chapter, and I loved how natural the exposition of the world and how it worked was. Everything was seamlessly woven together in a way where I felt part of the world and further lost in my reading. I particularly enjoyed how the laws in this world and this America reflected our own and our history. It made it more realistic, and made me sit back and think, “Yeah, no, if we had magic this is exactly how these mfs would act.”

The writing style was amazing and very descriptive. The mystery aspect actually wasn’t as guessable as I believed it was at the beginning of the story, and while the book didn’t end too too open ended, I’m praying that the final chapter is a nod to the hope that there will be a sequel. In fact, give me an entire series.

Currently, this book is sitting as one of my top favorites of all time. I feel like it sets the bar for the other releases coming out this year, and if the author decides to release anything else in this world or about these characters, I will be reading as soon as I get the chance.

First and foremost, thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with and eARC for an honest review. My honest review is that this is an incredible debut novel that constantly makes you consider how far you'd go for the ones you love. Venus asks herself this question constantly, and with the twists and turns of the novel, it seems that the answer is always changing.

I loved the world that Bethany Baptiste built for these characters to inhabit. Mixing fantasy and modern day elements isn't necessarily new, but this case is one of the best examples I have seen in a long time with this concept. The way that this also works incredibly well to provide a new layer to themes of racism, poverty, and the false promise of the American dream makes the world of witchers and humans feel extremely grounded.

On top of the world itself, Baptiste's characters are well crafted, believable, and make you want to continue reading to see how their relationships develop. Venus and her family all feel as though you peer into a dynamic that is natural and has already existed. That is where much of my praise for the characters comes from. Unfortunately, I do think some of the development for characters like Presley, Nisha, and Matrika was a bit lacking at times, but did work well to serve as a part of Venus's story and honestly just made me want to read stories with other characters from this world as the main character.

Overall, I think this is already up for contention for my book of the year!

This was such a fun read! Everything was high stakes and one of the things I appreciated the most was that these witches were not witches in name only. They came to F things up and I thoroughly enjoyed that.

If you believe that magic should have consequences, The Poisons We Drink delivers. The magic system feels unique and fresh with witchers having different callings and then an entirely separate classification of potion brewing. While I loved the concept of it, I definitely found myself struggling to follow along with some of its complexities and keep track of all of the rules.

Venus and her relationship with the deviation It that lived within her made for a fascinating main character. Venus has a tense relationship with her mother, feeling like she’ll never be good enough to earn her mother’s approval. Which means when her mother dies she’s not only trying to figure out why while keeping her sister safe, she’s also trying to prove herself.

Overall, this was an interesting story and I’m glad I read it. I definitely was not the target audience, but I can see people who are that audience loving it. Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the ARC, all thoughts are my own. 3.5 stars

Could not get onto thr book, it was a very hard read. But I child see the potential in it and the premise sounded great. Will try at another time to read.

In a world where humans seek to harm and limit the freedoms of witchers, Venus helps to support her family by brewing illegal love potions. After her mother is murdered, the Grand Witcher offers Venus the chance to get vengeance on her mother’s killer. Little does Venus know, the offer is bait that leads her to enter into a blood oath with the Grand Witcher. She must do as commanded and not tell anyone.

In an effort to shut down the registration act which would require witchers to have all their information publicly shared, the Grand Witcher forces Venus to make potions that will make the senators do what they’re told and sway the vote. While it’s good for the Witcher community to have the registration act pass, brewing the potions could potentially kill Venus. Unfortunately, she has no choice and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to protect her sister Janus.

Later, she suspects the “vengeance” she got wasn’t on the person who actually killed her mother, so she seeks to find the true culprit and get her revenge.

I love a Black girl revenge story! Throw in fantasy elements and I’m even more excited.

The story arc is interesting, but I don’t think it needed to be 480 pages. Several times I found myself wanting to skip parts. I think there was just too much going on. There’s a lot of side characters who have their own backstories that play into the plot. Plus, having to learn and understand the magic system. It was just a lot of ideas, details, and characters. Too much in my opinion.

