Beautiful, thoughtful writing paired with am incredible world. TPWD is a rare YA gem. I did think it would've been even better with an expanded story in a duology but I'll take this as well.

I loved that thenFMC didn’t seem weak and was sticking it to the man. Loved the magic system in the book and can’t wait to read more.

I thought that this was a pretty decent debut. There were a lot of good moments and aspects that I really enjoyed but unfortunately, it didn’t really all come together for me.

First off, the pacing was all over the place. The beginning of the book is slooow with the first 20% dedicated to set-up, background, and world-building. Then there seem to be extremely important scenes that happen off-page with a single sentence. Conversations happen constantly but are always kept short so emotions go from 0 to 100 and back to 0 quickly.

The world-building was pretty good and I liked the individual components of the magical system. However, I never got the sense that the various magical mechanisms interacted or related to each other to create a single cohesive magical system. Anima, auras, blood oaths, blood tethers, familiars, callings, vow of abnegation, purification baths, Sister Magick/Sister Nature, potion notes, enchanted items. These are just some of the various magic systems or mechanisms that are introduced. And because they all operate more or less separately from each other, it’s very easy to forget one of these mechanisms exists until it's brought back 150 pages later.

I would also recommend not thinking too deeply about how the potion economics or recoil work because if you do, the entire thing stops making sense. Most of the time, the recoil from a trinary-note potion will literally almost kill you and you have to drink a mending potion to not die. But when Venus is required to brew two trinary-note potions back to back, she can withstand the recoil if Patches and Leap fight (??) the potion? Shouldn’t brewers have developed a better system for dealing with recoil than literally lying on the floor with shattered bones, bleeding out, slowly dying until someone else pours the mending potion into your mouth? Why would Leslie offer Venus a *free* Ironskin potion when we’re told it costs seven figures for a single bottle because it’s extremely dangerous to brew? And why the hell would Venus say no without a second thought, especially since it would help her later on?

I loved the premise of this book and I think it mostly managed to live up to my expectations. However, one issue that I had with the main plot was how little of it is explained to Venus (and by extension, the reader). Since Venus is only roped into the enslave-Senators-with-potions plan at the very end after all of the details have been figured out, the reader never gets a clear sense of the stakes or consequences. The reader is not given a baseline understanding of this fantasy-Congress (how many Senators are pro-witcher, which regions of the US are more witcher friendly, what’s the status of the House of Representatives, etc). It’s explained that Venus doesn’t know these details because she doesn’t follow politics but then how is the reader expected to care about the Registration Act passing if the main character literally doesn’t? I mean, all we’re told is that these 5 Senators are “swing votes” but if you’re going to give them a love potion anyway, why does that even matter? You could literally just love potion 5 “no” votes and it would have an equal if not greater effect. I think part of this is that I work in DC politics so these unexplained details stand out to me more but it’s pretty frustrating when the main character is basically clueless about the secret plot she’s participating in for the entire book.

Another related issue is how smaller story elements are introduced in one chapter, leading you to believe that it will have long-ranging implications for the rest of the book but it just… doesn’t? Something that would seem extremely important or life-changing to Venus is basically never mentioned again. For example, Venus is given a letter from her deceased father in Chapter 5 and for reasons that are not explained, tosses it aside without opening it. It’s only until Chapter 32 that this letter is suddenly rediscovered and we’re told that Venus has avoided opening it because she didn’t feel ready but that was never mentioned in Chapter 5. Another example is the inheritance syndrome which basically gives a resurrected person (in this case, Venus) the magical abilities of the person sacrificed. This concept is introduced in Chapter 26 and wouldn’t you know it, Venus very conveniently discovers that she has inheritance syndrome in the same chapter. The fact that Venus can now brew healing potions is never mentioned after Chapter 26 even though there are so many potential uses for it in the story.

