Review: A Fierce and Subtle Poison

Title: A Fierce and Subtle Poison
Author: Samantha Mabry
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 288
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Review copy: Library
Availability: April 12th, 2016

Summary: Everyone knows the legends about the cursed girl–Isabel, the one the señoras whisper about. They say she has green skin and grass for hair, and she feeds on the poisonous plants that fill her family’s Caribbean island garden. Some say she can grant wishes; some say her touch can kill.

Seventeen-year-old Lucas lives on the mainland most of the year but spends summers with his hotel-developer father in Puerto Rico. He’s grown up hearing stories about the cursed girl, and he wants to believe in Isabel and her magic. When letters from Isabel begin mysteriously appearing in his room the same day his new girlfriend disappears, Lucas turns to Isabel for answers–and finds himself lured into her strange and enchanted world. But time is running out for the girl filled with poison, and the more entangled Lucas becomes with Isabel, the less certain he is of escaping with his own life. [Image and summary via Goodreads]

Review: “The house at the end of the street is full of bad air.” Look, I don’t know about you, but any book starts out with a sentence like that is one I have to read. The beginning, with its gorgeous language and vivid storytelling, had me hooked.

A Fierce and Subtle Poison is told from the point-of-view of Lucas, who wiles away his summers in Old San Juan with flings, hanging out at the beach, and vaguely resenting his father, who everyone in the area knows as a developer who’s either saving the island, or ruining it. When his girlfriend disappears, his life ends up colliding with that of the magical Isabel, and the mysteries surrounding the house at the end of Calle Sol only grow.

Lucas is believable as a teenage boy — to the point of frustration, at times. Throughout the book, Lucas remains buried in his romanticization of the girls around him and how grand his love is. I had to fight to not roll my eyes at several points. The women, both the central ones and those along the periphery, were far more fascinating.

Nevertheless, I loved reading A Fierce and Subtle Poison on the strength of the beautiful language and magical realism alone. The story flourished, in spite of Lucas, solely on the writing itself. I wish there had been more time devoted to exploring the magical aspects of the story, which was more murder mystery focused, but that was not to be. Also, I’m a sucker for plants, and a story centered around a house with an incredible garden… um, yes please.

A Fierce and Subtle Poison is definitely worth a read. I’m looking forward to whatever Samantha Mabry writes next!

Recommendation: Get it soon!