It seemed like a good book but just not a good fit for me. I liked the idea that magic had a cost and it was interesting how dangerous it was for her to brew her potions. But it was too violent for me – I don’t enjoy hearing about her bones breaking and body getting misshapen. Also the rules of her magic left me with several questions, like why do they feel like they have to use their magic but then their magic is so painful? Why is it so bad for her but not as much for others? How come humans didn't know that magic was debilitating? It felt a bit complex and I wanted more clarity. Some of the plot was frustrating – why did she go into a blood deal with someone terrible to save her sister without explaining to her sister first? I liked the subplot of the evil symbiote. Overall, it was a little hard to care about the characters enough when I was trying to skim over the violence. I would still recommend to someone who enjoys fantasy and doesn't mind it darker.

Debut city this fall and this YA fantasy was a good entry into the release list this year. A topical and relevant novel discussing hate, prejudice, and the fight for love above all. A dark and twisting story with a solid backbone but I think it did struggle with balancing the content. A solid 3/5 and look forward to seeing more from the author.

I would like to thank the publisher, author and Netgalley for the ARC copy of this book. The Poison We Drink is author Bethany Baptiste's debut re-imagined modern day YA dystopian fantasy novel.

Venus Stoneheart is an 18yrs old witcher living in DC. In the novel, society is divided between humans and witchers, with the latter being treated as second class citizens. The witchers are heavily policed and face systemic discrimination from the larger society. Young Venus works with her mother as a brewer making illegal potions. Venus is the older sibling working to provide for her family while keeping her volatile younger sister Janus, out of trouble. After their mother is killed, Venus gets pulled into political intrigues and finds herself being used as a pawn in a political war between different factions. She has to deal with her mother's death, her sister and the dark magic that she also wields all while trying to distinguish friend from foe.

I was excited to read this and wanted to enjoy the book, but sadly it wasn't for me. There were a few things that kept getting in the way of my enjoyment. One of them was the over use of the short abrupt sentences. I think they were supposed to make it more powerful, but all it did was take me away from the story. Then there was the voice of the author, which is VERY important to me. One minute she sounded very Maya Angelou-esque, and the next it was slang and urban vernacular. It made the writing awkward and felt disingenuous. Like someone putting on a costume. In the first page of the book, someone is reading a newspaper, in 2023?! I had to google it (turns out some 60% still do), but it was odd. Then we have the pace of the novel. Nothing happened for most of the first half. I kept reading because as I mentioned, I really wanted to like this book. By the time we got to the good stuff, I wasn't that invested in Venus, Janus or their plight.

All of that being said, it is obvious that the author is very talented and intelligent. This novel is a social/political commentary that belongs in the current climate. I believe in this author's talent and with more experience and better editing, she'll be amazing. I can't wait to see what else she has for us in the future.

The author begins with a personal note that is without a doubt the best description of this story: "I made THE POISONS WE DRINK with two cups of Practical Magic, a gallon of Black girls, a sprinkle of bad witches, and a pinch of unbreakable bonds. But when everything's all boiled down, this story is my heart."

This is the perfect read for witchy season, and an absolutely stunning representation of why fantasy & magical realism is such an intoxicating genre. More than that, it's an eye-opening, scathing window on reality.

Spellbinding characters. Enchanting world building. Achingly beautiful magic.

A must-read, during haunting October and the rest of the year.

"Down down down she went as she fell through memories masquerading as nightmares and nightmares masquerading as memories. Blood, bone, fire, smoke. ... 'Claw your way out!' But she couldn't. Nor did she want to."

Huge thanks to Sourcebooks fire for approving my arc request of this.

Man, between this and So Let Them Burn I’m so fired up about familial relationships and how they inspire us to go farther and say “to hell with it all! I’ll do anything for my blood.” There’s something so powerful about this form of love and watching the way that Venus and Janus loved each other, in their own ways, was so beautiful to witness.

There were a couple of things that threw me off but ultimately I really enjoyed the pacing of this book. I enjoyed the way the characters felt so captivating and uniquely themselves. One of my favorite things was that I felt like no one character’s voice was lost or seemed to similar to the other. I felt myself being curious and interested in all characters presented in this story. It was so action-packed and the witches were not just witches in names only. Too often these days it feels like books are about witches without them actually practicing magic! The magic system that Baptiste created was so much fun to read as well.

I think this book is so prescient right now for many reasons and in order to find out why, I think you should read it. I feel like I’ve been consistently blown away by fantastic debuts for 2024 and this year as well. Definitely grab a copy from your local bookstore or library!