Finally, some of the phrases felt awkward and clunky to me. Since I read an ARC, I have no idea if the exact wording will remain in the published version (presumably the straight-up typos or grammatical errors will be edited out). Some examples of phrases that I found awkward: “a biblical flood of patrons had flooded the Golden Coin” or “tired screeched to sleep as Venus slammed her foot on the brake” or “a shower washed the crumbles of sleep away” or “Venus needed to gather her strength’s last crumbles to get out of here.”

Anyway, this review ended up way longer than I expected but I should reiterate that I thought this was a pretty good debut and a 3-star rating is not bad at all.

★★★★ • 4

“The illusion was what the world knew best. The crisp white monuments of supposed heroes and hope stood tall. The museums worshipped human victories and mistakes. A downtown brimmed with grand hotels, high-end stores, and trendy joints where the wealthy reigned, the tourist roamed, and the poor never rested. On the battlefield of Capitol Hill, lies and promises were cherished weapons. And the White House was nothing more than a poisonous time capsule of good old American dreams.”

Great debut novel, but goes heavy on details so it makes for a denser read. That said, this book is fantasy but is also very much ‘reality adjacent’ in some ways which can be hard to read.

There’s a certain level of discomfort which increases after every single chapter where the author prefaces with yet another horrible fantasy law or social inequality. This book will make you angry, because it very clearly mirrors real hatred and discrimination that makes today’s world feel like a dystopian society. So, while I’ll say this book is upsetting it is also extremely relevant.

Overall? The book was good, but I do think it leans more towards being New Adult rather than Young Adult… Not because of the themes discussed but more so because of some of the more graphic aspects of the content.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC to review!

It's been awhile since I have read something with a new idea and let me tell you how much I loved it. I really like how the magic system is not given all at once but just when something happens that involves magic it gives you an extra paragraph to explain why. I can't believe this book is the authors depute novel, it is really well written and I can not wait to see what else she comes out with! I will definitely be following this author. Pick it up, you wont be disappointed!

Description
In a country divided between humans and witchers, Venus Stoneheart hustles as a brewer making illegal love potions to support her family.

Love potions is a dangerous business. Brewing has painful, debilitating side effects, and getting caught means death or a prison sentence. But what Venus is most afraid of is the dark, sentient magic within her.

Then an enemy's iron bullet kills her mother, Venus's life implodes. Keeping her reckless little sister Janus safe is now her responsibility. When the powerful Grand Witcher, the ruthless head of her coven, offers Venus the chance to punish her mother's killer, she has to pay a steep price for revenge. The cost? Brew poisonous potions to enslave D.C.'s most influential politicians.

As Venus crawls deeper into the corrupt underbelly of her city, the line between magic and power blurs, and it's hard to tell who to trust…Herself included.

My Take:
Did the cover and the description grab you? It grabbed me and after reading the book, has yet to let me go. I received this book as an ARC through Netgalley (it publishes on March 5, 2024) and enjoyed it immensely. Here are a few reasons why you should pick up this book as soon as you can:
1. The cover is gorgeous and will brighten up any space it's in.
2. Intrigue, Murder, and Agendas: who can you trust? Are you sure?
3. It's all about love-in all of its forms.
4. Family bonds are formed, tested, stretched and broken.
5. The world building is fantastic! I could see lots of stories emerging from this world.
6. With all of the detail, there is much to discuss: this would make a great book club pick or buddy read.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 stars

After everything has gone down recently, I was super ready to read this book. Unfortunately, it didn’t go as I expected. While the cover is beautiful and the world building is vast and interesting, it took me a very long time to be invested. I wasn’t really into the book till it was almost finished. We are thrown into a world that has a bit TOO much going on and it’s very hard to keep up with the many rules and characters. I wasn’t sure what was going on a lot of the time. Witcher society is very enchanting and I wish that it had been explained a bit more to us.

I love the themes of family and loyalty. Venus is a great MC and we are given a chance to sympathize with her and her struggles. There’s also messages here about love and hope as well as rage and revenge. We see the difficult relationship that families have as well as how families are able to stick together no matter what.

