Thursday, April 21, 2016

BOOK REVIEW: A Fierce and Subtle Poison by Samantha Mabry

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. 

Everyone knows the legends about the cursed girl--Isabel, the one the senoras whisper about. They say she has green skin and grass for hair, and she feeds on the poisonous plants that fill her family’s Caribbean island garden. Some say she can grant wishes; some say her touch can kill. Seventeen-year-old Lucas lives on the mainland most of the year but spends summers with his hotel-developer father in Puerto Rico. He’s grown up hearing stories about the cursed girl, and he wants to believe in Isabel and her magic. When letters from Isabel begin mysteriously appearing in his room the same day his new girlfriend disappears, Lucas turns to Isabel for answers--and finds himself lured into her strange and enchanted world. But time is running out for the girl filled with poison, and the more entangled Lucas becomes with Isabel, the less certain he is of escaping with his own life. 

I am still not sure how I feel about this one. I didn't hate it, but I didn't really love it either. The setting was awesome. It was set in Puerto Rico and the details were so vivid that I really felt like I was there. I also loved the writing. 

The problem was the story. It wasn't really what I thought it would be. The premise made it sound like the book would be magical and kind of like a fantasy, but what I got was more of a contemporary mystery. Lucas finds out pretty early that there is no girl with green skin and grass for hair, just an ordinary girl who is trapped inside because of a weird illness. Then there are girls who disappear, one of them being Lucas's kind of girlfriend. I didn't really feel his pain there, mainly because he admitted at the beginning of the book that he had only known her a short time. So I am supposed to believe he is desperate to find her? Suuuure, whatever you say. 

Then he thinks the girls who disappear may or may not have something to do with Isabel, the mysterious girl in the house. Her illness was never really explained and maybe that part was kind of a fantasy. Apparently, she had poison inside her and she had to stay near her dad's plants to stay live. And if she touched someone, she made them sick. Yeah, I didn't really get that either and that is never really explained in the book so don't get your hopes up for an explanation. The resolution of the mystery was kind of anti-climactic, mainly because I didn't care that much. That, and the fact that the resolution still makes no sense. It was weird. 

The problem with this story was that I never fully connected to the characters and while the writing was beautiful, the plot was kind of all over the place and it had a lot going on. The dad was never there (of course) and the mom was dead and there were missing girls and there was a cop trying to find something to charge Lucas with because she hated him or something and there was the whole mysterious illness thing. I had so much trouble keeping my head in this story. It was not nearly as good as it could have been.

Buy/Borrow/Skip: Skip this one.

13 comments :

  1. Oh that plot does sounds kind of wacky and all over. I would have expected fantasy too. At least the writing was beautiful! Great review!

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    1. Thanks Grace! Yeah, at least the writing made it somewhat interesting to read. But still . . . it was not worth it.

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  2. I'm always wigged out when I read a story that's borderline contemporary and fantasy. While it sounds fascinating, I don't know if I could take on the story easily. Love the setting, though!

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    1. Joy, yeah you would probably not enjoy this one then. The setting was done really well, which was great since it's Puerto Rico. I just wish the storyline at been better.

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  3. Sorry this one wasn't for you. It always stinks to be drawn in by the synopsis, only to be let down by character development and unanswered questions. I feel for you, though. Even the cover looks mystical! Lame.

    Brittany @ http://www.spacebetweenthespines.com/

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    1. Brittany, yeah this was NOT what I was expecting. Sometimes that can be a good thing, but not in this case.

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  4. Agh, I'm so sad about this. D: I was looking forward to a book set in Puerto Rico soooo bad. *cries* BUT ANYWAY. I'm kind of glad I read this review because I'd nearly bought it! And all the things you listed would've really ticked me off. I might try to library this one instead. ;D

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    1. Cait, I think checking it out at the library instead of spending your money on it is a GREAT idea. You will probably enjoy the setting part. I thought the author handled that part very well. I just wish the storyline had held up as well.

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  5. I havent any word to appreciate this post.....Really i am impressed from this post....the person who create this post it was a great human..thanks for shared this with us.
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  6. Ooooh so much pass. (Also, can we take a minute to give a shout out to your spammy spammer above me. I like to reply to them, which is probably weird.)

    Yeah, so I am sitting here reading your review, looking at my screen like "What!? None of this makes sense!" and it sounds like it would make me fairly stabby. And I don't even "get it" so that's even worse. Sadness, I was hoping this would end up to be a good one. Womp womp. Great review though!

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    1. Hahahaha Shannon. I swear, I came THISCLOSE to replying to them too! I guess I love that they said I was a great human. You can't hear that enough!

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  7. Hi, Cynthia! First of all, you are a great human. Now that we have that out of the way - I'm definitely going to pass on this one. Like you, I totally would have expected this to be a fantasy!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. Aww, thanks Nicole! Like I said, you can never hear it enough. :) And good call on passing on this one. It just isn't worth it.

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