Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Where to begin? I ended up not finishing (DNF) the book around the 40% mark. The characterization and world-building felt clunky from the start. It puzzled me why the main character consistently referred to her mother by her government name, Clarissa. This practice extended to every adult in her life, which struck me as odd. Perhaps it was the author's attempt to address personal issues with her own mother, but it didn't resonate as intended. Both the protagonist and her sister referred to their mother as Clarissa, yet in the next moment would question, "Why is our mom like this?" This inconsistency was distracting.

Apart from this peculiar stylistic choice, the plot failed to engage me. When it reached pivotal moments like the mother's death and the revelation about the peculiar society of brewers, as well as the sister's entanglement with the law, I found myself utterly disinterested. I had to abandon the book for the sake of my sanity.

I think this would be a good book for a HS library! It's a fantasy where the year 2000 went very differently than it did in reality, and so by 2023 the country was on a different path--with a lot of the fights focusing on witches, as a proxy for (more than rather than) immigration and other ways that political battles about oppression play out.

So it's hard for me to frame it as contemporary fantasy or not, since it's VERY magical. If you like contemporary fantasy more along the lines of Shadowshapers and Bloodmarked, where the world seems predictable until it doesn't, it's not that. But also, in so many ways 2023 is 2023!

I had a hard time following the number of characters, but i think that part of that is that i get lost with worldbuilding. I think that more deep speculative fiction fans would LOVE this book.

The Poisons We Drink
by Bethany Baptiste
YA Urban Fantasy
NetGalley ARC
Sourcebooks Fire
Pub Date: March 26, 2024
Ages: 14+

In an alternative America, there are humans and Witchers, and the humans are afraid of the Witchers' magic and have passed laws that do not protect the Witchers from violence.

Venus is a Witcher and to make a living she brews illegal love potions. But these are not just 'the making someone fall in love with you' potions, these can involve making someone love an idea, any idea.

Then one night Venus's mother is killed and now she has to protect her little sister. The Grand Witcher finds the killer and gives Venus the opportunity to punish him, but in doing so she finds herself forced to pay the Grand Witcher back with a blood oath.

Having no choice but to brew potions for the grand witcher that would give her the power to control some of D.C.'s politicians, Venus finds herself torn between doing what is ordered of her, what is right, and what could save all the Witchers from the humans who only want to see them dead.


Even though it's the typical 'them against us' story, I liked the idea of magic being the dividing line. Venus lives in the 'gray' area, meaning she knows the difference between legal and illegal but because she is a Witcher she has no choice but to do illegal things in order for her family to survive. I get that, I can connect with her, but she had a self-centeredness that I did not like.

Also, the world-building and magic needed more. I wasn't deeply drawn into the story because it felt as if there was only one layer to it when there could've been more, and looking for those missing layers made it a slow read.

There's history to the world and the Witchers but it's vague, and the magic, I feel a lot is left out about the type and how powerful they can be. And the character 'It', where it came from wasn't explained in detail and I have no clue how it came to life and what it really is. And it's power: it needs more what and why, etc...

Another thing that made this a slow read was a lot of choppy, three or four-word sentences that would have made more sense combined, and some of the poor word choices (digits instead of fingers) made me cringe. I get not wanting to overly use words and to be unique, but it's better to say what you mean instead of making the reader think; what the heck?!

I did like the story, the idea, plot, but a little more depth with the magic, world, and characters could earn this one more star.

3 Stars

I found this story to be completely unbelievable with characters that were unrealistic and shallow. The relationship between Venus and her mother was stilted and awkward. I wasn't impressed with the writing style or the world building. It was very generic and forgettable.

I loved so many things about this book. First, of course, I loved the relationship between Janus and Venus, who are sisters. They’re very different from one another and argue a lot, but at the end of the day, each one knows her sister has her back.

I also loved the magic system. It’s complex, but really interesting. Venus is a “brewer,” meaning she makes potions. But in order to do this, she must commit to only one kind of potion brewing. She has committed to brewing potions in love magic, so things that impact relationships.

She gets embroiled in a political scheme when legislators propose a bill that would mean witchers (magic users) would be required to register with the government, which, considering the way witchers are already treated by the government, would be a terrible thing. I liked the way the political issue drove the story forward. It made for high stakes and some intense reckoning over morals and what someone might be willing to do to protect the people they love or avenge a loved one’s murder.

While I loved the magic system, there were a couple of moments– not a lot of them– where I got confused about how things worked. An action suddenly broke a bond. A character could suddenly do a kind of magic I thought she wasn’t supposed to be capable of or didn’t pay the price that I thought she said would be exacted if she took certain actions.

