Poisoner’s Vengeance is far more gothic mystery than romantic fantasy, and that mislabeling might leave some readers surprised. But if you go in expecting a moody, paranormal tale with a strong female lead and an eerie religious setting, there’s a lot to enjoy here. The atmosphere is rich, the plot is engaging, and the protagonist is one of the most compelling I’ve read in a while.

I’d recommend this to readers looking for something dark, fast-paced, and female-driven—even if the romance didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

Would recommend to:
• Fans of morally gray heroines
• Readers who love gothic abbey settings
• Mystery lovers who enjoy a paranormal twist

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

The story is not as long as most romantasy books and has some interesting plot themes. The romance noted wasn’t too heavy compared to what I usually read. I felt this was more of a mystery type of story.

The Poisoner's Vengeance has a bit of a feel of a fairy tale - the old style fairy tale, where each wish ended up as a lesson. Novice Annette has lived in the abbey since her family gave her up to the nuns at the age of 10. But when she is not given the job of Chief Poisoner, Annette starts stewing, looking for revenge. And lucky for her, she finds a ring that wants to help her...

Greer writes a great sense of atmosphere - the gothic abbey with the abandoned wing, the hidden dungeon in the basement. I do wish that we had gotten more of a sense of the world outside the abbey - we do know that the abbey sees to be very well politically connected, but less of a sense of how the abbey connects to its community and society.

I did appreciate that the relationship between the women was even more fleshed out than the romantic relationship - this is a book that takes how women related to each other seriously, and I really enjoyed that the book care about these relationships.

I'd recommend this book to fans of Hannah Whitten and Alexandria Warwick.

*Received an ARC via NetGalley in return for an honest review*

The story was incredibly fresh and unique, but it did feel like there was some weaknesses to the storytelling and characters that kept it from evolving from ok to great.

Unlikable main character who despite it being very clear she is doing what most people would do in her situation, just comes across as bitter and only redeemed through no change in personality or perspective but simply because her ill-intent lucked out into saving others. I LOVE morally grey fmc's, so I struggle to understand why Annette fell so flat for me.

In addition, I felt like the love interest was so flat you could fit him through a letter box.

AMAZING world building, seriously cool religion, but the characters simply couldn't carry the story, and I felt like it was over sold in the 'romance' aspect.

**** This review contains spoilers ****
When life at the abbey doesn't go according to plan, Annette takes matters into her own hands to discover what is really going on. With the help of a demon, she uncovers a dark secret... But then the story falls flat, sorry. While I like the concepts used in this story, the ending left me wanting more - and not in a good way. Okay, yes, she figures out what went wrong all those years ago and defeats the villain. However, she's painted as this highly intelligent loner but the prioress is the one reveals everything??? Some aspects weren't done well and it just fell flat at the end.

Thank you so much for the arc !
I absolutely devoured this storyline and loved the main character.. this was such a different story (in a good way) and such an easy read

Poisoner's Vengeance by Talia Greer is a Gothic fanatsy with romance and mystery, which kept me up all night!
The setting, the vibes just hit perfectly with the story. I enjoyed the twists and turns a lot. The characters had a great impact especially Annette. She was brave, kind and fierce to protect and get what's hers! I loved her spirit. The banters were cute and thoroughly enjoyable.
Definitely looking forward to read more by the author.

I wish people would just start marketing their books for what they are instead of trying to hop on trends that the book doesn't deliver on. This isn't a romance and it's barely fantasy. It's a good read for what it is, it's atmospheric and easily digestible and I liked the characters. If it had been marketed as what it was, I would've eaten it up. It's a gothic or paranormal mystery with fantasy elements. The romance was pretty much thrown in at the end out of nowhere and felt like it was just there to tick a box. Now I will say I absolutely loved the characters, Annette was great and Rigo is a sweet little golden retriever demon boy

3 stars based on the story itself, based on marketing alone it would've been 1/2

Thank you to Net Galley and Skull & Violet Publishing for the opportunity to read this arc. I had high hopes for this book but was honestly let down. The main character, Annette, being the top poison brewer amongst her peers, I would have thought that it would've been heavy in the plot, or at least at some point she would have had to use her expertise to get out of situation, however, this was not in the plot at all which was very disappointing. While I did enjoy the plot, it was very predictable. The romance in this book fell somewhat flat... there weren't many serious moments between Annette and the male lead before their romance started which made their relationship seem forced. The author did a good job stringing the words together to make the read enjoyable and easy flowing, so I appreciated that. The book overall had the potential, just was not executed in a way to hit home for me.

