But their new home is sinister in ways they could never have imagined--it comes with a specific set of instructions, an old-school apothecary, and a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world that can only be entered by those who share Bri’s unique family lineage. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others.

He insists that Briseis and her family need to leave and tells them that he knows about the Living Elixir and how much danger that puts them in. Their love for Briseis was remarkably heart-warming and wholesome, plus their banter and interactions made me laugh several times. She found out exactly how green when she left me in the sunroom of my grandma’s house when I was three. Bri’s inherited house, with its massive grounds and apothecary, is in quaint, curious, countrified Rhinebeck. Briseis has an incredible talent: she can turn seeds into mature plants just by touching them alone.

Readers will share the protagonist’s curiosity about her powers and eagerness to uncover her history. She was sentimental like that and I loved her for it, but I thought it might be something else, something I didn’t have an explanation for yet, which was the reason I’d applied to take a college-level botany course at City College over the summer. I wish the relationship between Briseis and her love interest had been developed just a little more gradually and that there was more will they/won't they?

but she just realized something new about her power and she is eager to see if it is just her, a family trait, a weird coincidence or something else entirely. However, I’m 65% sure that the next book will clear up alot of my confusion as we delve deeper into it. Discussion questions are listed below, and anyone who participates in the comments will be entered to win a free OwlCrate box! This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life. Mysterious men and thugs stalking and attacking Bri when the two of them were going out, her mums' car's tires being slashed - all Karter's doing and instigating.When Pip picks a wealthy pocket and gets hold of a valuable silver box, he is both fascinated and horrified by what he finds inside. The last quarter was brutal and I can't wait to see where the author goes from here in telling Briseis's story. The inclusion of this trope in this book was /very/ disappointing to me, and although their romance is brief, (I'm expecting more of it in book 2) I was super grossed out by it, and probably wouldn't have picked up the book had I known that trope would be present. Also, why didn't Bri figure out that Veruca Sore was the one who murdered her birth mother, Selene, and possibly more of her birth family? What a blooming brilliant concept - an adopted Brooklyn teenager with an uncanny gift for giving life to plants inherits an old mansion from her birth family and becomes embroiled in an ancient ancestral curse.

Alcohol abuse led to her mother’s losing her job, and Iris has dropped out of school and found work utilizing her writing skills at the Oath Gazette. My only complaint is that the narration was not always as expressive as I wanted for intense scenes in the story. For me, it’s just not believable and often places unnecessary emphasis on the fictional elements of the book. They both wanted me to be safe, but there was always fear—of what might happen, of what the limits of this power might be, of where it came from.She had been finding notes and letters as well, about where her powers might come from, and about a secret garden, supposedly from her late maternal aunt Circe; all of which she'd kept from her mums. The only other character who stood out to me was the villain since they are given an interesting backstory and some complexity. While this totally makes sense, it made for an extremely boring opening read and made me slip into the assumption that this novel was going to be just like other YA traditional novels. Main characters are assumed White; same-sex marriages and gender equality at the warfront appear to be the norm in this world.

But the rambling, overgrown grounds of the house, the neglected apothecary and the locked garden with its poisonous plants, hold many secrets - and maybe also answers to Bri's questions about her birth family, her past, her powers and their purpose. p., because this book does with Greek mythology what that book did with Arthurian legends: strong Black heroine, magical heritage, Gothic elements, and family secrets. I think it's SO creepy to pair an underage character with a love interest who has the body of a 17 year old, but is actually like,, 350 years old. It's impossible not to be so completely drawn into this dark and thrilling family mystery that the cliffhanger ending comes as a real shock.just, don't ask) to grant her immortality, because she thinks it's her right - her right to be among the gods still walking the earth. Redmond is descended from the bloodline of Jason, he of the Argonauts (by Hades this is stupid), paralleling her with Bri and her ancestry, dating back to Medea. Bayron does a fantastic job combining reality, complete with 21st century pop culture references, with the magic of Greek mythology, and I'm really looking forward to book 2! The single features Hanoi Rocks members Andy McCoy (on guitar) and Michael Monroe (on backing vocals and as co-producer). Written by Dee Dee Ramone, who had retired as their longtime bassist in 1989 but still wrote songs for the band, "Poison Heart" was included on the 1992 album Mondo Bizarro and was also released as a single.