This book was such a fun ride from start to finish! A great fantasy read about humans that discriminate against witchers and the challenges they face. It is dark, and there are many twists. The story building was spot on. I look forward to reading more by Bethany Baptiste. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review!

"The Poisons We Drink" had me hooked from start to finish. While it had a few slow moments, the story was fresh and engaging. The unique take on magic and its consequences was a standout, drawing parallels to real-life issues.

The characters, from relatable Venus to the nuanced minor characters, were all well-crafted and enjoyable. The inclusion of a nonbinary character, Presley, added depth.

There were some pacing issues, and the buildup to Venus's deviation felt anticlimactic. Despite this, if you enjoy YA fantasy with magic, family, friendship, a touch of romance, and subtle politics, this book is worth a read. It's a unique and captivating story.

4.5 rounded up.

This was a delight to read. Smart, layered, and truly kept my on my toes. The world-building felt a bit clunky at times, but I throughly enjoyed reading this. A really powerful depiction of power and how those that wield it leave people who are different from them behind.

Thank you for the opportunity to read! I really enjoyed the world-building and magic system. Although this is fantasy, it’s relevant to our world and the stories we see in the news on a daily basis. I love the author’s writing style and would read future books. Highly recommend!

Review: The concept and messages in this book are very current and need to be told more in literature but this one was not a favorite read of mine. The world building left me lost and unable to picture it and there were so many characters I was often not interested in going back to reading. The same story written in a different style would have worked for me a lot more.
Recommended For: Those who wants a YA fantasy with lots of current real world issues.

I was very excited to plunge into this one. The premise of sentient potions that can kill you is fantastic, the analogy to the last few years is so very relevant, and the family dynamic of this book is tense and full of places to grow.
There was a lot of potential, and the emotions of the writer certainly gave it a good angry push forward, but sadly it was missing focus.
Despite the action, I felt like nothing was really happening for the first 35% of the book and I kept wondering where we were going with all this.
The magic system was very unclear for most of the book... why is it so risky for our main character, but not the person who brews health potions?... or if it is, how does she cover the cost, since she needs a 3rd level health every day and extra every time she does a 2nd level love potion.
I was annoyed at those kinds of details, and ended up losing interest and reading diagonally through the magic sequences. It's obviously a complex system, but it felt obscure as well.
There is also lots of subplots, which is usually fun, but because the main plot is introduced so late, and is meandering, it was hard to care as much as I should have about any of them.
All in all, I think it will make 16+ and new adults happy, because it is very relevant, but I think it could have been a much stronger novel with a few tweaks that would have satisfied even people who've read very widely.
I look forward to see the next work of the author, though, as I feel experience will only make her grow stronger in her craft, and she has an amazing creativity.

The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste what is an enchanting that times dark fantasy centered in a world that is prejudiced against magic, and those who wield it. I enjoyed the prose and the inciting incident, but the overall character development felt very uneven throughout. This book would probably be a good read for those who enjoy new adult fantasy but are still craving some of the YA tropes we all know and love.

I received a copy of this from netgalley in exchange for a review. I’d probably do this as a 4.5, but rounded up because it did keep me engaged (so much so that I was super tired for work cause I stayed up reading).

Having Magic is supposed to be great and help everything right? Not in Venus’s world, where humans discriminate against witchers with magic, plus your magic comes with a real physical cost.

I was almost instantly pulled into this story, which ended up being so different from what I expected, but better too. Venus crafts Love Potions through a business her mother runs, but then her mom is killed - is it human v Witcher politics? Is it Witcher politics? Personal? Venus ends up forced to find out because of the powerful people involved in the community. Through this, she finds that almost no one is who they really seem, and discovers more about her abilities and her relationships than she knew before.

I thought it was really compelling. I liked the characters and was on edge to see how Venus would end up.

Usually, I start my reviews with what I like about a book, but I've got nothing.

Please note I am in the minority in my opinion. Read some other reviews as well if you are interested in The Poisons We Drink. As of now, the book has high praise from other reviewers. This is just my opinion.

This book is not for young adults; at the very least, it's for new adults. There is very graphic violence and injuries that made me queasy, and I have a strong stomach. There is an excessive amount of swearing; I counted 118 f-bombs alone. There is an ON-PAGE SEX SCENE. It's only a couple of pages, but there shouldn't be any on-page sex in YA. When a book is marketed as "young adult," you're saying it's appropriate for at least fourteen-year-olds and up. I grew up in a very strict household, meaning my definition of "appropriate" might be less lenient, but I still feel it was too much.

The writing is juvenile and made this book much longer than it needed to be. It had this style of repeating short, clunky sentences, which I think are used to evoke emotions or show how moving a statement is supposed to be. Instead, it meant I was skimming whole chunks of the book.