It’s possible that those were fixed before the book was released (I read a pre-release copy). Even with those few hiccups, I was super carried away reading the story of this wild, pink-haired witcher ready to mete out justice or vengeance, as the situation demanded, no matter the personal cost.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste is a fantasy that is influenced by the realities happening in the world right now. The dehumanization that is happening due to the skin color, ethnicity, race, and misunderstanding of traditions is turned into a fantasy story in my personal opinion.

Venus, who has just turned 18, is a witch. She brews love potions. Her boss is her mother, with whom she has a complicated relationship. The world, though, is extremely dangerous for anyone who practices magic. Venus loses her mother, and she wants revenge. But at what cost?

First and foremost, I really enjoyed the diverse characters in this book. The representation is just amazing. As a South Asian, to read two characters who are powerful was a delight. I love books where the author themselves give content warnings, and this author has done a great job at that. I think somewhere I connected with Venus deeply. Though the storyline was clunky at some places, this book is a good debut novel.

Thank you, Sourcebooks Fire @sourcebooksfire , for this book

Venus brews dangerous love potions to keep her family safe. But this time, it might be the only thing that can keep witchers safe across the country.

Read if you like: witchy paranormal, urban fantasy, political plots, movements for social justice and inclusion, LGBTQ+ characters, teens coming of age and learning to use their power.

Venus has been brewing love potions for years. But each brew comes with dangerous physical side effects. She must balance her work against the cost on her life. But when her mother is murdered her search for revenge lands her in the middle of a long-standing political conflict. As she tries to hold up her end of the deal, she slowly learns more about her family’s past and the reality of who really holds the power in her world.

This book has a lot packed into 480 pages. Cool witchy magic, political intrigue, teen angst and pining, civil movements and political positioning, and intense family dynamics. I absolutely love Venus and her friends and family. The characters all are well developed and layered which adds that messy family feel to everything that unfolds in all aspects of the plot. I thought the way magic works in this world put a fun twist on watch could be a modern-day witch hunt but instead highlights the feeling of underrepresented populations within the diverse people of the United States. Things are very real and very heavy even with the soft glean of magic to try and soften the edges of the ongoing political conflicts and fights for everyone to be truly equal.

I love a complex story but sometimes I found myself flagging. I think what took me out of the story was the distinct shift from “we’re doing magic” to “we’re fighting for the cause.” And yes, they can do both, but it needed a better blend of the plots to fully integrate the multiple layers of what the characters are faced with. It’s a big beefy book, and while the content isn’t inappropriate, it might be a dauting read for younger teens as the story is complex and heavy. I love all the social discourse and the feeling of uniting generations and having young people find their place. There’s a lot in this story to spark and stoke conversations of justice and equality and what that means in the changing landscape of the world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for a copy of this book for review.

The Poisons We Drink reminds me of Blood Debts with social and political targeting of naturally gifted people that possess magic and wanting to register to control them. The quest for power is strong throughout this entire book. Book was also packed full of magic that was thoroughly explained. And how it was used and recoil was definitely unique. Although the rhyming of the spells was cheesy. Also there were tons of characters. I kinda got lost in who was who at times and their connections. I really liked the sisterly bond between Venus and Janus. Something to admire that even though they bicker, they still have each other back. Overall, a nice witchy read.

Forget rainbows and sparkles. This is dark magic with bite. The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste is a witchy thriller that throws urban fantasy and noir vibes into a cauldron, brewing a potent concoction for readers. Venus Stoneheart is no Glinda the Good Witch. This black-market brewer in a world simmering with tension between humans and witchers is more of a “vengeance with a side of survival” kind of hero. When a murder throws her into the fire, Venus becomes tangled in a conspiracy hotter than a funeral pyre. Baptiste sets the stage for this tale in a fascinating, magic-infused world where even everyday life has a touch of the fantastical. The simmering tension between witchers and their iron-wielding human counterparts adds a constant layer of danger, keeping the story on a thrilling boil. The mystery unfolds slowly, teasing out plenty of twists and surprises on the way. If you crave a messy hero in a dark, witchy world, this book is the perfect poison for you.

Content Warning: violence, racism, language, death

There were some really cool things that stand out in this story like the world-building. I love that it’s a world where witches and humans don’t get along. The witches we follow are Venus and Janus Stoneheart who are young women who brew potions. I liked that the witches in this book actually did a lot of witchcraft! Another aspect I liked was the theme of family and the complicated relationships we can have in one. The really loved the familial bond the sisters had with their cousin Tyrell. There is a also romance taking place with Venus and her ex-best friend Presley, which was a nice addition to the story. I love the diversity being represented!

