A Drop of Venom by Sajni Patel was a refreshing take on an ancient, and frankly over-examined, myth. The merging of Indian and Greek mythology was something I hadn’t realized was missing in my life!
There were many things I enjoyed as I listened to the audiobook. The description was vivid and made the world feel real- both the beautiful and horrific aspects of it. I also found it easy it connect with the characters. Noni is my favourite, and even if you aren’t a fan of snakes, I think you will be hard pressed not to fall in love with this animal side-kick!
Soneela Nankani’s narration was definitely strong, but sometimes I found it hard to differentiate between the character voices. That being said, she was able to elicit emotions from me, and that’s also a reason why I think I would have preferred to read this with my eyes. There was so much sexual assault, attempted sexual assault, and descriptions of the trauma resulting from said assaults. I was not prepared for this much rape in a book published by Disney. Nankani’s narration made me feel the feels, which I guess is good, but I wish I could have skimmed over those sections and not have to process the pain.
On a similar note, I think this book should have been an adult fantasy novel, or at the very least, New Adult. There isn’t really any reason that the characters need to be as young as they are beyond the fact that YA fantasy sells better than Adult fantasy. Then they could have leaned into some other more gritty themes and it might have balanced out the pacing a bit.
Overall, I enjoyed the story. I give it 3.5 (rounded up to 4) stars out of 5.

This story is beautifully written and extremely powerful. Manisha's journey and the horrors and hardships that she endures - and rises above - are not sugar-coated in any way.

It is a book that could - and more than likely will - be triggering to victims of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. The rape culture that Manisha lives in is horrific. The abuses she endures, and there are many, are absolutely brutal. And yet, through all the horrors she goes through, she comes out the other side and takes her agency and her power back. She takes her vengeance and she grows stronger and more powerful. At its core, the story is about female empowerment and coming into your own, and Manisha's journey embodies that 100%.

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Sanji Patel does give a trigger warning at the start of the novel, and it is definitely needed. She takes on the topic with responsibility. She does not try to gloss over the brutality behind the acts depicted in the story and she does not make any excuses for the perpetrators of those horrific acts. She empowers the women in the story, even as she shows those who are still faced with the daily horrors of living in a rape culture.

TW: This book contains mention and depictions of Sexual Assault

Sajni Patel does it again!

A Drop of Venom tells the story of Manisha and Pratyush, two teens living in a world where their gender and ancestry seal their fates. It's up to Manisha and Pratyush to decide if they're going to fight against their fate and what that looks like if they want to pursue a relationship.


I'm a huge Sajni Patel fan so I was eagerly awaiting for this book release. Finding that Soneela Nankani was narrating just made it even better. This book does such a great job of making this an empowering Romantasy story. The author does a great job of weaving one of the iterations of Medusa's story with Desi traditions and culture. Because it is a Medusa retelling, be forewarned that there are depictions of sexual assault throughout the book as well as victims dealing with the trauma of being sexually assaulted. If that is something that is uncomfortable/triggering for you, this isn't the book for you. There's no way getting around it, but it makes it all the more satisfying to see Manisha regain her self confidence, her power, and herself throughout the story.

One thing I always tell people is that I need a good romance where the characters have actual problems. Sajni Patel is always one of my go-to authors for that and she hasn't disappointed. We see a lot of growth with the relationship between Manisha and Pratyush both romantically, platonically, and just socially. They have motivations that a lot of people, even now, struggle with when it comes to feeling connected to others and striving to make something of themselves outside of what is "destined" of them. I appreciate how we see the two, together and on their separate journeys, finding how they fit in with everything and finding how they can or cannot reject the destinies put upon them.

10/10 Would absolutely read again.
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this audiobook version.

Great audiobook narration.

Full review:

**3.5-stars**

A Drop of Venom is a recent YA Fantasy release pitched as a retelling of the Medusa myth, steeped in Indian mythology, and happily, it is exactly that.

This story follows 16-year old, Manisha, whose naga people have seen their lives decimated because of the King's army. Manisha was sent to a holy temple to become a priestess, where it was believed she would be safe. But for girls, there's rarely any place that is actually safe.