I enjoyed this book overall, but there were some elements that pulled me out of the story. I wish the fantasy was more fantastical- for something marketed as a fantasy romance, the fantasy did not feel strong enough. I did however like the romance between the two and I believed the enemies to lovers, which is one of my favourite tropes to read. The slow burn was also written very well

I got about 40% into this and I just couldn’t continue… I’m not sure if I just wasn’t in the right headspace for a fantasy book but this just wasn’t for me. I didn’t connect with the characters but I’m willing to try it again in the future.

For me it didn’t quite hit and I wasn’t as connected as I wanted to be.
Though the story kept me interested, and was beautifully written, I just didn’t feel invested.
The romance aspect felt a little flat and I wasn’t pining for the MMC

Annette is a nun in a garden themed religion. She has worked hard to become the best of her class ever since she was given over to the abbey at ten years old. Then, just like that, the award for top poisoner goes to a different nun. Annette, who never felt like she fit in at the abbey, quickly decides to sabotage the abbey recertification. If her plan works everything that year will have to get looked at and redone. She hopes this will lead to her getting her award. Along her path for revenge she teams up with a relic that talks to her in her head and a demon named Rigo.

Annette is the POV character. At first, I didn’t like Annette. She immediately jumped to revenge. Also, her attitude that the award was owed to her I found somewhat off putting. Over the course of the story I grew to really enjoy Annette and what I first thought was a weakness in character writing I came around on. Annette isn’t well liked by the others that live in the abbey and Greer shows the reader why that is. Greer also digs deeper so by the end of the story I feel like I watched Annette grow and mature. I started the story rolling my eyes at her childishness just to eventually understand why she acts the way she does. I ended the story cheering her on.

The world building was very interesting and pulled me in right away. A religion based around gardening? Nuns sticking their feet in dirt to ground themselves as part of their daily practice? Love all of that. I would like to see more stories take place in this world. I want to learn more about the world outside of the abbey. I want to learn more about the demons.

Overall, I enjoyed Poisoner’s Vengeance. The plot was pretty predictable, imo, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story. The world building kept me reading till the plot picked up. The characters weren’t as fleshed out as I would have liked to see but we are only seeing them through Annette’s eyes. I’d recommend this to anyone that likes romantasy stories. I do hope Greer keeps writing in the world she created.

Thank you to NetGalley and Skull & Violet Books for providing me an advanced copy of this book.

2/5 🌶️


Thank you Netgalley and the author Talia Greer for the early access of Poisoner’s Vengeance.

🕯️Slow Burn
🕯️Enemies to Lovers
🕯️Gothic Fantasy
🕯️Dangerous Bargains
🕯️One Bed
🕯️Demon x Nun

Synopsis:
💫Annette, a nun seeking freedom and to be top of her class, is devastated when a new novitiate wins the coveted award. Fueled by revenge, she teams up witddh Rigo, the abbey’s demon prisoner, to sabotage recertification. Rigo, seeking freedom and the relic bound to Annette, plans to use her for escape. The relic, believing in Annette’s cause, intensifies her wrath, but its self-proclaimed holiness raises doubts. To unravel the abbey’s secrets, Annette must confront her beliefs, decide between the relic who is a symbol her faith, or trust the demon she feared.💫

My thoughts:
💫The romance in this story is definitely secondary. The main plot revolves around Annette’s quest to reclaim her award and unraveling the secrets of the abbeys’ past. I didn’t experience the slow-burn romance or the enemies-to-lovers trope that the book is heavily marketed with. Furthermore, I didn’t feel a strong connection between the female protagonist and the male lead, as their interactions were limited before their romance began. While I enjoyed the beginning of the book, the second half left me craving more, as the book failed to deliver on its promises.💫

Thank you to NetGalley, Skull & Violet Books and author Talia Greer for this eARC

I was so excited to read Poisoner's Vengeance! I mean what's not to love?? A vengeful nun out to poison those who wronged her teaming up with a demon to gain his freedom and a mysterious relic? Count me in!

