“A DELICIOUS HIGH-STAKES ADVENTURE.” —PEOPLE MAGAZINEPerfect for fans of Victoria Aveyard and Holly Black, The Kinder Poison is an enthralling fantasy adventure that follows a teenage girl chosen to be the human sacrifice in a deadly game between three heirs who will do anything for the crown.Zahru has long dreamed of leaving the kingdom of Orkena and having the kinds of adventures she’s only … having the kinds of adventures she’s only ever heard about in stories. But as a lowly Whisperer, her power to commune with animals means that her place is serving in the royal stables until the day her magic runs dry.
All that changes when the ailing ruler invokes the Crossing. A death-defying race across the desert, in which the first of his heirs to finish—and take the life of a human sacrifice at the journey’s end—will ascend to the throne. With all of the kingdom abuzz, Zahru leaps at the chance to change her fate if just for a night by sneaking into the palace for a taste of the revelry. But the minor indiscretion turns into a deadly mistake when she gets caught up in a feud between the heirs and is forced to become the Crossing’s human sacrifice.
Now Zahru’s only hope for survival hinges on the impossible: somehow figuring out how to overcome the most dangerous people in the world.
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I don’t think I can say I don’t read much fantasy anymore because the last few I’ve read have gotten me hooked. The Kinder Poison was so, so good. I first read an excerpt of this on BookishFirst.com and all I wanted to do was keep reading. This is one of the few books I’ve bought on its release date because I couldn’t wait. This is fantasy, adventure and romance all wrapped into one book and I have gotten absolutely nothing done today because I could not put this down. I need to read book 2 ASAP because I’ve grown so attached to these characters, particularly Jet and Zahru. This is a must read for 2020!
This book feels like an epic adventure with a race across the desert. The descriptions of the settings were so vivid and vibrant. This book has emotional parts and explores various family dynamics, friendships and romance. I loved the conversations Zahru had with the various characters because it really made me as a reader understand these characters better and develop a love for them. Honestly, I try not to read series until all of the books have been released and this is a perfect example of why. I’m dying to read the next book.
*Thank you so much to FFBC Tours and Penguin Teen for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!*
Stars: 4.5/5
Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4.5/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Plot and Themes: 5/5
Favorite Character(s)?: Several, but Kasta, Zarhu(surprise!), and Maia top the list!
“All good stories start with bad decisions.”
It’s no secret I love being able to fall in-love with debut stories, more so when it happens to defy the odds and becomes one of my ‘Top Reads” of both that year, but also one of my absolute favorites, and this one has all the right stuff to top both lists! I actually read a little earlier this year as part of the tour, but then school happened, and as anyone who follows me on Instagram or my blog may know…college kind of wrecked any reading plans, lol. For that reason above many others, I am so glad I was able to get back to this one only a few months after it released! Now…I just have to wait all the longer for The Cruelest Mercy, oops! XD
From the start, it was clear that The Kinder Poison is one of those books that I’d be hooked from early one, and I welcomed the ride. What I hadn’t expected was that the story would entrance my so thoroughly! From complex characters, who have a delicious mixture of complex characterizations, troubled pasts, and morally grey personalities, making nearly every character Zarhu spends any real time with both interesting and likeable, with only a few exceptions!
I also loved the magic system and mythology in this one, paired with the plot and leading well into the Challenge and Zarhu’s lot in all of it! I’m so excited to see how this turned out for everyone in the sequel, as the plot is largely tied with the magic and mythology, both of which are at the very basis of the kingdom, and play a large part in how characters are perceived or treated by those in power, which makes Zarhu’s perspective and feats all the more thrilling to read about!
The writing style in The Kinder Poison is so much fun, making it easy to jump in, and I loved that I got to read it so early, as I was able to avoid spoilers and really enjoy the ride! The pace is quick and Zarhu is always up to some mischief, even when she doesn’t realize it! I loved the slightly sarcastic tone, both of Zarhu herself, and of how the story was told and written as a whole. It added another exciting layer to the story, and really matched the tone of the overall story and plot that was being played out as well.
As for the characters, I was surprised, but pleasantly so by how much I enjoyed Zarhu’s character! I’m picky about female main characters, especially in first POV, but I loved her! I loved her adventurous and independent nature, and getting to see her with Hen at the start was a lot of fun! I’m really hoping we get to see more of Hen in the sequel as I need to know her reaction to some things! XD Not only did I love their friendship, but I really loved all the relationships Zarhu formed in the book.
It has to be a sign. That I’m meant to do this, and everything will work out, and maybe it will be even more amazing than I first imagined.
