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This Poison Heart
384 pages
A lush, eerie exploration of deadly magic and family secrets hidden behind the gates of a poisonous garden.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like stepping into an overgrown, shadowy garden where every beautiful bloom hides a lethal secret. The narrative unfolds at a steady, atmospheric pace, wrapping the reader in a lush, gothic mood that balances eerie mystery with the deep, grounding warmth of a fiercely supportive family. The prose is highly visual, lingering on the tactile sensations of soil and the intoxicating scent of deadly botanicals, while keeping the dialogue snappy and contemporary. It is a story of claiming one's space and power, moving from hesitant discovery to fierce, unapologetic strength. Fans of dark plant magic, slow-burn sapphic romance, and ancient mythologies woven into modern settings will find themselves completely rooted in this enchanting, suspenseful world.
- Mood
- lush
- eerie
- shadowy
- botanical
- atmospheric
- Tone
- earnest
- suspenseful
- warm
- inquisitive
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- claiming inherited power · family legacy · dark secrets · queer coming-of-age
- The writing
- Accessible and highly visual, weaving rich botanical descriptions into grounded, contemporary YA dialogue.
- The arc
- Moves from a place of cautious uncertainty and hidden potential to a fierce, empowered embrace of a dark and ancient legacy.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave atmospheric, plant-magic fantasies with strong, supportive family dynamics and a slow-burn sapphic romance.
Content notes
- grief
- poisoning
- mild violence
- blood
About the book
Darkness blooms in bestselling author Kalynn Bayron's new contemporary fantasy about a girl with a unique and deadly power.
Briseis has a gift: with a single touch she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms.
When Briseis's aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents hope that surrounded by plants and flowers, she will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they never expected-it comes with a mysterious set of instructions, a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world, and generations of secrets. There is more to Bri's sudden inheritance than she could have imagined, and she is determined to uncover it.
From the bestselling author of Cinderella Is Dead comes an enchanting story about a young woman with the power to conquer the dark forces descending around her.
Description from Open Library.
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