Simply not for me! By about a third of the way through, I still felt like the plot hadn't quite kicked off, or if it had, I wasn't compelled by it.

3.5 stars The plot and the struggles these teens face are prevalent in today's world. As someone who is from the St. Louis region, I can say that Venus and her family's issues with people who hate them and politics are a great reflection of what many in my home community face every day. I did find that the magic system was well thought out but I would have enjoyed more background in it, but as it was a stand-alone novel it is hard to touch on all the details of that system.

This cover is just gorgeous and this book is set in DC with so many different types of magic. There are back stories and history and grudges. There's power struggles and political machinations always for the self interests not the people.

Venus the fmc can produce love potions for all sorts of reasons but not always romantic, they are compulsions for a love of an idea, familial love, repairing a friendship, or to love something else more to give up an addiction. It's fascinating cause the one effected if they got more than one can overdose so if the witcher isn't aware they've already been dosed something bad can happen. Also to produce these potions is very painful.

In the midst of the magic there are Witcher vs human protests and fights happening. There is so much happening you really have to pay attention to catch it all.

“The poisons we drink” is a YA magical fantasy with urban, queer, family and political elements.

The plot follows a magical world divided by humans and ‘witchers’. Magic is band, yet our FMC Venus decides to use her magic in secret to brew love potions to support her families financial needs.

After a murder turns her world upside down she finds herself in the underbelly of society fighting for her survival.

I think this book had a lot of potential to grow as the series continues. I also think there is a lot of room for improvement in terms of the world building and the writing itself. I fully expect the author to be able to reach a higher standard in her next book as she continues to grow in her writing career.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire, Bethany Baptiste and NetGalley for the EARC.

Publish date: available now!

If you’re a fan of YA queer urban fantasy, this could definitely be one to add to your list! We’ve got queer characters, politics, unique magic that can destroy you (literally), family twists, an inner monster, historical magic, and never-ending betrayals.

I had a bit of a difficult time following the writing style at times which is what led me to rate this book 3.5 stars; however, I think the story and magic system was very unique and could really lead to great potential as the series unfolds.

This was an awesome debut novel and I’m so excited to see what else Bethany Baptiste writes in the future!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for an E-ARC copy of this book!

The Poisons We Drink is an intense novel where pain is one with magic. Magic itself takes on many different paths, but as a Witcher you are only sworn to one of those paths and if you should break it there are physically painful consequences.

Reading this book it brought me to think about the idea of what it takes to make a change in the world. While the events and actions Venus takes may at times feel extreme, the history of protests, and the actions people take to make real change in their communities is a painful and extreme endeavor. Often times people are not noticed when being passive and in this novel Venus and her loved ones go to drastic measures to ensure the safety and future of their community.

Sometimes, in order to create the change you wish to see in the world you must become a monster in someone else’s eyes. Sometimes doing the right thing isn’t easy and sometimes it isn’t nice, but some things do just need to be done. In a better world things would just be right, but in this world and in the world of this novel immoral acts must be done to fight for the rights people deserve.

As the love Witcher when Venus brews love potions it is an act that causes her great physical pain everytime she performs one especially depending on how powerful that potion needs to be. It causes her broken bones, the loss of teeth, internal bleeding, and more. She then has to take a healing potion and feel the pain of being remade and she does this everytime she brews love potions. Majority of the time none of her love potions are for romantic reasons. Their for a love of an idea, familial love, repairing a friendship, or to love something else more to give up an addiction. The breath of what can be done under just her wheelhouse is incredible. The details of the different paths witchers can take fascinated me.

A huge amount of sacrifice for the sake of something greater is a huge theme of this book and I find it beautiful. Venus actively pushes people away because she knows she makes some of the most difficult decisions in life and she hurts the people she loves taking those actions. Yet those who truly love and understand her stick around. I especially loved the friends to lovers situationship she gets with Presley. They’re a non-binary cutie who also makes some hard choices themselves.

There lives so much depth in this novel. The magic systems and the political system is so well thought out. It’s an incredible read. I 100% recommend this book!