I especially loved it when she realized that she can actually be a friend to some of the characters he meets along the way, despite her circumstances, at that point the book became more that just a ‘fun read’ and I found I loved seeing her with all three teams, instead of just liking one and tolerating the others, I was really interested what happened with each team and how Zarhu played a role in that part of their stories!
This is something that is rare, even in the ToG series there were places that I wasn’t a fan of the perspective or ‘group’ we were reading about for those chapters, not so here! I’m thrilled that I got to really enjoy the book as a whole without me feeling like parts started lagging or becoming bored at any point. In fact, the opposite, with each new chapter or event I found I needed to know more and more what would happen, and how each of the characters would react at the end! Definitely excited for more of their story in The Cruelest Mercy!
I’m reminded that sometimes what we want isn’t as important as what we need to do.
As for the characters, I mentioned morally grey? This book is full of them, and more impressive, we were given some pretty solid backstories and histories that further strengthen their personalities and ideologies. We also get some different perspectives on a few of the events that are mentioned in their pasts, and I loved that most of all! Getting to see how something now only affected the one characters, but those that were also involved or witnesses at the time, and how that affected their current relationships in the story was so cool!
It does have a love triangle, and while I know which team I’m cheering for, I did like both characters, and didn’t really mind the love-triangle too much in this one, but still might not be for everyone? There is a bit of kissing, but this was pretty mild and didn’t play a large part in The Kinder Poison for the most part.
“No matter what you’re born to, you can be more.”
– Conclusion –
Pros- Interesting plot and setting, exciting action filled, amazing morally grey characters!
Cons- Love-triangle?, the magic system and worldbuilding could have been less vague
Overall- 4.5/5 stars.
The Kinder Poison was such a fun read, and I can’t wait to read the sequel!
Recommended: yes!
For magic! always for magic! And for characters who all have their complexities examined and everything is in shades of gray. For a story that matches the absolutely brilliant cover and title.
Thoughts:
What’s most impressive is how much story was told in this one book, and how quickly I read it. Yes, I’ve been looking forward to this book for months at this point, but it read so easily and I just couldn’t stop! In the rare moments where I did have to put it down, I found myself thinking about it and wondering what would happen next. Absolutely loved that!
Perhaps equally impressive is the balance of time given to examining each of the main characters, and even several of the side characters. They all had intricate backstories and motivations, hidden aspects of character that required insight to truly see. I honestly couldn’t predict what they might do or why. Although the premise of the story might lend itself to some cliche good-versus-evil dichotomies, they never arose. This was entirely shades of gray, and that’s exactly what I had hoped for.
On a personal level, this totally reconfirmed my belief that talking to animals is one of the coolest kinds of magic possible. Even if that’s not a belief totally reinforced by the characters themselves, I adored seeing the way Zahru used her magic for the mundane and the ingenious. Her journey is one that I thoroughly supported and she’s remarkably consistent in her core values, even as she grows. One prime example is that she does often think about her father with worry, despite the life-or-death-magic craziness she’s thrown into. Elements like that were not forgotten about, nor the fact that all of this took place within the span of about a week.
Overall a really fun read that will hook you from the start and only gets better from there!
Zahru is a whisperer, which means she can talk to and understand animals. Hers is considered a lowly form of magic. She longs to escape her small town, explore the Kingdom of Orkena, and have some excitement and chocolate along the way. Her best friend devises a plan to fake her way onto a boat destined for the palace and crash a royal party.
The King has announced that the Crossing will occur for the first time in 400 years – a treacherous race across the desert with a human sacrifice at the end – to determine which of the three heirs will rule Orkena. All does not go according to plan for Zahru; mistakes and misunderstandings occur which lead her to becoming the designated human sacrifice.
She meets all three siblings over the course of the crossing and tries to see the best in each one. She uses her wits, her magic and her kindness to survive.
The characters are the strength of this story. They are complex and have motives that aren’t always immediately apparent. The magic system is interesting and original. A person’s magic or lack of it dictates their place in the social hierarchy. The world building is well done and the pace never lets up. Just as Zahru escapes one sticky situation, she is thrown into another. This is the kind of fantasy novel that keeps you turning the pages. It is full of surprises and the adventure never stops. Bring on the next book!
I was ready for a hunger games wannabe disaster that didn’t interest me in the slightest, but from the first few pages I was absolutely hooked. The Kinder Poison felt like a book I had read before. A contest for royalty where only on person could win, and a magic system that felt a lot like the Three Dark Crowns series, but I found myself pleasantly surprised at how unique it actually was.
