“That's how you know something is ready to be devoured, when it gives just a little under pressure. It's the same with people.”
― Breeana Shields, Poison's Kiss

This book is breathtaking. The cover art is magnificent. So is the story within.

Snakes, Mythology and a great fun read!

So this is about about Marinda, the visha kanya, whose kiss is poison. She works for the government and it is her job to kill by kissing, anyone the government wants her to. However, when the boy she falls for is added to the kill list, she begins to question everything.

I LOVED the whole mythological aspect to this story. The whole idea is riveting and makes for an intelligent and dazzling novel filled with Mythology, snakes, romance, mystery and suspense.

I never got tired of reading and read this in one sitting. The pacing is great and so is the world building. Our protagonist wants to do the right thing. But..in this world....can she?

This is part of a series but I think there is only one other book not two. I have the second one on my TBR list..any day now. Hope it is as riveting as the first. Four amazing stars. ( )

An enjoyable read and different from the medieval fantasy. The whole story is center around the visha kanya myth set in a unique world. There lies and betrayed, twist and turns all made for an interesting read. ( )

A teenage assassin kills with a single kiss until she is ordered to kill the one boy she loves..

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.

MY THOUGHTS:

I was sent this book in exchange for my honest review.

Okay, when I researched some of the things I struggled with in this book I found many, many poorly researched issues and inaccurate Indian references. When my uncle married an Indian lady, we were introduced to a beautiful culture. She educated us about many things to do with living in India and its folklore/myths. It inspired me at the time, to research religion and caste belonging to the East Indians. I also write fantasy, science fiction, so this was difficult for me to read without cringing…

First, suggesting that all women of India wear saris is like suggesting that all African Americans prefer to wear their hair as Afros. It’s insulting and a bit over the top lumping a group of people together because of stereo-typing.

My aunt’s daughter who was fifteen, at the time, did not wear a sari and in fact, her and her Indian friends wore blue jeans and sweaters. My aunt explained and showed me how to put a sari on and trust me, it’s a very involved process that takes a lot of time. If writing about a culture of the past, or even a mythological past, it’s important to research religion, language, culture, fads, clothing, etc. especially if the book is written in the fantasy genre. I just didn’t see enough of this or see accuracy with what was done.

Seriously, stereotyping a culture as a whole is a sure sign of the author not researching the culture she’s writing about and frankly, she shouldn’t attempt it unless willing to take the time needed to be accurate with what she shares with her readers. There are spelling mistakes too when referring to language that she uses in her book, and some words are used in the wrong context or for the wrong purpose. This is why fantasy writers, such as Tolkien, make up a whole new language for their characters. I think the author could have done this and kept the lore value she’d chosen for her story. She chose not to and wow, what a hot mess. I’m surprised there hasn’t been more disgruntle Indians who have read this book leaving comments.

If you are going to create a fictional world but base it on a real folklore/myth… DO YOUR RESEARCH!

Otherwise, create your own myth, your own world, your own cultures, your own language… see where I’m going?

Where on earth has there ever been a country, city or place of ONE CULTURE? This is virtually impossible to achieve… No matter where you are, there will be many sub-cultures within a larger one. There will be a division of languages and ways of life, beliefs, styles, etc. How can the author create an Indian culture that is made up of only one? There is no such thing as ONE Indian culture, one Indian religion and never mind languages which are often different based on the caste that’s speaking it. For the life of me, I cannot understand why the author did this?

The whole issue of how the Indian culture looks at love as it’s written by this author is ridiculous. Seriously, how people address each other alone is wrongly depicted in the book, let alone how seduction is looked upon. I just can’t say anything more about this without turning this review into a rant…

Using a culture simply just for the purpose of creating a story and depicting it inaccurately and insultingly, boy… I can’t help but wonder if she had chosen a western culture to exploit inaccurately, if she would have gotten away with it. I doubt it.

When learning about what it takes to write about myth/lore, cultures and eras, a writer who chooses to write a historical fiction/cultural fiction, needs to sound like an expert of the subject matter.

It’s very disappointing. I can’t stop shaking my head. The premise was incredibly interesting and I couldn’t wait to get the book. Then, all this… These issues are a huge faux pas in the writing world…

If you add all this to the many tropes involved in this book, the unlikable main character who grates on your nerves and the unexplained elements that leave you lost throughout the book, including magical healing fruit, two girl seduction team, and ya… This is just a mess of what could have been fantastic. ( )

Miranda literally has the kiss of death. As a visha kanya, she serves the Raja by poisoning his enemies with a deadly kiss. Miranda hates her job but in exchange for her services, she receives medicine that keeps her younger brother Mani alive. Mani is the only thing thing that makes her life bearable and up until now, she has never known any of the men she has been tasked to kill. When Miranda is told to kill Deven, she begins to suspect that all of the men she has killed have not deserved to die. This story is full of action and twists! ( )

Marinda wasn't expected to survive as a baby as she was bitten by snakes in order to become the visha kanya or poison maiden. After many painful and horrific treatments, she can be ordered by the Raja to kill anyone anywhere. Marinda hates it and only copes by repeating to herself that these are enemies of the state and people she doesn't know while she keeps her sickly brother healthy. She's finally ordered to kill someone she knows and likes, which causes her to question much of what she's been told, unravelling their secrets.

Poison's Kiss is an interesting fantasy that infuses Indian folklore into the story. Marinda is a sympathetic character who would do anything for her sickly brother Mani, who she cares for like a mother. Her handlers threaten him constantly to make her comply. Other than that, I had nothing but problems with her character. I found it a little unbelievable that she never asked questions about anything until now, but I guess curiosity was taken from her through such an abusive, extreme childhood. Unfortunately, her reaction to almost everything is sitting and crying about it at length. I liked that the books went into much darker places than I expected with assassinations and living gods.

However, it was balanced by Marinda's flatly good outlook on everything and apparently her inability to figure out anything at all. I wanted inner conflict and an antihero, but she had very little agency throughout the book, just going with the flow. Another problem was Marinda's role in the assassinations. Even though she had to kiss to kill, she never really seduced anyone maybe to keep her "pure" in a totally outdated, backwards way. Ilya is the girl who seduces for information (which is an arrangement that doesn't really make sense) and Marinda views her as more terrible for some reason. Marinda was the only part I really had a problem with, but she's the main character, so I don't feel enthused to read the next book. ( )