I’m excited to see what Bethany has next. Her writing style is so magical and full of rich characters.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bethany Baptiste knocked it out of the park with this! This is a plot heavy, fast paced, story of Venus Stoneheart; a witcher and brewer of love potions. Venus faces so many different adversities in this book- from her complicated relationships (both familial and romantic), to persecution of witchers on a congressional scale, all while trying to navigate her own grief when a loved one dies. She will do whatever it takes to protect the ones she loves, but some of those actions have severe consequences.

There are a lot of heavy themes, (death, grief, murder, a little bit of body gore) I would definitely read the trigger warnings before picking this up, but I think this is an important book to read because it transcends the YA genre, which is typically looked at like fluff. This is not a fluffy book. This is the most well thought out urban fantasy of our time.

This is truly a gem of a book. If I could give it 6 stars, I would. The Poisons We Drink, is the best YA I have read in a long time. Everything Bethany Baptiste writes will immediately get bought by me from this point forward.

Venus and Janus lost their mother. She was murdered early on in the book. Venus wants to find out who did it and wants revenge. The Grand Witcher offers her that. She brings her the killer to dispose of. But Venus is dragged into a world of witcher politics that her mom didn't want her involved in. It's what killed her dad. There is a bill up to pass against the witchers though and Venus knows that it cannot pass. She's willing to risk her life by brewing more potions that she can to kill the bill. She struggles with protecting the people she loves while doing this. She also finds out secrets from the past and it seems there are very few people she can trust.

I enjoyed the magic system in this. The recoil (think that would be the right word) is pretty brutal and graphic at times. The pacing was decent and I really grew to like both Venus and Janus. I struggled at times in the beginning to remember people and their magic, but I think that's more because I've been sick than anything.

I gave this book 4 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my earc.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for an eARC of The Poisons We Drink!

I absolutely devoured this book. It has queer rep, political intrigue, magic, and action. I couldn't stop turning the pages (or swiping, since it was an eCopy!). I definitely recommend this book and encourage everyone to preorder!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Baptiste mention that if you like "Practical Magic + Breaking Bad" or "love potions that crawl down throats" then you'll like this. Those two particular descriptions caught my interest and I was immediately intrigued. Check out the authors review on Goodreads. The content warnings are very thoughtful.

This book was awesome! The main characters as well as side characters were all very relatable! It was slower paced but I did not mind at all! This world building was immaculate and I will be recommending for the new year!

Here's my main issue: There is too much going on. The Poisons We Drink takes on so much: magic, murder and the grief that follows, plus fantastical racism and its role in politics. Then there's an extensive cast of characters on top of that. It's an information overload.

That being said, I absolutely adored the first 20% of this book. If the book had ended there, I would have given this four stars.

Before getting into the bad things, here's what I genuinely enjoyed.

- The literal Black girl magic - Most YA fantasy novels are about the lives of younger, white protagonists whom I love but struggle to relate to. The representation in this book deserves a star.

- The casual queerness - There's a lot of hate in this book. Thank you to the author for deciding to leave homophobia and transphobia out of this. Plus, we all know I love a cast of casually queer characters. (And alliteration. If you've been following my reviews, you know I love alliteration.)

- Patches, the cat - Can we please have pets play a starring role in books more often? While Patches isn't a pet in the traditional sense, I was still a fan.

And now, let's get into what I did not enjoy...

Our MC Venus breaks hearts, promises, and vows all the time. But she has endless chances, something that I can't accept.

There's all this talk about the rules witchers are required to follow. If they break these rules, they risk losing their magic. But with Venus, it's almost as if the consequences couldn't touch her. The lengths taken to save her were laughable. She did so many silly things and still bounced back. It's as if her "main character" privilege kept her safe. This book could and should have been so much shorter.

In my opinion, some events happened solely for the shock factor. Things got so over the top that it detracted from my enjoyment. Many moments fit into this, but I'm referring to everything that happened on the yacht. I unprepared for those revelations, and I don't feel they added anything.

Ultimately, The Poisons We Drink solidifies what I suspected: I am not a revenge book reader. I sympathized with the situation, but I cannot stand behind this behavior. There is so much hatred in this book that it hurts to read. I could not celebrate any of the witcher wins; everything felt dirty.

Bottom line: I wanted so bad to like this, but I didn't.

A decent debut novel. However I don’t believe it should be marketed toward YA audiences, more NA. The content has profanities and adult themes that I feel as an adult as fine but maybe too strong for a young adult. The writing style is unique, if a bit clunky at times but it is a debut, and it might be the authors style of writing that didn’t flow for me at times. Unfortunately that did not help me connect to the characters through the story as well, that being said I do think it will work for other readers.

Thanks NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS FIRE for the ARC!

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for allowing me to read an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the views and opinions expressed in this review are purely my own and not affiliated with any brand.

This was an interesting read full of family and politics. It was a very on point novel for the current political climate but told in a way that makes the story feel less like a political statement. The family dynamics in this story are very complicated. The different levels and type of magic was interesting. The story was very well written.

The concept and the book’s explanation of what it’s like being a Black woman in America represented through a magical, fantasy world was brilliant. The author’s note and acknowledgments were raw and real and led to an even deeper level of understanding to the story. Unfortunately, it was too slow paced for my liking and just didn’t work for me overall. I do think that the younger target audience will love this one, though.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review which is not affiliated with any brand.

This was such a good read! a fantasy that centers around a Black girl who doesn't always have to scream strong black woman but still shows strength. Love the whole theme of love in all its forms in this book and the queer and NB rep. The political system was also intriguing and was really developed rather than aesthetic with no real effect on the plot. Highly recommend!

This is an ambitious urban fantasy that has many cool ideas but also so many threads and high stakes that I kinda lost track of them all.

There's definitely lots of interesting worldbuilding elements, but I also didn't quite get how they fit together. The main character's potion brewing has extreme side effects, but other completely different magics seemed pretty normal other than having a time limit? It probably has rules in the author's head but things just didn't connect for me. All of the different elements also made the pacing a bit weird. It took me over a week to read this which is ages for me.

When it introduced her ‘deviation’ - essentially evil sentient magic inside her head - I was super hyped because I love that trope! But it’s barely explained and very underutilised in my opinion? I kept waiting for it to become more relevant. Maybe in a sequel....

There's good parts for sure, very vivid characters, and as I said lots of cool ideas! Some of this is just my personal taste, and I'm giving it four stars because I think it definitely has its audience.

I really loved the characters. The magic system was really solid, and quite different to many of the other series I’ve read.

I am certain I’m only thinking this due to recent escalation of events, but it felt like a somewhat naive but hopeful take on the current genocide happening to the Palestinian people. Oppressors oppressing (with violence, threats, extremely one sided laws that severely impact on the oppressed’s movements freedoms and lives). We follow the lives of complicated and imperfect people who are subjected to these rules and regulations, and how they try to work within the system to make changes (mirrored back through recollections and discoveries of their parents ultimately unsuccessful actions). Perhaps naive isn’t the word - innocent/optimistic/gentle. Might not exactly be the target audience! Overall I found there to be a wonderful depth to the well woven plot - a very politically intrigue that provides a steady hand to the characters (without simply shoving them to the next plot point).

I think the author also rushed past some parts to the writing’s detriment, in places. I kept needing to re-read sections, unclear how or what had been gently indicated. (Perhaps it was my comprehension skills? Lmao. Real possibility). Baptiste can only improve and I can’t wait to see where she takes us.

I adore the worldbuilding of witches and potion-makers in a modern dystopia setting, sort of? LOVE
Also love how diverse the characters are, how strong and unapologetic Venus is, and the writing style. It was so good!