We also follow 17-year old, Pratyush, who is a Monster Slayer and one of the greatest assets of the King. Yes, the very same King who has terrorized Manisha's people. When Pratyush and Manisha meet when he visits the Temple, sparks fly and both see in each other a glimpse of the peaceful life that could be possible. Unfortunately, for them both, fortune is not on their side.

Before their relationship even has a chance to get off the ground, tragedy strikes Manisha. A visitor to the temple, a General in the King's army, brutally rapes her and throws her off the side of the mountain into a churning den of vipers, where he expects her to die. But she doesn't die. In fact, she rises, stronger than ever, with a new set of unimaginable powers.

Pratyush's next assignment leads him on a hunt for a hideous monster said to be killing and maiming men in the countryside. Little does he know this very monster is actually the girl he wishes to someday marry.

I liked this story, I did. Please don't let my 3.5-star rating discourage you. Patel's writing is strong and I appreciate the tough topics that she examined, as well as the rich cultural influences that gave such depth and beauty to this tale. I loved the idea of a Medusa retelling and I loved watching Manisha regain her strength, power and new courage as the story got farther along.

For me though, I did have a bit of an uneven reading experience with this one overall. There were times I was so into it and then other times when I was bored. There's no better way to explain it. Additionally, at times I did find some of the plot elements difficult to track, and definitely felt the second half was stronger than the start. Also, I wasn't completely sold on the alternating perspectives.

We're mostly getting the story from Manisha's POV, so when we would randomly switch to Pratyush, I didn't care about him. I didn't feel like I had the chance to get to know him in the way that I got to know Manisha, so I sort of felt like it either should have been more equal in their narrative time, or he shouldn't have been a perspective we read from at all. I think I may actually have enjoyed this more if we just had Manisha's perspective.

With this being said, even though I have some slight nit-picky things I wasn't crazy about, this is still a good book. It actually seems like the kind of story, that if you're the right Reader, and you read it at the right time, it could be incredibly powerful for you. I can see that potential. This is a solid Fantasy story, with strong world creation and compelling ideas. I am definitely interested in reading more from this author in the future.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Disney Hyperion, Rick Riordan Presents and Disney Audio for providing me with copies to read and review. This definitely won't be my last Sajni Patel!

Narrated by veteran Soneela Nankani, A Drop of Venom is a mash up of the Greek Medusa story and Indian lore and legend.

During the fire wars, Manisha's family sends her to temple on the floating mountain top to be a priestess, thinking it would be safe for her. She's the youngest in her family. While there, she meets Pratyush, he King's slayer. He falls in love with her and wants to marry her. But, the king won't have it, and the head priestess doesn't like Manisha. The priestess colludes with one of the generals to get rid of Manisha. After attacking her, the General pushes Manisha off the floating mountain into a pit of snakes. Amazingly, Manisha survives and has developed a kinship with the snakes, especially a large one that grew from her bracelet.

Pratyush finally convinces the king to give him his freedom so he can marry Manisha, but he's required to kill one more monster. And he doesn't know that Manisha is the monster he's assigned to kill. She has developed the ability to turn people into stone. Manisha considers that she only uses her powers to protect downtrodden women but the king has a different opinion. Manisha and Pratyush finally face off in the dramatic ending, which could lead to a possible sequel.

Published under the Rick Riordan imprint of Penguin Random House, fans of Riordan will enjoy this one. And girls will be happy to 'meet' a heroine.

Manisha is one of the Naga and her mother and sisters have sent her to run to an Air Temple to be safe. Pratyush is the last of the monster hunters. These two orphans meet and fall in love at the Temple. Fate has other plans. Pratyush is called back by the king for one last hunt, and Manisha is thrown from the Temple. Pratyush is hunting a monster and Manisha is that monster. This was an extremely intense warning. Before you read, please look at the trigger warnings. This is a powerful story I highly recommend, but only if your mental health can handle it. Even when you are uncomfortable the book is still so compelling. I loved the writing style and loved our two leads. The ending seemed open to a sequel I would love to read another book around these two.

This was so much fun! As someone who LOVES mythology and also anything that has some type of diversity to it, this was so good. I don’t think I ever imagined there would be a retelling of a Greek myth but told through the lens of a different culture? I guess that’s the best way to put it. And man, this was crazy to get through, but so so good.

