Poison’s Kiss by Breeana Shields

Poison’s Kiss by Breeana Shields

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A teenage assassin kills with a single kiss until she is ordered to kill the one boy she loves. This commercial YA fantasy is romantic and addictive like– a poison kiss– and will thrill fans of Sarah J. Maas and Victoria Aveyard.

Marinda has kissed dozens of boys. They all die afterward. It’s a miserable life, but being a visha kanya, a poison maiden, is what she was created to do. Marinda serves the Raja by dispatching his enemies with only her lips as a weapon.

Until now, the men she was ordered to kiss have been strangers, enemies of the kingdom. Then she receives orders to kiss Deven, a boy she knows too well to be convinced he needs to die. She begins to question who she s really working for. And that is a thread that, once pulled, will unravel more than she can afford to lose.

This rich, surprising, and accessible debut is based in Indian folklore and delivers a story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

I discovered this book quite a bit ago, and I was so excited that I did. Inspired by haunting Indian folklore? A kiss of death assassin and creepy snakes? I was so in, and I was so obsessed with that cover. I was determined to buy it when it first came out, but then well, book life happened, and I totally forgot about it. I picked it up sometime in June, and I was dragging my feet with it…until the wonderful Rendz showed up and we came up with a plan to knock it off our TBRs together – classic buddy read style. Thank gosh we did, because this was so much fun and totally helped me figure out just what my messy thoughts on this.

Good parts: I was intrigued even in the messiest of parts. I found myself continuing to read even though I wasn’t connecting to anything. It was a nice, easy breezy read. I also adored Mani. He was so adorable – even though I totally thought he got confused on what age he was supposed to be – and I did really enjoy Marinda’s relationship with him. It was so nice.

Rendz and I found that the world building was confusing as well. Rendz pointed out that there were very few descriptions of the world and what it was supposed to be. We didn’t even get the simplest of descriptions, so we had to go into our vault of Disney knowledge to think of marketplaces and street descriptions. The mythology and world knowledge was also confusing as well. Things were changed as well. I was confused on what could exist and what couldn’t. First, there were multiple visha kanyas – then there was one. Then there was whatever Ka…I forgot her name – but I’m not even sure what she was. And then the snake king. Was he an actual person or a snake? I had no idea what to expect because I couldn’t figure out the magic and folklore system that was created.

And the writing also fell apart in different areas for me as well. The tone and writing are kind of really annoying me. It seems like she is trying too hard to sound like pretty writing and beautiful descriptions, but it’s not working. Like, some of the descriptions are so weird. Like, something was hectic in her stomach? There are just some super weird things. Rendz pointed out that there was so odd phrasing as well. Deven calls Mani a “pal” and there are “high-fives” and “hey, guys”? I thought this was supposed to be taking place back quite a few years ago in a fantasy world. The tone and phrasing did not fit with the setting it was supposed to be.

Another issueeeeeeeeeeeee: instalove. I never got a good feeling for Deven – he was just kind of there – so the whole relationship was a dud for me. And it happened so fast. Marinda lied to him for a good deal of time; then he hated her; and then next thing, she’s falling in love with him. Rendz and I were feeling the stranger danger there (although we were both living for that tattoo).

Marinda was ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. That’s all I got for her.

Rendz will be glad to see Cindy here although I would have preferred to see a slightly different one?