duology review | this poison heart & this wicked fate – kalynn bayron

Hello friends, just want to share my reviews of This Poison Heart and This Wicked Fate. The duology was concluded in recently and I picked up the finale right it was published. I was hooked on the story starring a Black girl who has an affinity with plants, especially poisonous ones. The first book is about her journey into finding out her history and the second is her journey finding something precious. Hope you enjoy!

– Reviews for the books in This Poison Heart duology by Kalynn Bayron –
 #1: This Poison Heart |  #2: This Wicked Fate

🌼🌼🌼

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

---

Series: This Poison Heart #1
Published June 29th 2021 by Bloomsbury YA
Age Range: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Representation: Black and sapphic MC, Black and sapphic SCs

Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Synopsis:

Darkness blooms in bestselling author Kalynn Bayron’s new contemporary fantasy about a girl with a unique and deadly power.

Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch.

When Briseis’s aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents decide to leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they could never have imagined–it comes with a specific set of instructions, an old-school apothecary, and a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world that can only be entered by those who share Bri’s unique family lineage.

When strangers begin to arrive on their doorstep, asking for tinctures and elixirs, Bri learns she has a surprising talent for creating them. One of the visitors is Marie, a mysterious young woman who Bri befriends, only to find that Marie is keeping dark secrets about the history of the estate and its surrounding community. There is more to Bri’s sudden inheritance than she could have imagined, and she is determined to uncover it… until a nefarious group comes after her in search of a rare and dangerous immortality elixir. Up against a centuries-old curse and the deadliest plant on earth, Bri must harness her gift to protect herself and her family.

Goodreads

Book Depository

🌼🌼🌼

trigger and content warnings:

• death of a mother (on-page), death of an aunt, murder & attempted murder, poisoning, and stalking

• taken from rachel ☾’s goodreads

As Briseis was adopted by her parents when she was a baby, she wasn’t expecting to inherit something from an auntie. Finding herself with a sizeable estate, Bri and her moms venture there for the summer. In rural New York, Bri has more freedom to explore her magic which is connected to her biological family. She won’t have to fear that someone would notice how the plants are always reaching toward her.

In this small town, Bri meets a variety of residents from normal people to others that have some form of magical ability. While exploring her inheritance and her own abilities, Bri uncovers her biological family’s history and background connection to a certain Greek mythological character. Shrouded within is the mysterious death of Bri’s biological family. In the meantime, Bri is slowly developing feelings for an enigmatic girl named Marie while enjoying herself in this magical community in Rhineback. 

I loved Mom and Mo. They gave Bri the space to grow into a young woman and weren’t restrictive or weirded out when Bri wanted to visit this house linked to her biological family. They weren’t judgemental and embraced their daughter’s powers with open arms. Furthermore, they let her come to terms with certain things and make decisions for herself. All in all, amazing parents.

Kalynn Bayron chose to shock me at the end of This Poison Heart. It definitely wasn’t something I expected. The Greek mythological inclusion was a pleasant surprise as well. 

🌼🌼🌼

Don’t venture down! If you do, thread lightly, there are spoilers of the first book within the review itself.

– Reviews for the books in This Poison Heart duology by Kalynn Bayron –
 #1: This Poison Heart |  #2: This Wicked Fate

❤️❤️❤️

This Wicked Fate by Kalynn Bayron

---

Series: This Poison Heart #2
Published June 21st 2022 by Bloomsbury YA
Age Range: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Representation: Black and sapphic MC, Black and sapphic SCs

Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Synopsis:

Briseis has one chance to save her mother, but she’ll need to do the impossible: find the last fragment of the deadly Absyrtus Heart. If she is to locate the missing piece, she must turn to the blood relatives she’s never known, learn about their secret powers, and take her place in their ancient lineage. Briseis is not the only one who wants the Heart, and her enemies will stop at nothing to fulfill their own ruthless plans. The fates tell of a truly dangerous journey, one that could end in more heartache, more death. Bolstered by the sisterhood of ancient magic, can Briseis harness her power to save the people she loves most?

Goodreads

Book Depository

❤️❤️❤️

Hectate only gave Briseis about thirty days to find the last fragment of the Absyrtus Heart. Only when that is done will Briseis’s mom be returned back to the mortal realm. Otherwise, she’ll remain dead. Witnessing the death of their loved ones almost broke Bri and Mo, but knowing that they can’t crumble until they get Mom back, they worked with Persephone, Circe, Nyx, and Marie to get everything ready. Searching for the last piece of the Heart is difficult. The location is unknown.

The first half of This Wicked Fate showed Bri and the rest preparing for the trip to find the final piece of the Heart since they already have the Persephone, Marie, the Living Elixir, and two other pieces. They compiled all the historical facts of the goddess of Hectate and their family history that stemmed from Medea. Pinpointing the location of the Mother wasn’t easy. Once that is done, preparation is made for their travels. I enjoyed the inclusion of Greek mythology within the duology, but the connection was more fleshed out in This Wicked Fate. 

This was a hero’s quest and something would have to be lost.

Even without proper training, Bri is amazing with her poisonous plants and transfiguring them into potions. She’s aware of the uses of the plants and has great talent. I wish we saw more of her tinkering with the plants and flowers available to her. However, whatever she did in This Wicked Fate was pretty awesome. Bri can be a smidge naive, especially nearing the end. The build-up to the final moments was obvious. She should’ve seen all the signs. While the romance with Marie wasn’t a key plot line, I absolutely thought it was cute and heartwarming. 

I thoroughly enjoyed myself with the This Poison Heart duology. Bri with her powers was magic and limitless. The love she has for the people around her propelled Bri through the worst times. I liked that Bri got to know more about her biological family too. I’m glad that I read these two books within the year. I don’t think I could’ve waited that long for This Wicked Fate. Can’t wait to see what’s installed for Kalynn Bayron in the future. I’m definitely picking her books up.