The Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants by Rebecca E. Hirsch is a captivating and beautifully written exploration of some of the most dangerous and mysterious plants in the world. This book is a stunning blend of botanical knowledge, history, and suspense, offering readers both educational insight and a thrilling dive into the dark side of nature.

Hirsch’s writing is clear, engaging, and thoroughly researched, making complex topics accessible and fascinating. Each plant is explored with depth, from its historical significance to its toxic properties and the myths that have grown up around it. Hirsch seamlessly blends the scientific with the storytelling, giving life to these often misunderstood plants in a way that is both informative and compelling.

The book's design and illustrations are equally stunning, enhancing the overall experience and making the content even more immersive. Whether you’re a plant enthusiast, a history buff, or someone with a curiosity about the darker side of nature, A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants will leave you hooked from beginning to end.

What truly sets this book apart is Hirsch’s ability to balance educational content with a sense of intrigue and danger. Each chapter draws you in with the promise of learning something new while keeping you on the edge of your seat, fascinated by the power that nature holds. It’s a perfect read for those looking to explore the hidden world of plants that have shaped human history in unexpected ways.

Overall, A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants is an exceptional book that combines knowledge, beauty, and intrigue in a way few others can. Rebecca E. Hirsch has crafted an unforgettable read that will stay with you long after the last page is turned. Highly recommended for anyone with a love for nature, science, and a bit of dark history.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group for the ARC.

A quick look at the plants that, at the very least, annoy us, if not outright kill. Despite having read books about this stuff before, this still had a few selections that I didn't know about. And I like that despite their hostility towards mankind, we still get an understanding of why some of these plants are still important to their environment.

I am obsessed with deadly plants and learning about this. I know that was a weird thing to say but it is true lol. I just like learning about the human thought process when it comes to poisonous plants and their uses. I will probably be picking up all the books out there about deadly plants

Thank you Netgalley and Zest Books ™ for letting me give my honest review

A beautiful book filled with gorgeous illustrations, facinating true crime stories, and interesting poisonous plant facts. This book is an interesting and creative mash-up of non-fiction crime and gardening genres. Definitely recommended!

Concise and interesting enough to be read in one sitting, which is exactly what happened in my case.

I have a few botany books but I love a compendium. I liked that the entries have a consistent format (introduction with real life account, history and folklore, and science section that goes into how the plant affects the body). The illustrations and sepia-toned pages make the reading experience like browsing an old-fashioned guide book. For a younger reader, I think the presentation is perfect and the language is very accessible. For an adult, I would probably recommend something a bit more in depth with more of a narrative thread to tie everything together, but I definitely would have loved this as a pre-teen.

Thank you to Netgalley and Lerner Publishing Group for a copy of the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

With beautiful illustrations that I would love to hang on my walls, this compendium of poisonous plants was delightful, informative and insightful. I loved learning about both rare and common plans, ones we may unknowingly use often and some we’ll probably never cross paths with in person. It was interesting to read the exact compounds in each plant that are toxic to us as well as the history and context of it’s uses now and in the past.

The tone is perfect and makes learning all these weird, wonderful and wicked facts about these plants and how we’ve used them absolutely riveting.

I’ll definitely be picking up the hardcover to add to my library. Loved it!

My thanks to Lerner Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you, NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group | Zest Books for this book for review. This book was amazing with its information about all plants that could kill, sicken or otherwise harm you. I was familiar with many of these plants such as deadly nightshade but there were many others that I had not heard of. I also loved the stories added about each with how they had been used either to poison or in attempts to heal or harm through the years either with good or bad intentions.

This was such an amazing read. I wasn’t sure what to expect but this book was a mix of interesting true stories and facts that were perfectly blended together that made the book so interesting. The tone of the book was so engaging I would often forget I was reading nonfiction. Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

As a biology student, who has taken botany, I found this book impressive and informative. Not only is there beautiful illustrations of the plants, there is also insightful texts about the poisonous plants. As a non-fiction book, it is easy to read and has an enjoyable pace. It was very fun to adventure through dangerous botany with Rebecca Hirsch's work.

What a delightful rendition of some truly terrifying tales of misfortune, misdeeds and misidentification of common plants! The illustrations are beautiful, paired with photographic details and easily digestible (unlike their herbaceous counterparts) facts.