Wins
-the magic system. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it did out to be super interesting and well crafted
-world building. I absolutely loved the world, another thing that surprised me. The world was very well built and the dynamic was different than from what I had read.
-the plot. Like I said, I was ready for a hunger games wannabe, but it was different than I had expected. It turned out to be a really good, faced paced interesting read.
-the characters. Our supporting characters were fun to read. Maia was such a unique character that i didn’t expect to like, Melia was super cute, Marcus was fun as a polar opposite to the rest, and I loved Jet from first meeting him.
Opportunities
-Zahru was a lot. She was extremely dumb, irritating and didn’t do anything right until the last couple of pages. She was super trusting in the worst way, as well as gullible and for 90% of the book I was cheering against her
-insta love. I get tired of how often the insta love trope is used. And for it to happen twice in one book was frustrating and a forced eye roll. I’ve seen the two siblings pining after the same girl too many times and I just don’t care for it
-the authors writing style. I didn’t hate it towards the end, but in the beginning we would take a lot of sudden sharp turns that really didn’t make sense, and there were a lot of times that the main character would say something and then something else entirely different would happen and it was hard to follow and confusing at times
If you can get past the annoying romance in this book, it is a funny fun, fast paced enjoyable read. I’ll probably reread it soon just so I can understand the parts that were a bit confusing. I am looking forward to book 2 that was obviously led into, and hopefully we get a release date soon. I definitely recommend this for fans of young adult that don’t mind troupes too much!
From the very first page, I was drawn to the world built by Natalie Mae. Orkena is a beautiful, magical place, as wonderful as it is flawed and as intriguing as it is mysterious. It is no mean feat to create a fictional setting in which a book takes place, and an even meaner feat to craft a world with its own religion, culture, and sense of tradition. I would say that Mae went above and beyond when it came to making the reader feel like they were really in a strange desert land filled with danger and semi-murderous, slightly entitled royalty.
The characters were equally engaging – passionate and independent Zahru, bold and brash Hen, cold and unhinged Kasta, stubborn but compassionate Jet, and wild and determined Sakira. You know characters are well written when you can’t help but feel you know them – their hopes and fears and aspirations. I loved that each character felt like they had redeeming qualities and even the villain of the story wasn’t all bad.
I also really appreciated that as much as Zahru wished it was different, her powers were always consistent. I’ve found that a lot of YA fantasy novels set the main character up to be someone with lackluster powers who, through some hardship, discovers they actually have awesome powers unlike any the world has ever seen. Although there’s nothing wrong with that particular angle, I liked that in The Kinder Poison, Zahru can still be her own hero without having to come into a rare ability – it’s enough that she’s a Whisperer.
The fantastic world-building, captivating characters, and overall fast pacing made The Kinder Poison a quick, fun read that kept my attention from start to finish. It’s everything a YA fantasy should be, and I simply cannot wait to read the next book in the series!
*Thank you BookishFirst and Razorbill for the opportunity to read a copy in exchange for an honest review
Thank you FFBC, Edelweiss and Razorbill for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
The Kinder Poison
By: Natalie Mae
REVIEW
Some years ago, I loved a movie called Hidalgo about a horse race across a brutal and deadly desert. The Kinder Poison’s synopsis immediately took me back to that time, and I knew I had to read this book.
The heroine, Zahru, wants so much more than life has given her. In a world of magical powers, she can speak to animals, a low ranking ability that will never raise Zahru above her current station. So, when the opportunity to sneak into the royal palace presents itself, Zahru and her friend, Hen, act in haste to sneak in. They are going to the Crossing ceremony where the three potential heirs to the throne will choose teams, essentially, to cross the dangerous desert sands with them. The first heir to complete the Crossing and kill the appointed human sacrifice wins. Basically, a lot of bad luck and some bad decisions toss Zahru into the mix as the human sacrifice.
Now, her goal is to survive this ordeal. As the story progresses, Zahru learns much more about the possible heirs, two guys and one girl, and a potential triangle thing maybe hangs around with the two guys? I’m not very interested in that aspect and could skip it. Zahru is young and grows as a character in numerous ways. I like her dry wit and flat sense of humor. Zahru is one of many excellent and well written characters, but I won’t go into that now.
A lot happens in this story, but it’s not so complicated as to be confusing. The world building is solid and straight forward without all the extraneous details that can drag the plot along so slowly. I was entertained, riveted, amused, annoyed and wanting more than the ending gave me! This book is a fabulous work of young adult fantasy fiction, and I loved it. Definitely read The Kinder Poison asap!