Bethany Baptiste is an inclusions specialist in early childhood education who advocates for preschoolers with special needs by day, but at night she is writing novels. The Poisons We Drink is her debut novel and it is an Indie bestseller with a dedication that I love: "To All My Haters." This book is gritty and deals with bullying, gun violence, child death, torture, toxic relationships, violence and blood, police brutality, the death of a parent and grief, and murder.
Venus is a witcher, someone who was born with magical powers. But more than that, she brews love potions. Potions for inspiring romantic love, familial love, love of yourself, love of an idea, all kinds of love, and she is in demand. Witchers and humans live side by side, almost indistinguishable from one another, and yet witchers are being persecuted. There are organizations that hunt them down, they are not allowed in certain areas, and legislation has just been introduced that will jeopardize their safety further. Personally, things are not going so hot for Venus either. Her mother was just murdered and now she needs to keep her impetuous and headstrong younger sister from tracking the killer down and possibly getting killed herself. Yet when the Grand Witcher gives Venus the opportunity to punish her mother's killer herself, Venus can't help but accept it and gets herself in too deep with some powerful people.
This book is built on such an interesting premise, and was full of difficult characters and plot holes. I believe that the first issue is that the author built this to be a two novel series, and had to shorten it into one novel. The ending felt rushed and confusing at times, and I think that really took away from the story. In addition, I think the author really deserved a better editor, there were a lot of things in this book that could have been arranged better to make the entire thing more cohesive and easier to understand. The characters were difficult, but I think they are supposed to be. They're grieving, they're young, and they're lost, that would not have been a deal breaker for me, although it did not feel like they developed much during the story, which I would have liked to see.
I'm giving The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste 2.5 stars out of 5. The idea that she has is great, I would love to see it implemented better. This is her first novel, so I'm hoping the writing and the organization only improves and I'll be interested to see what ideas she has going forward.
For more about Bethany Baptiste, take a look at her website https://www.bethanybaptiste.com/
Pairs well with strawberry cheesecake and brewing a strong drink.
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