I am often guilty of judging a book by its cover, and I must say that to me, the cover of This Poison Heart looked like a middle-grade book. Don’t get me wrong, I really like the cover–it just deceived me a bit. It looks like there is a second book in the works from the author and she is planning on a series of books so I am envisioning more beautiful covers to come and certainly hope that Kalynn Bayron decides to write a whole slew of books in this series.

This book starts out innocently enough. The main character, Briseis, feels terrible that the flower shop she and her mothers’ own doesn’t have a specific bouquet in stock that a dedicated customer is looking for, and so she decides to take matters into her own hands. She disappears outside for a few moments and magically makes the flowers appear. What Briseis refers to as her “abilities” is never quite explained in detail, though we do learn that she has always had a green thumb and that plants respond to her emotions in dramatic ways– sometimes to the point of destruction. Typically, she just uses her abilities to make flower arrangements look top notch, but sometimes things get a little out of hand.

Briseis is obviously curious about her gifted ways with plants, and uses them for good, mostly. But her family business isn’t paying the bills like it used to, even with that little extra umph Briseis provides to the floral arrangements. At just the right time, Briseis is notified that an aunt she didn’t know existed has passed away and left her estate to her. This inheritance results in Briseis and her two mothers moving out of New York and onto the estate in a small town. As Briseis is exploring her new property, she discovers an apothecary full of jars with labels that correspond to the dried plants inside. She immediately feels at home, and begins to wonder if this mysterious aunt who left everything to her had similar abilities.

I adore magical realism and big old houses with mysteries. I also love the ideas of secret gardens hidden and locked away that may hold plants that only someone with a magical ability can touch without being hurt by them. This Poison Heart has all of this and more, with a little bit of Greek mythology thrown in for good measure. I’ll be on the lookout for the next book in this series with bated breath.

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Bloomsbury YA

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  1 religious exclamation; 26 mild obscenities; 1 religious profanity; 1 derogatory name; 22 scatological words; 18 anatomical terms; 3 F-word derivatives. 

Violence/Gore:  A man is mentioned to have a deceased wife and visit her grave often; a shipment truck is reported to have flipped over on the highway, with the driver coming away unscathed; a girl is mentioned to have flowers under her care that are poisonous and deadly; two girls are dared to eat some red berries and one is reported to have ended up in the ER vomiting and in pain; a brief scene occurs where a girl is cutting a plant when the scalpel slips and she cuts her finger, her mother assumes she is badly hurt and panics, thinking maybe the finger was cut off, some blood is mentioned but it doesn’t need stitches; the plant in the previous scene is known by the girl to be poisonous, she assumes she will die from the blade she was cutting the plant with coming into contact with her blood, but she is fine other than the small cut; a brief mention is made of ghosts, spirits, and haunts; a chimney is cleaned in one brief scene and a dead bird falls into the fireplace; a report is made of a character falling into poison ivy and coming away with welts and blisters; a girl comes upon a man trespassing on her property holding a machete-like knife and described to have a large cut on his head that is bleeding and to have his clothes hanging off of him; a brief scene occurs where trees tangle the trespassing man and prick him with poisoned barbs, lifting him up and swinging him so his head hits the trunk of a tree with a sickening thud; a mention is made of a minor’s parent passing away; a girl comes across dozens of dead birds in various stages of decay; a brief scene occurs where a boy pretends to twist his ankle to get out of a situation; a brief conversation is had where a man mentions that he was worried the trees that attacked him might kill him, he is reported to have deep, painful looking sores on his feet; a plant curls around a girl, squeezing her so that she can’t breathe in a brief scene; a mention is made of Greek mythology wherein a woman plots to poison her unfaithful husband’s new lover, in the same story a woman is mentioned to kill her children to get revenge; a girl finds her car tires slashed; a brief scene occurs where a TV reporter on the news states that after a search, the body of a missing woman has been found; a girl touches a poisonous plant and is described to be in a lot of pain, this occurs several times throughout the book; a boy and girl watch a movie and it is mentioned that a character in the movie is torn to shreds by an undead creature; a group of men in the theater attack the two minors and chase them in a brief scene, the minors eventually get away after fending them off physically and using mace; a woman mentions her sister and father dying years ago from a sickness that almost killed her too, she later reports that it was the plague or black death; a non-detailed scene occurs where men are “taken care of” and a girl glimpses a body on the ground with limbs at unnatural angles; a woman reports that she has killed some men pursuing her and clasps her hands in front of her which are mentioned to be bloody, she is reported to be acting nonchalant about the situation; a brief scene occurs in a funeral home where a coffin is seen with the lid open and minors see a clothed body inside, the funeral director explains briefly how the woman died and that reconstruction of her was difficult due to her injuries; a brief scene occurs where a man reports that a family has had many unexplained and unusual deaths occur, such as strangulation; homicides, and disappearances; a mention is made of a woman who has been missing for years being presumed dead; Greek mythology is referred to again with a mention of a woman killing her brother in an attempt to avoid an arranged marriage; a verbal threat is made against a man to silence him; a Greek myth about poisoned wine being served and killing children and a man being killed and his body cut up into pieces is referred to briefly; a girl pricks her finger to draw blood in a brief scene; a woman is mentioned to have a cut on her forearm; a woman briefly describes how poison might effect a person; a brief scene occurs where a woman grabs a knife to use in self-defense; a Greek myth is referred to where a man is dismembered and buried; a report of a murder is made with no detail; a woman is described to have many injuries in a brief scene; a woman is reported to have disappeared under odd circumstances with no detail given; a scene occurs where a woman is threatened by another woman with a knife held to her neck, the woman making threats then uses the butt of the knife to hit the woman on the head , then presses the tip of the knife to the injured woman’s heart where it draws some blood; a scene occurs where a knife pierces a minor on the hand and she screams from the pain while blood is described to rush from her hand while she holds a heart that is said to be from Greek mythology drips blood; a boy is ordered to kill someone if they try to pull anything; a woman with an injured arm is reported to cry out when a boy intending her harm sinks his fingers into the wound; a brief scene occurs where a girl rushes her attacker and they fall to the floor, her shoulder is described to hit the counter causing a stab of pain; a girl grabs a boy by the leg in an attempt to stop an attack, he struggles to get up writhing from pain; a scene occurs where a woman thrusts a poisonous plant into another woman’s mouth, which causes sores on her face, her eyes to roll back, and color to drain from her face, it is implied that she dies from poisoning; vines from a plant are described to curl around an attacker, making her scream; a huge dog is reported to appear with teeth bared, it attacks a woman and boy, sinking teeth into them and causing injury, then tosses them away; a room is described to be destroyed with broken items strewn about.

Sex/Nudity:  A mother kisses their child on the cheek; a boy is accused of looking at a girls chest; a girl kisses a friend and the other girl wishes that the kiss had lasted longer or that they had made out; a love affair is referred to; a girl notices perfume and how close a girl she likes is leaning towards her, their lips nearly touch in a brief scene; two girls kiss in a brief scene.

Mature Subject Matter:

Loss of a parent; murder; betrayal; missing persons; same-sex attraction/relationships.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

An adult is mentioned to have a medical marijuana program card; wine is mentioned to be poisoned and consumed by minors and an adult.