I say good, because the things I knew about the myth (like the monsters and the way her hair became snakes were completely different in this. But I have to say, I think I like this story better. To be honest, I think it was more interesting. I cried at the beginning when that thing happened to her. I was screaming at him for leaving her and not coming back to say good bye one more time. I knew it wasn’t his fault, but I also knew I wasn’t being rational at the time. Which was then when I realized how much I actually liked this book.

The main characters were amazing. I LOVED seeing the world through Manisha’s eyes. She was just trying to keep herself safe. Not saying anyone deserved to die, but when someone leaves you for death, I have to say, I wasn’t sad when she did what she did. She was looking out for herself and I think she was allowed to do that. And I have to say, I think I like this version better. At least in this one she wasn’t punished for what happened to her. As if this was her fault. This DID happen in the story, but she was still given the last laugh. I also liked looking through the eyes of Pratyush. I do wish we had more times looking through his eyes when he was in the process of getting another monster, but it was still cool. That Bee one seemed freaky enough, but I still wanted more. Why? Idk lol

The ONLY thing I would have changed was the romance. Lordt it was insta-lovey. He loved her because he kept seeing her? Like, whet? And you say you loved her, but you kept doing all the things that could get her in trouble. You did all these things that would make you happy with no thought on what that would mean for anyone else. You didn’t love her, you lusted for her. There was a difference and I would have preferred for it to be been portrayed that way instead. I think it would have been better for the ending too. Mainly because it could have been a better conflict than the dude coming back, however I DID love that he got his in the end. Because he deserved it.

I don't think I need to say anything about the performance of Soneela Nankani. She always slam dunks her work every time. She is truly one of the reasons I love books that have not only Own Voices authors, but also own voices narrators. Everything is always authentic, and this is exactly what her performance was in this one as well.

Make no mistake about this, this book is dark at some points, so please read with caution. But it wasn’t “for the sake of violence toward women.” The actual myth of Medusa has these same concepts. Do me a favor and go look up why some women have a Medusa tattoo. But I digress. Read this book if you want a story re-told in a way that will make you rage just as much as the original.

Having read all of the middle grade Rick Riordan Presents book, I was excited to jump into the YA books published under his imprint.

The content warning before the story began is definitely something I will keep in kind before recommending this to my high school students.

This novel was captivating. Patel presents a somewhat familiar Greek Mythology mixed with Indian Mythology. Her two protagonists were well presented and easy to connect with. I plan to purchase a physical copy of this book to add to my classroom library.

There were a lot of issues with this book but I can understand what they were trying for here. The romance was too sudden and the action too formulaic. I feel like this could have been awesome but instead leaned too heavily on the sexual abuse and revenge aspect and left out some important world-building and characterization. It does not make sense why the awesome MC would be into the Warrior Boy at all. I didn't get a lot of choices made in this text and I worry that younger readers will be drawn to it not ready for the assault scenes. I am talking over ambitious 4th and 5th graders who have read all the Rick Riordan Presents in the JFIC sections. I have concerns.

This has a lot of potential to be a best seller. I like the writing! The book is just not for me! Thank you~

I am absolutely blown away by this. I expected to like it, but the reverence in which the story is treated and the delicacy in which sensitive topics are handled while still conveying righteous anger made this an absolute five stars for me.

A beautiful story about the anger of women which just a touch of monster x slayer romance. The blending of Medusa's story with Indian mythology made for such an engrossing world. And while it feels like Medusa's story, this one does have a happier ending.

This book is graphic. It's about as graphic as a YA can get and I highly recommend looking up content warnings for this book. There are numerous scenes that refence sexual assault, though the details are rarely (if ever) given when it comes to the assaults on women. There is some pretty real body horror and threats of sexual assaults on men that are given more thorough descriptions.

I would not recommend it to every teen, but for the right people this will be a powerful read.

The audiobook was fantastic and the narrator did an excellent job!

Thank you Disney Audiobooks, Rick Riordan Presents, and NetGalley for the advanced electronic audio review copy of this great book. This was an interesting mix of the Medusa story combined with the Indian mythology. It is definitely darker than the other titles from this imprint and is aimed for an older audience. Am glad to have heard (I listened to the audiobook version) the trigger warning in the author’s note at the beginning of the book and think that it is important that it is there for the final version as well. As to the story — it’s wonderfully written and is yet another great title added to the imprint.