The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood

4 stars

What appears to be another historical romance novel, ends up being so much more.

Jessamine Luxton lives a relatively solitary life with her father Thomas Luxton, a feared and respected apothecary; that is, until a travelling stranger shows up at their door. He comes bearing a rather suspicious gift in the form of a foundling boy that goes by the name of Weed. His rare and unexplainable knowledge of plants appears to surpass even that of Thomas. As Jessamine's fascination with the strange boy grows, she is drawn into the world of the poison garden in a way she never could have anticipated.

The Poison Diaries is a bittersweet lesson on the dual nature of both herbs and humanity. What has the power to cure can also kill and nothing is ever as straightforward as it seems. I enjoyed reading The Poison Diaries for precisely those reasons. Even if someone’s intentions seem pure and honest, there can often be unforeseen side effects. One person’s gain is another's loss.

Though there has to be some element of predictability to a novel, if only due to genre, Wood does her utmost to include surprising twists that will have the reader staring at the page thinking “What?!”. If I wanted to get picky about details, I could ask for a little more explanation on some of the more unbelievable aspects of the story, though the novel functions perfectly fine without them.