Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.
While the plot looked interesting, I didn't find that the story lived up to the expectations I had. The idea of a poison garden and a newlywed who is an expert in herbal concoctions was intriguing. Her discovery of her husband's infidelity and subsequent paranoia should have heightened the 'thriller' aspect of the novel, but somehow it didn't. Elise comes across as weak and not particularly likeable. The lack of a strong supporting cast coupled with a lot of meandering in the plot caused me to lose interest in her fate. I wish there'd been a better sense of place as well.

So, this is the story of Elise, returning to her perfect life with her perfect husband a day early before they celebrate their first wedding anniversary.

Clearly, all that perfection wasn't to last and she returned to find it all shattered.

Although the book was pacey and the plot very enticing, on the whole I found the story quite unfulfilling as there were so many (too many?) twists and turns that ultimately made it all seem far fetched and predictable.

It was still an enjoyable read, but left me questioning all the many ways I could have put my time to better use that day...

I could not put this book down.
Elise has been married to Kiernan for just about a year. She surprises him by coming home a day early from a trip, except, she is the one who finds a surprise. There were so many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming.

From that point on, I was not able to put this down. I absolutely loves this novel.

I’ve been bitten by the A.J. Banner bug! Started her latest addictive thriller and could not stop reading. I mean COULD NOT STOP ‘til the very end. And whatta end! Sheesh, a girl’s gotta have a life, A. J. But all I wanted to do was read. And read. And READ! I bet you will too when you pick up THE POISON GARDEN and meet Elise, she of the perfect life on the cusp of her first wedding anniversary, who learns the most shocking thing. Is what she thinks true? Is her very life in danger? OMG! 5/5

Pub Date 22 Oct 2019.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#ThePoisonGarden #NetGalley

"On the ferry ride home, I was not yet planning to kill anyone."

The Poison Garden by A.J, Banner starts out on a high and intense note. You are dropped in on a young woman running for her life, but from what, we do not yet know. The story revolves around Elise, who is a wealthy woman who worked as a pharmacist but now runs her late mother's apothecary shop in her backyard studio.

Elise is about to celebrate her first anniversary with her second husband, Kieran. When she decides to return from Seattle a day earlier to surprise him, what she discovers will set of a series of chain reactions which will keep you on your toes the whole time.

I will scroll down a bit, because what I am about to say could spoil the book for some. For those not scrolling down, I would recommend this book. It is a quick read and is engaging. It keeps you guessing from page 1 to the end. Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing.








***Spoilers******

This book was very similar to B.A. Paris, The Breakdown. There were quiet a few parallels between each of these books. The way the book is written, you can see yourself as Elise, "is this happening? Am I going crazy?" Which was very similar to the way The Breakdown made me feel. I do not want to give anymore than that away!

What a heart stopping, fast paced psychological thriller by A. J. Banner!


My first book by this author, I literally did not want to stop reading this at any time, and actually finished it pretty quickly.I had to keep going. I was hooked from the very beginning. Great characters and story plot!

I must say, when I started this book, I was not expecting such a psychological thriller. Not usually a fan of such books, but this one wasn't too bad.

Right off the bat, the excitement starts in Chapter 1 with Elise walking in on her husband and his mistress. I will say, I felt the prologue was completely useless. It seems like it was placed there to let the reader know that things are going to get very thrilling and 'mysterious', but once we get to the part in the book where the prologue is happening, it wasn't quite as thrilling.

The characters were all hard for me to like, and no one was really fleshed out. We're kind of 'told' that Elise has a sleepwalking problem and may be a complete whacko, but we're not given much about her background other than her father died when she was young and her mother (an herbalist) raised her. I never came to feel a connection with her.

Her ex-husband Brandon is a cardboard cutout nut-case...again, very little background on his life or his marriage to Elise. I just could not picture the two of them ever having been married. We're TOLD they were married and were given a couple flashbacks into their marriage, but it felt stilted and just made me question whatever the hell Elise saw in him in the first place. She doesn't seem to have a single positive thing to say about him...so why did she marry him?! Same with Kiernan's deceased spouse (I can't even recall her name). Chantel is the neighbor with a weird past work history and is shady AF, and Kiernan is totally and utterly predictable in his douch-baggery.

I don't normally read thrillers, so I am very easily surprised when it comes to the plot. Because I'm not super familiar with the genre, it doesn't take much to shock me, however with this story, I saw what was coming, and I wasn't at all surprised. Some of the finer details were mildly surprising, but the ultimate ending just didn't blow me away.

Overall, while this is definitely a page-turner, I didn't find it a 'thrilling' page turner. I kept reading because I wanted to see what happened, but I never came to care for any one in particular. Elise was a weirdo who was very hard to like, and as the main protagonist, that's kind of a bummer.

This was my first A.J. Banner book, and I'm pretty sure it'll be my last.

**This book was provided to me free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is one thrill ride. Elise believes she has the ideal life. Then she catches her husband cheating on her. This begins a tale with so many twists. I didn't know what to believe half the time. Very well written and the ideal psychological thriller.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. Whilst reading it I went through the emotions of: love, hate, love, hate, actually it is not that bad, wow did that just happen?, love, hate.