4.5/5

This was a refreshing read for me. I thought the magic system and the personalities and development of the characters throughout the book were very well done. The magic system being created and inspired by potions and brewing was an interesting take that I hadn't experienced before. The world building was incredible as we follow Venus Stoneheart, an 18 year old who supports her family by making love potions illegally, as a registration act law is potentially going into effect, putting further restrictions on magic. The blending of politics, magic, and family dynamics creates a powerful story of magic, corruption, and power in a compelling story.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received a digital ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I did enjoy this novel. The relationships between the characters were well developed, and I cared for each of them. However, at times things became confusing - especially at the beginning of each chapter with the definitions of the different potions and terms used. I think all of that would have been easier to understand if it was explained somehow through the story, and not just given in large chunks up front. Since I read an ARC, I do not know if this was changed before publication. The ARC did include a glossary at the end of the book, but I think even that is confusing.

I do think this novel would make a great movie. A lot of the scenes where the characters use their magic abilities would be cool to see on screen.

An excellent urban fantasy that takes on some big issues. We start off almost cosy in feeling, very reminiscent of practical magic in nature. We then get a murder mystery element over the top that really drives the story at an excellent pace. I loved the wordbuilding, it felt very vivid and detailed and really added depth to the story. The pacing remained consistent throughout and i liked it ad the story feel a little longer than it was. Theres some good political intrigue throughout and some touches on racism and classicism that give the book a more adult complex feeling to it, but handled in a way approachable to all readers i feel.
The relationships are well crafted and give off the bonds of friendship, love and found family that give another level to the story and i liked how people played off each other here. Overall an excellent story andI’d happily spend more time with these characters and watch their dynamics and relationships build.

This novel was pretty dark. You could feel the anger, injustice, hatred, doom, disappointment in the writing. Don’t get me wrong. I like the storyline and plot. Really creative. However, theare was a lot of repetitive quotes, lines or sentences. It just gotten too much. And the brew and spells, some just too unrealistic. Throughout the story, I can feel the author’s angst in her writing most of the time.

DNF at 10%

Honestly, I debated giving this book more of a chance because it had potential, but ultimately if I dread my reading time, I shouldn't be reading that book.

The premise of this book is a slightly unique take on the YA fantasy books of late. First of all this takes place in the real world, essentially present time. That right that is kind of a point off for me, and has nothing to do with the book or author. If I'm reading fantasy, I typically like it to be set in a magical, fantasy world. Second of all I didn't like the prologue, it immediately threw me off. Then we get to Venus and her family. Her family all feels selfish, and Venus herself seemed like too much of a hard ass/stick in the mud. Lastly, the writing was strange. I noticed some other reviews mentioned it as well, but I definitely paused multiple times while reading because it didn't flow super well.

I absolutely love seeing black representation, especially in fantasy book, (and it's also queer apparently, although I didn't get that far) so I applaud the author for putting out the story that SHE wanted. I don't think there's anything insanely wrong with this book, it just wasn't for me.

In The Poisons We Drink, Venus, a witcher who know brews illegal love potions, in world where it is witcher vs human. When her mother is killed, Venus ensconces herself in to the dark underbelly of D.C. using her potions to control some of the most powerful politicians . The Poisons We Drink is heartbreaking, action-packed, and filled with political intrigue. The relationship dynamic between Venus and her little sister Janus is well-developed and adds even more substance to the story. The world building was thought-out and easy to follow. At the center of it, Venus has seen too much and is trying to deal with grief, protecting the family she has left and the rage that injustices fuels.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the ARC.

Great start with the first two chapters.
Wonderful multi-themed story about mother/daughter relationships, politics, battling inner demons, and family.
Quick pacing which is good for teens.

It took too long to find out the plot of the book-50%. There was not enough foreshadowing for most of the major plot points and there was just too much going on at the end of the book. Keep you plot simple and develop your characters around the plot. I also thought Venus' issues with IT were underdeveloped. I kept waiting for her to learn how to control it or use it for "good," but that didn't seem to happen. It was a bit too long, too many twists, and too many characters.

DNF @ 25%

Thank you Netgalley, Sourcebooks and Recorded Books for the E-Arc and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This book has such a great premise but for some reason it is not keeping my interest at all. I found myself so many times, as I listened to the audiobook, zoning out and not really being interested at what was going on. Even if the narrator is absolutely fantastic and does give an emotional performance, I really feel nothing for the characters. I thought once we got to Venus Mom dying it would pick up but I found myself not even caring about that. The worldbuilding with the different types of Witcher abilities was interesting but at the same time felt too much and was hard to keep up with. To the point that I was highlighting passages of each discipline but just stopped because it became overwhelming. I wanted to relate with Venus and felt for her but I just couldn’t connect with her. I didn’t dislike her but I did like her sister Janus more than I like her. The pacing was also very slow and just felt like the 25% that I did read/listened dragged on. So I think I’m just going to stop at 25% after trying to read/listen to this since last February.