Not bad, but I didn’t love it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the advanced eARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me this ARC for review!

When I read the summary of The Poisons We Drink, I was excited because I'm from the DMV, so what's not to love? Witches, power, potions, and politics. As it turns out, this book was not what I was expecting at all - while the overarching political plot is there, to me it was a bit overshadowed by all of the family secrets and betrayal that frequently became revealed throughout the story. It's very fast-paced in my opinion, with a new piece of drama or something going off the rails as soon as you start to get invested in a plot point - bam! We've moved on.

My favorite character ended up being Presley because they were written in such a clever way. Initially, I was a little annoyed that I couldn't categorize them in SOME way (my mind was making a movie and it was glitching, figuratively speaking) - Baptiste intentionally lacks descriptions of Presley that would reveal their "traditional" gender - but then it clicked for me. Isn't that the point? They're non-binary and there are behaviors or physical descriptions that could lean either way, leaving it up to the reader to visualize them based on their own interpretations, which I thought was pretty dope. Tyrell was also a lighthearted, fun, and valuable addition.

The original plot came back together nicely at the end of the book, but overall, I didn't connect to it as much as I would have liked because the side drama and power struggle became such a focal point. And yes, this book has profanity and violence, but I would still very much consider it YA. Older YA, but YA. Either way, it will certainly keep you on your toes and teach you a few potions.

3.5 rounded up. What I enjoyed: the VIBE. It really showed the experience of living in a racist world in a visceral way. The plot was interesting and twisty. What I didn't like: the writing style. The disjointed sentences really made this difficult to read, and I think kind of ruined the emotional impact of some of the things that happened. It read as very melodramatic rugby from the get-go, and things like a fight with her mother were treated with the same level of drama as a character being killed. I liked the diverse character set

Wow! This book was INCREDIBLE! Thank you SO MUCH SourceBook  Fire for the ARC. Usually I don't really go for urban fantasy but this story was amazing! The political intrigue was *chef's kiss*. Venus's untangling of the web around her? Her beautiful relationships with her loved ones? Incredibly written, deeply complex, and stunning. The magic system was so unique and fresh! It made sense and it felt natural! The Poisons We Drink was heartfelt, intense, and I was frantically trying to untangle the web along with Venus. I was so pleased with myself when I worked a few things out before they were revealed, it felt like completing a puzzle!  But there were other things that complete caught me off guard too so I was always guessing! The analog of our society for people of color to their society for Witchers was heart-breakingly realistic and obviously very personal for the author, which added an even more genuine layer of emotion. Also bisexual MC with a nonbinary love interest? Hell yes! This book was a 10 out of 10! Go and pre-order it RIGHT NOW!

The cover of this book was absolutely stunning and drew me in before I even read the blurb, which sounded like such a unique take on witchcraft.

I adore witchy books, especially ones which move from the traditional lore based witchcraft and move into new realms of possibilities for witchcraft creating new magic systems. This had so much potential to be a book that I loved.

Unfortunately I DNFd this book at 25% as the writing was not for me. The short, disjointed sentences interrupted the flow of the story so much that I wasn’t able to stay engaged, it was hugely frustrating to read. There was also a lot of language use that didn’t make sense to me “hoping his words would sand down hers” as an example. I’m certain this writing will be a wonderfully fresh approach for many to enjoy, but I wasn’t able to myself.

One element I enjoyed was Venus’ family and the way that they interacted with one another. It felt so realistic and made for some interesting conversations. Exploring their connections with one another and how they expressed these connections was enjoyable.

Perhaps the most disappointing element of this story was the idea of consent within the potion making and forced ingestion. I felt hugely uncomfortable that this wasn’t considered.

I found many questions popping up within this magic system, and can only assume that they would be answered if I was to continue. Things like, why is Tessa brewing potions which take such a huge toll on her, what motivation could explain the desire to continue? How does she afford super expensive third tier potion every single day just to keep her sentient magic from destroying her?

Hopefully many people enjoy this uniquely written witchy story more than I did.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC, I’m sad that it wasn’t the book for me.