This is the second AJ Banner book I have read with the first one being The Twilight Wife and I'm sorry to say that I just can't seem to throughly enjoy her books. However I will probably pick up another one of her books. Third time lucky eh?

The Poison Garden was a book I was very excited to devour, plot looked good, cover design was brilliant and I was instantly attracted to the title. However the book fell flat for me and left all the action until the end of the book.

The characters were not fleshed out enough. I would liked to have known more about Elise's mum and where her love of plants came from and not just "The Juliet" and "The Slumber" which are repeated constantly in the latter part of the book.

When action finally occurs the author starts cross cutting the narrative between suspense and Elise's and Brandon's past relationship, likewise with Chantal and Kieran.

The characters were not very likeable as they were not constructed and developed enough for the reader to feel any emotion towards them.

There is too many twists and turns which would have been good if executed better and not left all to the end of the book. I feel like the ending was rushed and I was finally getting my teeth into some action and then found myself reading the epilogue.

I guessed most of the twists and plot developments before they even happened which is disappointing.

There was some good edge of your seat moments and at times I did feel myself tearing through the pages but like I said, this was short lived and was all at the end.

I would say overall I did like this book and I really feel AJ Banner tried to do something different which is fresh and original however I feel the book was very short, rushed and left me feeling a little flat.

The Poison Garden is filled with amazing unexpected twists and turns! I loved the character of Elise and getting in her head! Many times while I was reading I had to pick my jaw off the floor as it was left with a big Wow I didn’t see that coming! A.J. Banner is quickly become one of my must read Authors! Fans of hers will not be disappointed with this book! Highly recommend!!

I received an advanced readers copy, all opinions are my own.

THE POISON GARDEN by A. J. Banner is a gripping psychological thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. I loved her last book, AFTER NIGHTFALL and couldn’t wait to read her new book. Only days before celebrating their first anniversary, the main character, Elise, returns home from a work trip a day early to find her husband, Kieran in bed with another woman. From this point on, a tangled web of dark secrets and lies are revealed that have Elise questioning her own sanity as well as the intentions of everyone around her. Is there anyone she can trust? There are so many twists and turns in the story and I never guessed the shocking ending. The writing is excellent and the descriptions are so vivid, I felt like I was right there with the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced and suspenseful book and highly recommend it. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for chance to read and review an early copy.

Fast-paced psychological thriller with almost too many twists and turns. Happily married Elise comes home from a trip early, just in time to catch her handsome doctor husband in bed with another woman. She suddenly realizes that her whole marriage is a lie and she begins to think her husband is trying to murder her, and perhaps has already murdered before. Or has he? It gets a bit confusing and the plot line is sort of all over the place, but it was an interesting read that would be fun to take on a weekend beach trip.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ecopy for my Kindle.
A women's psychological thriller with a few twists and turns- some were easy to figure out and others were very surprising. I've read several of her books, but this one was a little to unrealistic for me and also a little too "dark."

Elise returns home a day early to surprise her husband, and the surprise is on her when she catches him in bed with another woman. And this is just the beginning of the plot. A page turner with so many twists and turns you won’t put it down.

A fast paced book that grabbed my attention from the start!! It was a hard to put down book! It kept me guessing to the very end! Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union publishers for the early copy

I sadly struggled through this book...it was all over the place! The plot line was insanely far fetched, and the author tried to throw in way too many twists. I didn’t connect with any of the characters, and the “sleeping potion” plot line felt a bit silly and random. Simply didn’t love.

Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a nice short thriller. It kept my interest and I like that the author didn’t try to stretch the pages out by adding much to the story. It was great as is.

Kept me guessing right up to the end!

A.J. Banner does it again and hooked me from the get go!

I loved loved loved this book! It had my head spinning and me googling flowers & potions! Just when I thought I had it figured out, nope- wrong again!

Such an original premise surrounding what could be ordinary flowers and herbs- but are snitching but - this thriller doesn’t disappoint!

I highly recommend this for your TBR list ASAP!
Anxiously awaiting her next book already and this one isn’t even on the shelves officially yet!

Thanks for the early copy in exchange for an honest review! I won’t forget this one anytime soon !

I absolutely loved The Poison Garden. Elise Watters is an interesting character and found myself rooting for her.
This book kept me on the edge of my seat with quite a few oh's and ah's. A.J. Banner did it again with her great writing style and storytelling. I thought I had it figured out boy was I wrong and that's the kind of story I love.

I received an ARC of The Poison Garden in exchange for an honest review. I highly recommend this book, if you love suspense and great writing, this is the book.

This book was fast paced and had me screaming at the characters for poor decisions. The decisions made were realistic and not at all far-fetched and yet as the reader we seem to know so much more than those "living" it. I was impressed with the twists and turns, seeing how someone can go from cherished to enemy back to cherished to ...well, you get the idea. No one is who they seem in this thriller- which was easy to come back to time and again to figure out what is going on. The characters had motivations that were realistic, every character was independent of each other and the setting was well placed and well written. I would wholly recommend this for a book club, it would be interesting to see as chapters go by what everyone is taking away from the story and what their suspicions are.