I was really excited about this when I saw it promoted on Twitter/X, largely because the characters and premise sounded like there was a lot of room for depth and exploration.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see if that hype was true, as the writing made it impossible for me to get more than a few chapters in before I could let myself stop forcing it. I almost never DNF, especially on debuts, but this one just did not have the execution that its beautiful story needed. Overwriting, stretched-out pacing, and an early confusion about the "rules" of the world just all came together to make this one I couldn't finish. It has a LOT of promise, though, so I'll keep it in mind to revisit later if I find myself with free time and nothing to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book to review.

I love an urban fantasy, especially one that resembles our present day. I was intrigued by the politics, the use of Witchers instead of racial divides. I thought this was a great way to present the hard divides in this fictional world. This story is quite a page turner. I found myself pulled in quickly and at times I could not stop reading.

The writing could use some polishing. The author went a little too hard and tried to throw so many things at the reader. It could have been simplified and even shorter. The paragraph count in this book was a little too high. The longest paragraph was probably only 3-4 sentences. Comprehension was a bit disjointed at parts because of the writing.

If you like soft magic (i.e. magic that easily explains everything that happens after it happens), this book is for you. I prefer the magic system to be explained more before things just happen if that makes sense. Instead everything that occurred was just explained away by the magic.

If there is a sequel, I would love to see where this author improves. The bones were good, but there needs to be some polishing in future books.

This is a new adult urban novel following 18 year old Venus trying to find her way after the death of her mother. This book covers a lot. The pacing is a little rough at times and it took me a while to read but the way magic works is interesting and I appreciated Venus's journey. There is a lot of setup to understand the magic system, the politics, and the background of each character. This is the author's first adult novel and I'm excited to see what she writes in the future.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

I tried very hard to like this.
The overall idea of the way magic works, the price the magic user has to pay, and the morality involved with using said magic should have made for an excellent novel. (This is the only reason this books gets two stars and not one). Bethany Baptiste had an opportunity to really send a message to her readers in this YA/Teen novel that sometimes the ‘right’ decision is hard. It could have promoted self reflection, critical thinking, and the difficulty of determining morality. Instead, the best word I can come up with to describe the justifications for the choices made in The Poisons We Drink is problematic.

Hypocrisy
There is blatant hypocrisy from: toting freedom, free will, and autonomy, alongside binding blood oaths and love potions (given to people unknowingly!) without any morality being addressed. Bethany Baptiste addresses this once (maybe twice), early on, as the lead gal has a conscience momentarily. But then it’s gone and it’s like the entire book is built off the premise that our leading character crew ‘know best’. This kind of attitude is what leads (eventually) to discrimination, egoism, and a divided society!! How ironic that in a book about bringing down the egoist barriers they literally put up new ones that seem okay; but only if you 100% believe in our characters being ‘right’. Sorry but that doesn’t work for me.

Wheres the Remorse?
Additionally, there is little to no remorse (especially towards the end) for the usage of magic that takes away free will. From the beginning we are told that the oppression of the magical community is abhorrent, the proposed registration act is a disgusting attempt to control people, and that the world assumes magic users are dangerous because of their inherent powers which is unfair. I agree these are all awful things and solid themes that should be discussed. Instead of critical representation and questions we are given a slew of excuses for why it’s okay to hurt others to gain something important. Even going so far as to say:
”Only monsters get things done.”
Not only is reality not that simple; but I’m not convinced half our ‘good’ characters are in the right! If you are going to write YA/Teen books then you should consider your core audience and how impressionable they are. Choosing to be awful as the only way to survive is not what I want any child, teen or, for that matter, adult thinking is necessary. This argument is not an acceptable justification to make potions that take away people’s free will and convince them of things that aren’t true, or make them flat out follow orders.

A continuing theme in the end is that It’s okay to do these awful things as they are in the name of good. It’s not okay to use similar tactics to control others just because they are using them to oppress you! This seems obvious to me, but as of late there are a lot of YA/Teen books (Iron Widow comes to mind) that seem to tote power or control as equality. This book even goes so far as to justify someone’s persecution because they did other ‘bad things’ even if they didn’t do the thing they were initially accused of and received punishment for! (I could also rant about fair justice and not prejudging situations or people; but this review is long enough already!)

