Scan barcode
A review by ck11
The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
First things first, Bethany Baptiste didn’t deserve to have the release date pushed back twice. She had a very bitter experience leading up to April 30th and she deserves an apology from her publisher, which I’m not sure she received.
Now, The Poisons We Drink wasn’t great.
The worldbuilding wasn’t nearly as robust as BB marketed it as. It’d have been nice to know a bit more about the workings of Witcher society, Witcher history before revealing itself to humankind’s eye, etc. And, somehow, the book was written as though Venus were a newcomer to her own world, because there are many things about the world that, realistically, she should know but is in the dark about until the precise moment BB felt appropriate for her to learn it. I don’t know, at least that’s the feeling I had after reading the book.
There were also aspects of the worldbuilding that I felt were plotholes(like Presley’s deviation; where is it? Why is it mentioned just once and then forgotten about? Does that mean Venus was the only one who truly fell victim to the consequences of their actions?) or they simply were under-exploited (Presley’s calling? Hello? It could’ve helped Venus brew the potions??????)
Also, “It” bothered me. Not the concept itself, but the fact that Venus didn’t name It. Shame on her I suppose because it worsened the writing’s quality.
Now, onto the plot. I didn’t like it. It didn’t snatch my attention, not because I think it wasn’t interesting, but because the writing (or perhaps the characters, more on that later) didn’t do it justice. Just… meh. It wasn’t that compelling, I’m sorry.
Also, it felt rushed at the endsince the whole thing’s resolved in the span of two chapters but like it dragged at the beginning it took ages for Clarissa to die or for Venus to get roped into the Registration Act business, which, needless to say, made the pacing weird and spoiled a good chunk of the overall plot. I don’t know who came up with a synopsis, I don’t know if it was BB herself, but whoever it was they need to learn not to spoil half of the book on the back cover
I adored Presley as a character, really liked Tyrell and grew to be somewhat fond of Janus. However, Venus I thought to be just dumb, basically because she took ages to realise something I thought was crystal clear pages ago,like Matrika being Presley’s mother
Venus was, frankly, a disappointment. She was sold as a morally gray character, “not meant to be loved, but understood” (paraphrasing BB herself) but she was… meh. Her actions were understandable, her personality dull in comparisons to the other characters, and most of the morally gray things she did, she was coerced into doing, which means the most amoral (if you can even call it that) thing thing about her throughout the book was… the tiny bit of attitude she sometimes gave her elders?
As for the relationship between the characters…
Now, The Poisons We Drink wasn’t great.
The worldbuilding wasn’t nearly as robust as BB marketed it as. It’d have been nice to know a bit more about the workings of Witcher society, Witcher history before revealing itself to humankind’s eye, etc. And, somehow, the book was written as though Venus were a newcomer to her own world, because there are many things about the world that, realistically, she should know but is in the dark about until the precise moment BB felt appropriate for her to learn it. I don’t know, at least that’s the feeling I had after reading the book.
There were also aspects of the worldbuilding that I felt were plotholes
Also, “It” bothered me. Not the concept itself, but the fact that Venus didn’t name It. Shame on her I suppose because it worsened the writing’s quality.
Now, onto the plot. I didn’t like it. It didn’t snatch my attention, not because I think it wasn’t interesting, but because the writing (or perhaps the characters, more on that later) didn’t do it justice. Just… meh. It wasn’t that compelling, I’m sorry.
Also, it felt rushed at the end
I adored Presley as a character, really liked Tyrell and grew to be somewhat fond of Janus. However, Venus I thought to be just dumb, basically because she took ages to realise something I thought was crystal clear pages ago,
Venus was, frankly, a disappointment. She was sold as a morally gray character, “not meant to be loved, but understood” (paraphrasing BB herself) but she was… meh. Her actions were understandable, her personality dull in comparisons to the other characters, and most of the morally gray things she did, she was coerced into doing, which means the most amoral (if you can even call it that) thing thing about her throughout the book was… the tiny bit of attitude she sometimes gave her elders?
As for the relationship between the characters…
- Venus and Tyrell were cute. Nothing to say on that front. I like Tyrell, I like his relationship with his cousin
- Venus and Janus started out great, but their relationship became less interesting as the story continued. By the end, I care little about it
- Venus and Presley, now, had potential. I loved the scenes that they had together, just the two of them, but I didn’t see their relationship progress as I would’ve liked it too
one minute they’re having sex, then we don’t see Presley for several chapters, then they’re not on speaking terms because Venus’s mother’s dead, then Presley was declaring their undying love for Venus, but we barely get any glimpse of how they work together or how they were before Presley escaped to Canada. In a nutshell, BB wasted her opportunity to have a compelling romance
The Poisons We Drink was originally supposed to be a duology before BB was forced to mesh book 1 and book 2 into a single novel. I don’t know quite in what way that decision impacted the story. I’m sure it impacted the relationship between characters mostly, which is a pity, but if the plot was essentially going to be this one book’s story fitted into two books… then maybe the decision to do without a duology was correct.
Seeing what BB has planned for her next books, I don’t think I will continue consuming her stories.