Title: The Poison Diaries
Author: Maryrose Wood
Year: 2010
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Age: 7th grade up
Summary: In late eighteenth-century Northumberland, England, sixteen-year-old Jessamine Luxton and the mysterious Weed uncover the horrible secrets of poisons growing in Thomas Luxton's apothecary garden. (summary from Follett Titlewave)
Review: This book struck me with its cover. I don’t know why, but I picked it up and read the entire thing within a day. I’m not sure if I liked it, though. Jessamine is an interesting character, both sheltered by her father and exposed by him to terrible danger when she tends seeds for the poison garden he uses to treat illnesses. When Weed is deposited on her doorstep, Jessamine sees him as a chance for a friend, someone other than her father to talk to. Then, it gets weird. I don’t want to give away the twist, but there is a fantasy element that skates in on Weed’s heels. I don’t think this portion of the book was handled terribly well, but the concept was interesting. I felt as though the historical and fantasy parts were askew and belonged in two different books.
I recommend this book to those who like to garden and those who like their historical fiction with a touch of the fantastic.
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