Historical murderess, queer fiction? Sounds like a fun read. I have to say I think I wanted more from the book than it gave but that is not to say parts of it are really enjoyable to read.

I came to this book thinking it was going to be a sequel to the first Lady Slayers book, and was surprised to find a completely different cast of characters and location. Though I find Elizabeth Bathory’s story interesting, in this case I think change was a good thing.

I found the first book in this series to be too far toward the grotesque for me, employing too much overt gruesomeness rather than eerie suspense, which is how I prefer my Horror.

This book felt more restrained and well-constructed, better written, and selfishly, I just felt it was more in line with my preferences.

In some ways the basis for the story is a better one for this style of horror, or perhaps there’s an advantage in it being a lesser known subject. Either way, I enjoyed this one more and felt it was a clever nod to the tale of Catherine Monvoisin.

"Poison Priestess," set during the reign of Louis XIV, is a novel that will thrill and fascinate readers of YA fiction. The young heroine is a fortune teller named Catherine Monvoisin who, through a series of chance occurrences, becomes involved in court politics, black masses and murder. Despite being subject to forces more powerful than her, she is resourceful and independent, always using her remarkable talents and thinking one step ahead. For all the mystery and intrigue of its plot, however, the novel's greatest virtue may be its language—particularly the way it describes Athénaïs de Montespan, the king's maitresse-en-titre and the woman who sets Catherine's fascinating career in motion. "Smug as a cat glutted on too much cream," as anyone familiar with the 17th Century France will know, is a wonderfully accurate description of this all-too-real historical character. Kudos to Lana Popovich for bringing this long-ago era to such vivid life.

I just want to say a thank you to netgalley and the publishers for approving me for arc. I loved the idea for the book but sadly this wasn’t for me. It’s been a slow read for me I just couldn’t feel connected through out half of the book.I just felt there could have been more especially with the ending.

I'm not usually one for court intrigue but I lapped up this dark and twisted tale of magic and murder in 17th century Paris.

Catherine is another of Lana Popović's morally grey characters who I loved just as much as Anna from the first book in the Lady Slayers series, Blood Countess. Her descent into darkness is thrilling to read, you never know what is round the corner or if she'll get away with all these dastardly deeds!

I think I would have liked a slightly more fulfilling epilogue but I can see why it ended the way it did, I just didn't want it to end!

Thank you NetGalley and ABRAMS Kids for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am OBSESSED with these books - I loved Blood Countess so much and knew I needed to read Poison Priestess, so obviously I jumped at the chance.

Poison Priestess is set during Louis XIV's reign and Lana Popovic transports us to the magic that is Versailles and life in court. While it was a pretty similar storyline to Blood Countess it didn't feel so similar it was repeating itself, and I loved that. I really hope the Lady Slayers series continues as I will be rushing to pick up every book in the future.

I wanted to give this one a try after reading book one. I think I rated book one around 2 or 3 stars but I loved the idea of Lady Slayers that I wanted to at least give this one a try. Well that one had great world building and a great story. I enjoyed this one a lot more than book one and think I will continue to read these. I loved how the story weaved through this woman's life. But I wished that the author would have gone deeper. Overall, it was entertaining.

In the 17th century, Catherine Monvoison is a 19-year-old wife of a jeweler in France. She was an orphan who had an encounter with a witch when she was a girl. She has the witch’s grimoire that she is dedicated to studying. One day, her friend Marie takes her to the dark side of the city where Marie reads palms. Catherine can see the future, so she starts reading for some of Marie’s clients. Catherine slowly builds a reputation as a seer, which leads her to the dangers of the King’s court.

I love stories about dark parts of history. This series is about women who were “lady slayers” throughout history. I hadn’t heard of Catherine Monvoison before, probably because she was a woman in the 17th century, but this was such a fascinating story.

I found this story to be a quick read. Catherine went through many stages of life, going from an orphanage to a middle class home and eventually to the French Court. The dark arts that Catherine practiced were fascinating to read about. Catherine was a seer and also created poisons from her grimoire. These fantastical aspects made this story exciting and fast paced.