The Writing
Moving on to the actual structure and writing of the book. I really disliked the narrator of the audiobook. Some of her character voices were annoying and at times ridiculous. It’s perhaps worth noting I’m pretty new to audiobooks (only my 8th ever) but I just couldn’t handle the narration; so I switched to an ebook halfway through to complete The Poisons We Drink. I had hoped that the issues I was starting to have with pacing and immature writing (don’t tell, show!) were partially because of the audiobook. Sadly they were not.

This book goes from being boring, to sudden activities that knocks you over the head. However each step of the way events are convenient and clearly fits into a pre-set puzzle. The plot is so transparent that the ‘twist’ fell flat for me. In no way did the twist feel smart, clever, or even all that unique for me. Unfortunately the one emotion I did have upon finishing this novel was relief. I was relieved to have it be over, thankful I get to post a review about it it’s issues, and ready to tell folks not to bother with this problematic story.

Sorry to hate on this
I know many of you love this one and I’ll probably get comments about how I’m being too harsh or otherwise judgemental. I’m truly sorry you may feel that way.

For me, I cannot in good conscience endorse problematic stories. You can be a good person who gets caught up in a bad situation (which is the attempted argument in this book) but you don’t get to then continue being awful ‘just because’ once the immediate situation is resolved. What the story should be about is feeling remorse for your actions and how to come to terms with what you did (accepting the terms NOT justifying them). Think of the third Hunger Games novel where Katniss struggles to reconcile her numerous kills even though without them she would not have survived. This is what I think novels like this should address and struggle with because it’s realistic and sets up serious critical thinking by the reader.

Needless to say I will not be reading book 2 in which (I assume) our gal and her crew rise to more power to further their interests and toss aside anyone (using a potion of course) that is in their way. No thanks.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review..

What an absolutely fantastic debut from Bethany Baptiste. Sometimes I devour books like a starving women, but with The Poisons We Drink, it was eating a 5 star meal, each bite meant to be savored. My heart breaks for all the bullshit she had to go to in order to publish this book, and I really hope Bethany gets her flowers at the end of the day.

To be honest, this was mostly a cover read, but wanted to check this out especially after it was a subject of controversy. But this standalone contemporary fantasy blew me away with intricate world building, fast pacing, and characters that were well developed.

First off, this book has some graphic violence, body horror, tons of profanity, some sensual content (no explicit sex), deep discussion of racism paralleling race relations in the USA, body burning, along with some other things, so this might not be appropriate for all audiences. Second, this one is a big book, and I savored every single word.

My favorite part of the book so far is the world building and the magic system. This takes place in an alternate version of 2023 USA, where many Black people can do magic, and in some ways, this is a fantasy version of race relations in current day USA, with the Witchers being restricted because of what they can do, ever since they revealed themselves to the world about 20 years before the story started. The magic system is a total win, especially the brewing, which we get the most depth on, as its Venus’ specialty magic. Magic has its consequences, and in many cases, it’s deadly, but it’s not so horrible that one would not want to use it at all. I love the short quotes at the beginning of each chapter that helps flesh out the world in small bits that doesn’t interfere with the flow of the story.

We follow Venus, though also important is Janus, her adoptive sister, Tyrell, her cousin, and Presley, a friend that’s back after being away for a while and ex-lover. Venus is a brewer, and she doesn’t much care for the politics of things, just do her jobs brewing potions, and get her cash to keep those close to her taken care of, especially in the midst of political and cultural turmoil. As events transpired, she’s forced into the world of politics super quick, and has to keep the ones close to her in line while also performing this job. All while trying to keep the dark side of her magic in check.

While I’m not the biggest cheerleader of black-and-gray morality personally, this was presented in an in-depth and intriguing manner. The characters are fleshed out with their own motivations and most of them were understandable. Though by the end of the story, I disliked a few characters for good reasons. The plot was fast paced despite it’s length. There were plenty of twists and surprises that I didn’t see coming, especially in the last quarter of the book, and it moved me emotionally a few times. I appreciate that the romance was mostly back burner, and it was more about building trust between Venus and her loved ones, which goes through a lot throughout the story, and I love how the main crew used their magic in various ways in the situations they find themselves in.

The prose itself is easy to read and kept me reading for longer than I intended more than once.

I’m going to keep a lookout for future books! If you’re up for it, please read this book!