This Poison Heart: From the Author of the Tiktok Sensation Cinderella Is Dead

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The narration by Jordan Cobb made the story even more enjoyable as different voices and tones are used for various characters and aspects of the story. My only complaint is that the narration was not always as expressive as I wanted for intense scenes in the story. Cinderella Is Dead author Kalynn Bayron brings a message of proud inclusivity to this empowering fantasy about a young woman finding the strength to challenge everything she has been told is true. I scooped a little hole in the ground and set the pistil inside. Covering it with loose earth, I placed my hands over it, sinking my fingers into the dirt, and closed my eyes. Initially, the storyline seemed simple as Briseis, her family, and their situation was established. Once the stage has been set, the story's tension slowly builds as the mystery surrounding Bresis's birth family unravels and suspicious events occur. There is danger, action and several twists as the story races towards a gripping climax. Yet, even as everything comes together, a new challenge emerges, which sets things up nicely for the next book. Nope. That kid is a whole demon. He told his grandma to shut up the other day and nobody said anything. He’s mad disrespectful. My grandma would’ve snatched my soul right out my body.”

Anyway, Briseis finds out that her birth mother left her a house that comes with its own apothecary and garden and that's where things get weird. Because other people are interested in the garden and some of them are benign but some of them not so. And the deeper Briseis delves into the history of her family and her garden, the more she learns what's really at stake. When Briseis's aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents decide to leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they could never have imagined--it comes with a specific set of instructions, an old-school apothecary, and a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world that can only be entered by those who share Bri's unique family lineage.I’m not ashamed to admit that I was counting down the days until I could devour every word of this fascinating novel. You can trust me when I say that it was definitely worth the wait because this story had the right amount of humor, angst, magical moments and foreshadowing of dangerous situations. After reading this story, Kalynn Bayron has become one of my new favorite authors and I can’t wait to see what she does next! Excerpt from This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron Mom always knew exactly what to say. Mr.Hughes and his wife used to come into the shop together. Now, it was just him, and it made me so sad I could hardly stand it. The arrangement on the table in front of me began to wilt. Briseis Greene, an adopted Brooklyn teenager with a unique and uncanny ability to control plants, can make seeds grow and flowers blossom just with a touch. But being this green-fingered is both a blessing and a curse; useful for generating income to keep her adopted parents' flower shop afloat when they struggle to make ends meet, but completely alienating to any potential friends. I did not know what I was getting into when I started this one. All I knew was that the main character could grow plants, aka a dream power I would love to have. Little did I know that there would be LGBTQ+ representation through out the book, the most healthy relationship between a daughter and her mothers I have ever seen, a girl trying to learn more about her biological parents with the support of her moms, and also a twist involving greek mythology.

The plants under my window turned toward me. The bluebells opened like tiny gramophones, and the bush of baby’s breath that had taken over an entire corner of my room looked like it was breathing. The marigolds and snapdragons all shifted toward me. These plants were quiet. Quiet plants might perk up around me, but they didn’t uproot themselves or destroy a fence to get close to me. They didn’t turn obscene shades of their natural colors when I was around. A magical Queer story of a Poison Garden, close family bonds, small town secrets and Greek myth, this was such a fun ride. I loved that Briseis magic was specific to plants, and I enjoyed following her as she finally found a place away from the chaos of the city where she could truly test her magic. Kalynn Bayron is the bestselling author of the award-winning YA fantasy Cinderella Is Dead. She is a classically trained vocalist and when she's not writing you can find her listening to Ella Fitzgerald on loop, attending the theater, watching scary movies, and spending time with her kids. She currently lives in San Antonio, Texas with her family. Mr.Hughes laughed, his eyes still damp with tears. “I got you covered. Imake it from scratch—my grandmama’s recipe. Nothing like it in the whole world.” Oh, they also like to make dance videos on TikTok,” said Mo. “What’s that one called? The Renegade?” She did some weird move with her arm, then grabbed her shoulder, wincing in pain. “I can do it, but the way my ligaments are set up—”the handling of adoption! I really appreciated how the author made it clear that Briseis wanting to learn about her birth mother and her family was not a betrayal to her moms, definitely handled this topic with the upmost care. Briseis's moms are two of my favourite parents in YA, they're loving, hilarious and work with Bri when she's gifted the estate and starts to learn more about her biological family. As they work in a flower shop, I really got strong Bly Manor vibes from them and it was nice to see what could have been.