The Poison Garden by AJ Banner was a book I was really looking forward to. The synopsis promises everything a thriller should have.

Elise ireturns home to Chinook Island (fictional) from a brief trip to Seattle to sort out some of her financial affairs. Elise is a pharmacist who has now taken over her mother’s herbal business following her death. Elise is expecting to celebrate her one year anniversary with her beloved husband, the local general practitioner. Arriving home early she discovers him in a compromising position with a young house stager. Elise promptly tells her husband to leave.

I have uploaded this straight from Netgalley so do not continue reading as there’s are potential though vague references to spoilers.

What follows then is a twisted tale of relationships and incidents involving Elise, her husband, her ex-husband, and neighbour. There’s allegations galore about one trying to kill the other, one trying to protect the other, one thinking they murdered someone when another person actually did, poisoning, attempts at poisoning, failed poisoning, sleepwalking, lies, deception, stalking, gaslighting and an unexpected pregnancy.

At times this book felt like it was moving at a promising pace but then the transitions between plot hanging points did not flow seamlessly for me giving a bit of an all over the place feel. I really struggled with it at the end, as much as I wanted to like it. On this occasion, this one was not a book that captivated me as much as frustrated me.

This is the first book I have read by the author and I may not be used to the style and I’m not sure if this book is consistent with others written. I’d like to give another book a go at some stage.

Thank you to AJ Banner, Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another must read for A.J. Banner fans. This book kept me guessing all the way to the last chapter. The book revolves around 4 main characters, Elise, Kiernan, Brandon, and Chantal. After catching her husband Kiernan with another woman, Elise begins to question everything and everyone, in her life. Throughout the story, the plot twists and turns and keeps the readers guessing who is really to blame for Elise fears and paranoia. Readers won’t be disappointed in the book, a real page turner!

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book!!
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Domestic thriller with a twist...

Elise has it all, a solid business, money in the bank, and a happy marriage. Soon to celebrate her first anniversary, Elise arrives home unexpectedly only to encounter something that turns her whole world upside down, and not in a good way!

Reeling from recent events Elise wonders who she can trust. Her husband Kieran? Her ex-husband Brandon? Her neighbour Chantal? With everyone hiding something, Elise will have to dig deep to separate the truth from the lies. Hopefully her intuition is in tiptop shape because it might just be a matter of life and death...

PROS: Twists and turns from beginning to end in this well paced thriller...

CONS: Quite short...like only 200 pages short. There are a few times when you’ll have to suspend your disbelief for a moment or two...it’s fiction, let’s not delve too deeply into the likelihood of certain events and just enjoy a good story!

YES or NO: It’s a YES - AJ Banner’s books always have amazing settings and for this alone I recommend her novels, especially for someone looking for a quick, enjoyable read.

4 Stars

I loved AJ Banners first book The Good Neighbor, so I was very excited to get an ARC of The Poison Garden from netgalley. This psychological thriller did not disappoint! Once I started I couldn't put it down. It was full of suspense. I highly recommend it.

Is Elise Watter's life as perfect as it seems? Or is it just a dream? This psychological thriller will keep you up all night keeping you in suspense until the very end!!! I look forward to more books by A.J. Banner!!! Read and enjoy!!!

Thank you Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC of A. J. Banner's "The Poison Garden". I loved it!!! And the cover is just stunning,!
I had never read anything by the author before but, I will surely pick up some of her earlier work now.

Elise Watters has it all. She lives in a beautiful Victorian house on an idyllic island off the coast of Washington, has a wonderful husband who's also a well respected doctor and she has a great job running her late mother's herbal boutique. While she is all set to celebrate her 1 year wedding anniversary, she makes a shocking discovery that puts a very sudden halt to her carefree life and makes her question everything including her own sanity...

The story was captivating right from the start and I wish I'd had the time to devour it in one sitting.
There are twists and turns throughout this fast paced story and that's just how I like it. Every time I thought I'd figured things out something else threw me off guard. Just like Elise I didn't know who to trust. I was rooting for her all the way through.

Highly recommend!

Elise and her new husband move into her mother’s Victorian home on a remote island off the coast of Washington shortly after her mother’s death. Her mother also left a sizable fortune behind to Elise, so now she never has to worry about money again. But the day before her 1-year anniversary, Elise returns from Seattle to spend a romantic weekend with her husband, only to discover him in bed with another woman.

Even after kicking him out, Elise’s husband refuses to leave her alone and is determined to win her back, despite her adamance against forgiving him. And just when Elise has her mind made up, her husband plants a seed in her mind that she can’t seem to forget: her ex-husband has been conveniently visiting the island whenever she’s there and has taken up a construction job next door.