Venus is a potion maker but she’s also fighting this dark sentient being inside her who wants to unleash violence. She’s also trying to figure out who killed her mom and there are a lot of political undercurrents happening between the witches and humans. I found Venus to be a really strong character who was always looking out for her sister.

My attention started to drift in the middle of the book and I can’t really pinpoint why – it could have just been my mood.

My Thoughts:

My favorite parts of this book was the witchcraft, world-building and family themes. Also I really do love the cover! I thought it was an entertaining read except for the parts in the middle which dragged a little. There is a lot of profanity in this one so if you don’t like that, this isn’t for you. If you like to read young adult urban fantasy books about witches and politics, you will like this one.

This was a wild, intense ride. Super fast paced and grabs your interest right away. The world building, story, and magic system were all really interesting, as well as poignant parallels to the real world. The biggest issue is that it is longer than it needed to be.

I had the pleasure of receiving an advanced copy of this novel from NetGalley for review.

Please keep in mind that I'm not the target audience, so take my review with a grain of salt.

This novel portrays a world similar to ours but with magical individuals known as witchers coexisting with us. They face constant marginalization due to their nature. The main character, Venus, is an adept potion brewer who has been learning under her mother's supervision for years. Their complex and tense relationship was a fascinating aspect to explore. However, Venus is only eighteen. At times, she sounds like a wise elder, but mostly, she comes across as a typical angsty teenager, which didn't particularly appeal to me (again, I'm NOT the target audience). Some dialogues were confusing, and I often had to backtrack to clarify who said what. The narrative also contained some YA clichés that I found hard to overlook.

The magic system, though intriguing, could have been woven more seamlessly into the narrative. Instead, it felt more like a cycle of action, then a dump of information about the magic system, followed by more action. This storytelling style didn't resonate with me. Despite this, the magic system and world politics were genuinely intriguing, and I appreciated their relevance to current real-world events.

However, in line with my honest review, I can only rate this book a 3.5 out of 5.

'The Poisons We Drink' by Bethany Baptiste

Pub date: 5 March 2024

Thoughts:
● first of all, it's important to note how I really like this cover. I'd definetly pick this up if I was in a book store.
● I'm obsessed; I can't put it down.
● can I say I'm obsessed twice ??

Positives:
● a content / trigger warning at the beginning of the book, that feels very thorough and mindful.
● such a great beginning hook
● author describes things with thoughtful and interesting details. It makes everything seem vibrant
● interesting lore
● unpredictable storyline
● everything about the storyline in general
● the main characters are interesting and detailed. I found myself wanting to know more about them.
● glossary in the back
● potion recipes [from the story] in the back

Negatives:
● N/A because there are NONE.

Thankyou netgalley, Bethany Baptiste and Sourcebooks Fire for access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks.

I love this book. It has a unique take on a fantasy. That I feel like isn't the most explored. Modern day, magic. But a whole system against them very relevant to modern day. For example BLM protests. This book is going to be one of if not my all time favorite read.

This was...it was a let down. First off, I know this title has gotten some attention because it was review bombed, but I want to make very clear that that's not what's happening here. This is my honest opinion and I have read the entire e-ARC. I also feel the need to note that I saw a review that stated that this book has an open-door sex scene, and that is just blatantly incorrect. The main character has sex, but all we see is the main character saying she orgasmed and then talking about her partner throwing away protection. THAT IS NOT OPEN-DOOR SEX! Onto my actual thoughts of the book. I wanted to love this book so much because I love a morally grey character (especially a female one) but I think in the end while the idea here was a great one with a lot of promise I was underwhelmed by the execution. I think my main issue here was that there was too much focus on the wrong things and the world wasn't fleshed out enough. This is a LONG book (I think when it's printed it will be closer to 500 pages than 400) and yet it takes a while for things to start moving. Our inciting incident doesn't happen for a good 100-ish or so pages, and then there's a stagnation of the plot until at least the half-way point. Pieces of this could have been taken out and I honestly thing the core story would have remained the same. My other big issue here is the magic system. What is there is fascinating, and the idea that brewing potions is something that only a select few do because it fucks you up big time is fascinating, but even with 400+ pages I'm not sure I fully understand the magic system in this world. There's too much going on with not enough explanation. And sometimes things are just introduced and then not explained until much MUCH later, which just left me going back and trying to figure out what I had missed. Most of the time the answer was nothing, which just left me scratching my head. There were also several instances where characters supposedly got information that was never actually shared, and I'm not sure how that happened. Was it the magic powers? idk. It was just really messy. Perhaps these things are fixed in the final published version and it's just that this was an early copy? I'm not sure. I just feel like this could have used more edits (at least in the state I got it in), and some fleshing out in places. This review is kind of a mess, but honestly the book was too. Congrats to Baptiste for getting this published, and I think it had potential, but it didn't live up to it. Which is a shame, because I could feel her passion for the story. I'm honestly not sure if I'll check out what she writes next, but unfortunately I won't be recommending this to anyone because it just fell so flat for me. But if it does intrigue you don't let my thoughts stop you from checking it out, because I seem to be in the minority here.

