The Poisons We Drink

Netgalley read

I really wanted to like this book, cover is gorgeous and enough for me to stop and pick it up.

However, I'm probably not the right audience for this book. Some teenage angst and too many secrets, and I'm not going to pretend to fully understand what's happening.

It's a very intricate world and magic and I went with, “So it's kind of like X Men but magic instead of mutants and that thing in the MC is kind of like Venom, got it.” But I didn't really get it and most magic was just stuff happening and I hoped things would become clear... it didn't.

Feels like a book that some will love and some like me just scratching their head and wondering what's going on.

Probably 2.5 but rounding it up.

💬:N/A

📖Genres: fiction, fantasy, young adult, LGBT, queer

📚Page Count: 474

🎧Audiobook Length: N/A

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: DNF

TW - <spoiler>Abandonment, Gun violence, Death, Cursing, Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Blood, and Grief</spoiler>

Thank you so much to NETGALLEY and the PUBLISHER for my arc (advanced reader's copy) of this book.

This story is about Venus, a Witcher (a person who controls a type of magic) and her family of Witchers. Venus is a powerful brewer and her and her mother sell illegal potions to people for money. At around 25% of the way through the book someone <spoiler>kills Venus' mother.</spoiler> Eventually Venus is offered a chance at revenge, will she take it?

The pacing in this book felt slow and I had a hard time caring about the characters. The side characters all seemed one dimensional but I'm putting this novel on hold until the audiobook releases, so I can't be for sure. The world building felt very heavy but not in a good way.

The world building was interesting but the way it was delivered felt really clunky. At the beginning of each chapter there was exposition in the form of a newspaper article, an email, or some other source. On top of that at the beginning of every chapter, there was exposition littered throughout the conversations and through the narrator's comments. The information overload became too much.

What I read of this book was just okay, I'm going to DNF for now and then finish it once the audiobook is released.

DNF until later date.

Thi  was a good book.  It had moments where it was dragging or where things were taking too long but it was enjoyable. I liked that potions were the main magic system and not just normal elemental powers 

This review is just to help me remember key points about the book. If you find it helpful or relatable that's cool too.Pride Month Edition

Thank you for the early copy Coloredpagesbt and Sourcebooksfire! 
This was a really rough read for me. Especially since this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024. There are things about this book that I thought were absolutely phenomenal! I loved that there was a spectrum of love when it came to brewing potions. I loved that Venus was truly a “morally grey” character, and that it was family above everything. The complexity of the magic system and how witches brew their potions. The different powers that each witch possessed, and how the brewers couldn't delve into each other's respective practices. 
 Annnddd I think that's where my love for this book dies. 
I found myself being frustrated with the pacing, the plot, and the characters. 
The pacing of this book truly threw me off. It was terribly staggering, and sometimes just slow. I felt like plot lines linger for what longer than they need to. The so called “gotcha” or the big revelations that happened just fell so flat for me, that as I was reading I had to keep verbally saying “huh” “what” “why did that happen” because the lead up, and dialogue before had just didn't build up like how it was supposed to. I almost DNF'd at 60% because I kept have to rereading and going back thinking I was missing things. I don't really want to spoil anything, so I'm just gonna leave it at that. 
When it came to the characters I truly did not like Venus OVERALL. Yes, I did appreciate some parts of her character and personality BUT her as whole was just infuriated my soul. At some parts it felt like she was combative to just be combative. Like holy shit girl you are staggering your own progress in your own ordeal. And then it just kept happening over and over and over again. Like... at some point in even morally grey characters have to have some kind of growth in their demeanor in order to get to that next step right? 
I didn't rate this any lower because I feel like I did enjoy a lot of parts when it came to reading this BUT I didn't have a good experience overall especially with this being such a highly anticipated book for me. 
I also want to add that I think this should have been categorized outside of YA? But that's not my ministry to speak on in depth, just my opinion. 

This was too long and too dramatic for me. The mc is constantly in mortal danger, and while I understand the intention, it was just kinda annoying to read. It's 2 stars from me, but a +1 cause I'm still glad it exists.

I got sucked into the drama and the mystery. This is exactly what you want from a book and Baptiste gives it to the reader. I love the battles, the magic, and at the core Venus' love for her family. The Poisons We Drink is magic itself.

I received a free copy of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.