This was such a great story!

Thank you Amulet Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the setting in the book, every description of this seedy magical underbelly of France left me wanting more. The glimpses of the royal court and the drama surrounding it were expertly woven into Catherine’s world of magic. I loved the drama of her readings and dark rituals particularly once she started partnering with the illusionist. Most of all, I enjoyed how the characters are using what resources are afforded them and their wit to carve out their own spaces in this world. Seeing Catherine interact with the other main characters and how they all used her magic was so enjoyable. All around Catherine was an excellent character and I enjoyed her back story and her drive. Seeing her come into her element as a performer was so cool. I think Lana Popovic has excellent character development in this series and I want to see more Lady Slayers.

DNF I really liked the first book in this series but this one not so much. It just didn’t grab my attention and felt disinteresting and dull. I didn’t find the romance believable sadly and the magic system wasn’t explained enough it just ‘was’.

After Blood Countess, and now Poison Priestess, I want to be a part of the Lady Slayer’s club! Set in France during the reign of Louis the 14th, Catherine is a vigilante doling out justice in the form of poison to those noblesse she deems deserving... but is the risk she takes worth it? She could lose the new livelihood she has acquired for herself, not to mention her life, if caught.

I really loved 'Blood Countess' so I had to read this as soon as I knew it existed. This book had such a mysterious and seductively dark vibe to it and it was so fun to read! I also really loved the setting of France during Louis XIV's reign because the descriptions of Versailles and court life was so magical, regardless of the court intrigue and deaths. The storyline is a little bit similar to that of 'Blood Countess' but I loved it just the same. Overall I just ripped through this book and highly enjoyed reading it! If Lana comes out with another book I'll definitely be adding it to my TBR.

Poison Priestess is driven by ambition, but at the same time Catherine's story is very much a search for security. It's a quick read that explores toxic friendships and the rise, and fall, of powerful women. My favorite elements were the historical fiction vibes, the magical world building, and Catherine's ambition. I am here for all the queer historical fiction. Just so you know. While I feel like there wasn't enough character development for Catherine in Poison Priestess, I enjoyed reading her story. A world where she serves at the whims of others. It's truly a story about playing with fire, the consequences of being close to the flames.

I would like to thank the publishers and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC copy of this book.

A riveting, twisting and dark young adult fantasy which delves into the forbidden and occult arts. This book is one, which I found to be, a fast-paced read with a dash of French dialect to fully immerse the reader into the story line.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and found myself thinking about it after stopping to read it for the night. It was full of well-detailed locations throughout which made me feel as though I was there due to the visuals the author provided.

The characters were also as detailed as the locations throughout the book with our Catherine Monvoisin (the main character) having a very interesting development throughout the book.

I absolutely adored the aspect of the occult and magic throughout the book and found it extremely tantalising. I enjoyed the mystery surrounding everything and even found myself googling some of the incantations and poisons which the author included.

Overall a book I would thoroughly recommend to other young adult readers and I look forward to seeing what Lana Popović brings out next.

Lana Popovic has done it again! This time in historical France. We follow a young lady who wishes to leave her life of poverty and her money losing husband in order to become something far greater than herself; a divineress to the mistress of the King of France. There are consequences of course. She is forced to leave behind her life in the city and her lover in order to keep in the good graces of the mistress that she now serves.
This book grabbed me from the start. I loved Blood countess so much that this one had to hold itself up to a high standard and it did. I love how Lana touches upon some light lgbtq themes at the same time as making these historical murderesses real to the reader. It was a true delight and I would happily put it in the hands of anyone who enjoys learning about the darker side of history.

This was a atmospheric and dark historic fiction about the cost of getting what you want. I really enjoyed the story line and the plot, and I thought the climax was quite well done, however I wish there had been slightly more emotion at some points in the book. The characters were diverse and interesting and this plot was based on actual historic characters. This is historic fiction so it takes many liberties with the way their actual lives unfolded but it was an enjoyable read.