The Poison Diaries (YA)

The Poison Diaries. Maryrose Wood. 2010. HarperCollins. 288 pages.

15th March Gray skies; the rain came and went all morning.

Jessamine's father is a gardener--he specializes in growing powerful plants in his apothecary garden. But he has a locked garden where he keeps the most dangerous, most rare, most poisonous plants of all. Her father has spent most of his life--most of his career--in collecting these poisonous plants. His collection has poisonous varieties from around the world. Jessamine is curious, but not that curious. She respects her dad for what he does, and she does wish he'd let her help out a bit more. But she's not anxious to experiment with poison herself.

One day Weed comes into their lives. He's a young man, a mysterious man, who is rumored to have great natural abilities with plants. Her father is curious. Could Weed help him uncover all the secrets he's been obsessed with all these years? Could Weed hold the answer to it all?

Jessamine is interested in Weed too. Not because of what he may or may not be able to tell her father. But because he is a young man. And he makes her feel something she's never felt before. She is falling in love. But will her father get in the way of her happily ever after?

I liked the mysterious, dangerous world created by Maryrose Wood. The tone is very dark and atmospheric in places. And I think it would make a good choice for the R.I.P challenge.

There is a book trailer, but in my opinion, it tells a bit too much. So be warned!



© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews