It’s always great when you are able to find a book that you can read over and over again without it getting old. The one book that I never get sick of reading has to be Chris Wooding’s Poison. Both Read and I love is book intensely, and it was one of the many things that inspired us to start Death of the Author Reviews. It of course was our very first review…. So if you want to see how much better we’ve gotten at reviewing and editing I suggest you check it out.
Poison is a mix of genres, but mostly it focuses on dark fantasy and horror. The story follows young Poison on her quest to save her sister from the Phaeries who have kidnapped her. During her quest Poison needs to overcome supernatural forces and learn how to play nice with others to achieve her end goal.
Even though Poison needs to learn the power of friendship and how to rely on others, there is no romantic plot. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a hopeless romantic and I love my romance story lines as much as any other fangirl. But Poison proves that you can tell a strong story with a female main character without her needing to fall in love with a guy. Poison may not get exactly what she thought she wanted when she set out on her quest, but in the end she got exactly what she needed.
Chris Wooding does a great job at writing truly terrifying monsters. Even on the fifth read through the Spider Lady creeps me out and makes me extremely uncomfortable. The same uneasiness transfers into the setting of the novel. There are very few places where you can comfortably say that Poison is safe. The world she lives in is just so uncomfortably dreadful. At the beginning, Poison is living in a Swamp filled with creatures who would happily make a meal out of her. The open road isn’t as bad as her hometown, but you still get the sense of a vast emptiness. Wooding plays on these anxieties to set an almost gothic like tone.
So if you’re a fantasy lover, this is one you should definitely check out. As per usual if you give it a read I would love to know what you think of it.