This book has beautiful photos and illustrations. The chapters are the perfect length for middle and high school students to enjoy. It is well organized and extremely interesting.

After receiving A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants:Wicked Weeds and Sinister Seeds by Rebecca E. Hirsch, I was immediately struck by Eugenia Nobati’s lush, velvety, botanical illustrations. I generally prefer to reveal a book, page by page, as I read it, but I felt compelled to flip through and scan the illustrations. I soon found that I was also intrigued by the format of the book. It is set up similar to a textbook, with each plant receiving a dynamic unit wherein the plant’s history, folklore, true accounts of poisonings, and other facts, are broken into bite-size sections. Each section has its own visual layout, including photos, graphics, illustrations, bulleted lists, etc. My ADHD brain delighted at the visual variety, easily digestible sections, and wealth of interesting trivia. The book reads like a 101 of poisonous plants and would surely satisfy the budding curiosity of a teen botanist or a young true crime buff. Mind you, there are some gory details, and the subject matter can be a bit grim. But, then again, it certainly is beneficial to learn the lesson that Mother Nature is a wondrous force, not to be taken lightly. I would definitely recommend this lively, if macabre, read to teens and young adults who like a bit of sinister to their science.
Thank you, Zest Press, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants is a visually stunning book about, well--poisonous plants! Full of stories and histories, it captures the reader and draws them in to the sinister side of nature. Rebecca Hirsch uses her scientific background to study, understand, and teach us more about these plants! A truly fascinating read! A huge thank you to NetGalley and Lerner Publishing and Zest Groups for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Deadly Plants is a visually stunning collection, filled with beautiful artwork and informative photographs. The book covers a fascinating range of plants, from the Coca plant to deadly ones like Castor Beans and Nightshade. I appreciated the historical context and the connection to famous figures, but I would have liked clearer organization between plants with practical uses and those that are strictly harmful.

Each plant gets a brief chapter, but the content feels a bit rushed. With fewer plants, there could have been more space for deeper exploration. The writing style was my biggest issue—it felt a bit flat and informational rather than engaging. Despite this, the book is still highly enjoyable for those interested in the topic.

a really cool mix of herbology, chemistry, true crime, history, and mythology to present poisonous plants from tobacco to wolfsbane set up through anecdotes, how it was discovered and used, and the effects it has on the body. Some of the information got a bit repetitive and I felt the layout of the pages felt a bit messy, especially with some of the pictures, but that's just me being nitpicky

This is a very engaging, beautifully illustrated book that nonfiction readers will love. I can see many of my students reading this and sharing it with their friends. It's a great blend of history and science with wide appeal

A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants is a very well written monograph for middle grade readers about poisonous botanicals curated and written by Rebecca E. Hirsch. Released 22nd Oct 2024 by Lerner Publishing on their Zest Books imprint, it's 204 pages and is available in library binding, paperback, and ebook formats.

This is a beautifully presented book, with elegant photos and illustrations. It's aimed at middle grade+ readers, so the language is purposefully simple and direct. Proper nomenclature is used throughout alongside common names. Each of the plants (and they are myriad and varied) gets its own profile.

There are "true crime" historical tidbits and stories scattered throughout as well as scientific based items like what poison types each plant contains and sometimes their effects. If the author occasionally goes a tiny bit overboard with the sensationalistic "gross info incoming", it should be remembered that this book is aimed at youngsters for whom a good gross bit of info is ambrosia.

Well written and visually appealing, it would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition (school acquisitions personnel are strongly advised to vet the content beforehand and evaluate in light of liability concerns). It would also be a neat addition to gardening / allotment / community garden library, and home use.

Four and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Thank you, Netgalley and Rebecca E. Hirsch for the chance to review this book!

This is a vastly different read from my usual, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I'm interested in plants and their various uses and discovering how many poisonous concoctions there are was fascinating. As someone who is working on writing her first novel, I like to learn about different things I can incorporate and I have a feeling this one will come in handy :)

Definitely read this book, but uh...don't put it into practice.

This fascinating book is filled with so much information. It covers the science and some of the history behind a number of deadly plants. It also presents anecdotal accounts of incidents where the plants were used to harm others. There are even relevant quotes at the start of each new plant—a fun glimpse into historic sentiments.

Nice pictures and an aesthetically pleasing layout. I was thoroughly captivated by the dangerous knowledge and lore surrounding these deadly plants.