I was really excited for this book and while it didn’t fully live up to the hype for me I would still recommend it! Venus was an interesting character and I loved the idea of her being skilled in love potions that just is a recipe for a mess. There is a good like murder mystery type plot to it as well. Unfortunately her and her sister got quite annoying to me after awhile and I normally have no issues with young protagonists. It was still a good read and a very unique story! Will still be adding to the library collection!

This book held my interest for a while until it didn't. I enjoyed the correlation between how the world was pretty much divided between humans and witchers. How there was prejudice, gentrification and unfair laws were trying to gain support to be enacted to make things harder for witchers.....Hmm sound familiar.

Venus is a young witcher who is skilled in Love Potions which is a dangerous all in itself; especially while having an evil sentient being living inside of her. After the murder of her mother, Venus sets out to make things right.

Venus is 18 years old trying to take on problems as if she is a seasoned adult. Drama within the family, within her coven, within her community leaves Venus with more questions than answers. Who can be trusted? The deeper Veus digs into her mother's murder to more she begins to unravel the threads of deceit, betrayal and treachery. Will her potions be enough to shift the hands of fate?

This story had potential, but Venus and her 16-year-old sister were exhausting. You have an 18-year-old acting like she's 30; and you have a 16-year-old brat who shuns authority and thinks she's a bada** living without fear. Character development was lacking in this story, and it seems that there were more in fighting and drama within the family than with the actual enemies.

If I have to summarize this book with one sentence, I'd just say: I really did everything to like this book. This book just doesn't like me. But let's not blame everything on it. I was partially responsible as well. Despite my best efforts, I could not focus on it. The words, sentences, and action flew directly into one ear and escaped right away through another. That's quite an accomplishment seeing that I have an ear infection as of right now. Yet, there was something about it that couldn't bring my attention to it. I meditated on the plot for a long time. I know it wasn't the concept. The world in which witchers have their own society, our main character brews love potions, her mother is mysteriously killed, and she feels responsibility towards her sister when she needs to prioritize that over her still brewing new relationship she could not name. And when I said it to myself, exactly this way, knowing there was more to it, I knew what was bothering me in the first place. The speed of narration. There is so much going on, between scenes, and between characters that we don't get to spend time to stop for a bit and contemplate a situation. We just go from fact to action, no questions asked, no understanding necessary. As much as it might work for ones because it is YA after all, I had trouble connecting with ANYBODY. I do not know them. When the big reveal appeared, I didn't even recognize the name of the whole villain. So the mystery was lost on me. We jumped from one chapter to another, from one conversation to the next, and despite having audio and text in front of me, I couldn't comprehend why, where, who, what, and how.
With the biggest heartache, I need to give it lower than I wanted to. I appreciate the dynamic sentences. I appreciate the parallels between our world and the fictional one. I see how social problems and injustices towards whichers compare with those the Black community faces every single day. And I see that this solid YA book can bring the thought to a young mind. But it was way too chaotic for mine, tho the idea was fantastic.
Within the audiobook, I can only say that Lynnette R. Freeman did a splendid job. Her voice and intonation always brought me back.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Bethany Baptiste, and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

This was not what I would usually pick up, but I was so drawn to this gorgeous cover. I won't write too long of a review because to be fully transparent, as someone who doesn't read or enjoy a lot of fantasy, this book was a bit over my head in parts. When I do read fantasy, I read books that feature more magical realism, so I found the magic system in this book a bit confusing. I took forever to read this because I would get slightly confused by certain characters' powers or connections, but again, this is a fault of my own and not of the book. Baptiste's writing is incredible and SO vivid; I felt right in the midst of all the action, which the book is packed to the brim with! I enjoyed the parallels between discrimination of witches and actual racism in our country, as this book had a lot to say about it. I will definitely recommend this book to my friends who enjoy fantasy more, and I'm glad I read it to diversify my reading and perspective.

Bethany is an exceptional writer . I am in awe of the talent and pure emotion packed into this book . The commentary on systemic oppression , police brutality and growing up in marginalized communities was phenomenally done .

Thank you for the arc Netgalley .