Now Elise is surrounded by not one, but two men that she can’t trust. And when she discovers her life is about to get even more complicated, she doesn’t know who she can turn to for help…

The Poison Garden is AJ Banner’s latest thriller release. Months ago I read The Twilight Wife, which had a very similar setting (and somewhat similar cast of characters) to The Poison Garden. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this story quite as much. At only around 200 pages, too much happened in such a short amount of time. I think this book could’ve benefited from another 50-100 pages to make the reader more invested in the story and set the stage for the crazy events that unfolded. The storyline was wild and unbelievable, which I can appreciate and devour, but I didn’t have enough time to process each off-kilter event. I still enjoyed this quick read, but I hope AJ Banner lengthens their novels in the future. 3/5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and AJ Banner for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have seen several books from A.J. Banner on shelves but never picked one up myself. I went into the Poison Garden without any expectations or notions about what kind of book this might be except I knew it was a thriller/suspense novel. You are immediately thrown into the story which is a bit jarring but I actually ending up liking it. Some books waste a lot of storytelling on backstory when in many cases, it's not really necessary. The book begins with the catalyst that sets the rest of the novel in motion; Elise catches her husband of one year, cheating in their bed. From there, the story snowballs and grows crazier and crazier. Elise is an unreliable narrator as we come to find out that she has a history of sleepwalking so when clues are dropped about her being in places and seeming zombie-like, the reader wonders is she was aware of her actions or just sleeping.

There are really only four characters to keep up with in this book which was nice. Elise, her husband Kieran, her ex-husband Brandon and her neighbor Chantal. Each character is hiding things and you aren't quite sure of anyone's motives. The story was fast paced and great at slowly doling out answers. It did somehow feel disjointed and all over the place at times. And maybe it's because we didn't know the characters all that well but things they would do or say felt odd but you weren't sure why. The writing was easy to read, free of too much dialogue or flowery language. I do feel, when I reached the end of the book, I was overcome with the "what the heck did I just read" feeling. Which can either be good or bad. In my case, it was just confused.

I would recommend this to fans of the thriller/suspense genre but maybe not to just a casual reader. This actually would have made a great beach read because it doesn't expect the reader to think too much and the story moves so quickly.

This book is full of twists and turns. Just when you think you know who the culprit is the story changes completely, but for the most part, it's entertaining. I do think she should probably not marry again. Even the deputy doesn't believe her, at first. And her friends aren't exactly trustworthy. She might be better served by moving away from Chinook Island and starting over.

I received a free e-copy of The Poison Garden by A.J. Banner from NetGalley for my honest review.

An suspenseful read full of twists and turns. A wonderfully driven book with fantastic characters. There were time I thought I had things figured out in this book, but found out I did not.

This book will grab the reader from page one and won’t let go until the very last page. Banner never disappoints with her thrillers. What a last great beach read for the summer!

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book.
I always enjoy reading AJ Banner. This one was similar to the others - not the best but enjoyable as a beach/summer/weekend read. The ending was full of twists and unexpected turns that made me second guess the reality of the story. I think this would be a good story for those looking to 'dip their toes' into the thriller genre. A exciting, fast-paced read, The Poison Garden is compelling and enjoyable.

Protagonist Elise seems to have the perfect life - a beautiful home, a fulfilling career, and a loving, handsome husband. It's only when she returns home unexpectedly one day and discovers her husband doing the unthinkable that she starts to question how perfect things really are. As her life begins to unravel, and the secrets and lies upon which her marriage has been built emerge, Elise finds herself fighting to survive.

I thought that this was an entertaining thriller, with a couple of surprising twists and a likeable heroine. It was well-paced and easy to read, but the quality of the writing was shaky at times, and the characters didn't feel entirely fleshed out.

Meh. I couldn't finish this. To quote Ambrose Bierce, "The covers of this book are too far apart." I didn't like the characters and the plot seemed too far fetched. None of the relationships were trustworthy and on top of that, I couldn't get a feel for the main character, so I couldn't even feel empathy for her. Like I said, meh.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.
#ThePoisonGarden #NetGalley

The Poison Garden was a great book, with the all the important elements of a thriller deftly woven through the compelling storyline; old love, new love, poison, gaslighting, and seduction. There were times through the novel that I wondered if each of the characters was losing their mind,
I liked the characters, more than I should have in some cases but I still felt like there was a lot of attention paid to fleshing out the main characters without writing essays about every single one of them. They were interesting, believable, and unique, and never did I find myself thinking, "This person's an idiot," or "This person is too smart to be believable!"
All in all I highly recommend this book, it's fun and twisty, along with being highly readable and enjoyable.
I was provided an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley and have based my honest review on the copy provided.

I loved A.J. Banner's Good Neighbor book and I wasn't let down by The Poison Garden! It was just as phenomenal! The description really didn't give that much into it and I was excited to see what it was about and ladies and gents read it! I finished this one in one sitting!
Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Elise comes home from a trip early and finds out her hubby is cheating. She was going to surprise her husband since it was their first anniversary. She also happens to be wealthy. So you can just imagine what kind of crazy happens here. Lots of twists and turns in this thriller and a super quick read.

Elise Watters is living the dream, happily married to a successful doctor,

living in her late mothers beautiful Victorian house running herbal boutique she has the perfect life.

After a shockin betrayal that turns her life is turned upside down and she left doubting everything she thought she knew.

The book is full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing till the end.

A short fast paced read that starts and ends with a bang!

Is anything as it seems? The author packs such a punch with this psychological thriller it will leave one gasping for breath. I was enthralled throughout.
Many thanks to Lake Union Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Elise thinks she has a great life with her husband but is soon trying to figure out what is real and what is not. A good read that takes you on a ride!