Unfortunately I was left disappointed.

Firstly, the fact that Annette is an accomplished at making poisons is completely irrelevant as she did not poison anyone or anything through the whole book. Not a single brew.
Secondly while yes, she deserved that prize/title her reaction was way too extreme and felt more like a temper tantrum than a journey of vengeance.
Third there was zero character development. Because it turns out Annette's plan for revenge are actually what saves the abbey it kinda makes it seem like she was in the right and there were no consequences to her action except that she got exactly what she wanted from the very beginning.

Rigo our demon friend was fine. He wasn't really all that demonic but an okay sidekick.

The whole relic mystery wasn't really a mystery cause unless you read with your eyes closed you knew very, very quickly how that storyline would play out.

This review may seem a bit harsh. The book wasn't bad. It's well written and it kept my attention, but I was just hoping for so much more!

I had really high hopes for this book ....and in the beggining i really thought that would be a home run but i feel that i got in to the book because it was marketed as ‘romantic fantasy’, but at the best was a gothic mystery with paranormal elements in it.
i actually enjoyed the book because there was full of action and suspense...However I think the way it was done was just not very thought out. It could've been SO GOOD but sadly it wasn't.

Poisoner’s Vengance ARC review
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall, this was an intriguing read with a fun mystery aspect. I liked the plot and the setting. It just felt like something was missing. I also was able to guess a lot of the twists.

I would have liked to have seen a little more bonding between the FMC and MMC earlier on in the story. It kind of happend at all once within mostly one or two scenes. I understand that it was intended to be a slow burn, but it kind of felt like no burn and then everything happened all at once.

I was expecting the MMC to be a little less…nice? He was so sweet and I love that, BUT he is a demon. I would have liked to see him even just a tiny bit more wicked/morally grey.

(I was also hoping it would be spicer than what it was but I didn’t reflect that in my rating as I don’t feel that’s fair.)

Thank you, Netgalley and Talia Greer, for the ARC.

When I saw the cover for the first time, I thought 'wauw that is really beautiful'. And the blurb sounded promising! I was really looking forward to reading this book.

I thought the story was original. A nun and a demon falling in love, although they are enemies? Give me all the angst! I've never read such a trope.

The story had a slow beginning but a satisfying conclusion. It was a tad slow-paced, and I sometimes hoped the pace would pick up. Most of the action happens at the end of the story.

The twist in this story wasn't surprising to me. I knew who the entity that occupied the FMC's mind would be.

Overall, it was a quick read. It wasn't bad but also not really exciting. It was more dialogues than action.

Ever since Annette was dropped off at the convent by her parents when she was ten, Annette has been working towards earning her Chief Poisoness award. But when the ceremony took place, the new novitiate Narissa received the honor instead of her. Doomed to be a nun with no other purpose is unthinkable to Annette, so she begins to plot her revenge. Then, the perfect opportunity falls into her lap - the Prioress is coming to the abbey and there are so many preperations that need to be made. Someone needs to go down to the basement and organize the files. Annette volunteers for that task, hoping she will find something that can help her while she is down there. When she arrives down there she discovers an imprisoned demon named Rigo, held captive for more than twenty years. When Rigo offers Annette his assistance, she can’t help accepting. All he wants in exchange is his freedom–and the ancient relic Annette has accidentally bound to herself. Though the relic also believes in her cause and nurtures her wrath, its self-proclaimed holiness doesn’t quite add up, leaving her unsure who to trust. To untangle the web of lies and secrets lying beneath the abbey, Annette must decide. Trust the ancient relic, a symbol of her faith, who claims to have her best interests at heart? Or trust the demon–the monster–she was taught to fear, whose intense gaze and keen observations make her feel seen like never before?

This book was so good. I adored Annette. She was so feisty, and not at all nun-like. I really liked Rigo too, which is weird to say, because, hello, he was a demon, but he was the least demon-like demon i have ever read about. I was actually cheering on a romance between the two by the end of the book....how crazy is that? There was plenty of drama & intrigue, and although you had an idea of what might be going on, it was like you were looking at a puzzle with just a missing piece or two so the picture didn't completely make sense. If you love a good romantasy, then this should be right up your alley. Go check it out!