"A heady dose of euphoria.
An addictive sense of home.
A mounting swell of empowerment.
A connection no human could ever understand."

"The tender act stirred nothing in her.
No sense of comfort or warmth or love.
She felt like the Tin Man.
Hollow with no heart."

Combining these into full sentences would sound much cleaner and make the whole book flow naturally. I wish these were the only two instances, but my copy is highlighted with many similar passages.

The writing style affected my ability to understand the characters. Venus might have been a great main character, but my connection to her was shallow at best, bordering on non-existent. Her motivations were being told, not shown, so the emotion behind it was missing. It's a shame because she could have been a great main character. Her life built a great background for a lot of anger and rage, but she never seemed to feel that deeply. The secondary characters were little more than shadows and hard to keep track of, they were all so similar.

What was the overall arc of the story? Within the first fifteen/twenty percent, I like having a general idea of where the story is going, but the pacing was painfully slow. Nothing came together until the 50% mark, and the last half was just as tedious. The storyline should have come together quickly. It had moments of intense action followed by lethargic descriptions of the character's clothes, and choppy descriptions of emotions. I can forgive a slow start if the beginning is world-building, or the rest has great pacing. Otherwise, the story needs to be edited down to key components.

I am bummed I didn't like this one. The premise sounded fantastic, but the sloppy writing and meandering plot got in the way of a remotely enjoyable reading experience.

Thank you, NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for the advance copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

I finished it, but the book was not for me.

I thought it was something different and sadly I just did not enjoy the book.

Others who are into black magic might enjoy this, but it is not for Mr.

I give in three stars. Won't be recommending.

I was so excited to read this when the cover was being teased. Like cover is absolutely gorgeous and would 100% make me buy it off that alone. Then I looked at the summary and I just knew I needed this book. This book did not disappointin any way. Bettany Baptiste is an amazing writer and I can't wait to read more of their work. All in all 10/10 can't wait for everyone to pick this up and fall in love with it as much as I did

4.75 stars
In a world divided between witchers and humans, Venus makes money brewing love potions to keep her and her family afloat. These illegal love potions are incredibly dangerous to brew, but incredible expensive to buy, so it’s the easiest way to make money. When her mother dies unexpectedly, Venus has to take care of her sister while trying to avenge her mother’s death in a world drowning in secrets.

This book. THIS BOOK! This book was absolutely amazing and I loved every single page of it. I loved reading the snarky lines and learning more about the characters and the incredibly in-depth world and the world building.
I also loved the representation, reading about a non-binary side character who never got misgendered was something that made me so incredibly happy to see.
The book also had some great fall/halloween vibes so I pretty much was reading it at the perfect time which made my experience that much better.
Honestly I feel like this book is going to be a massive success and I’m really excited to start seeing people read it and love it just like I did. Also, if there’s any fan art for this book, please send it my way please and thank you.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an eARC of this book.

This was a good book. I enjoyed the use of potions as the main magic system over using elemental magics. There were moments where the book slowed down but it was still enjoyable. I think the ending was kind of drawn out though but I still enjoyed the read

Venus Stoneheart has everything a teenage witcher could want: magic, a loving family, and close friends. But actually, the potions she brews are killing her slowly. Then, when her mother is killed, Venus's world is turned upside down. She vows to find justice for her mother but her quest leads her into a dangerous world where she must learn to trust herself and the people who care about her.

The author does a great job of creating a complex and believable world for Venus and her friends to inhabit. The magic system is unique and well-developed, and the political intrigue is both fascinating and terrifying. The characters are also well-rounded and relatable, and Venus's journey from self-doubt to self-confidence is both inspiring and heartwarming.

However, the book is not without its flaws. The pacing is slow at times, and some of the subplots could have been better developed. Additionally, Venus's deviation, which is built up to be a major threat, is ultimately resolved too quickly and easily.

Overall, Venus Stoneheart is a solid and enjoyable YA fantasy novel. It's a great choice for readers who are looking for a story with magic, family, friendship, and a touch of romance.

A tale of magic and family ties and deceit. The story revolves around Venus, the next generation of love potion brewers. Set in a country divided between humans and the witchers (magicals), Venus is challenged on her home front, in her 'business' and in the community at large. She has no silent safe place and is manipulated by those close to her and those in power. As she fights against oppression and tries to solve who killed her mother, she finds who she is. She learns to find peace with herself, her history and what is deep inside her. This tale reminds you that there is always a bigger war than the one you are fighting, and that family is what you make it, whether it be blood or soul that binds you. This novel contains incredible imagery, multidimensional characters and a fight for equality that does not sugarcoat the outcomes.