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The Poisons We Drink

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The Poisons We Drink

By: Bethany Baptiste
Narrated by: Lynnette R. Freeman
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About this listen

In a country divided between humans and witchers, Venus Stoneheart hustles as a brewer making illegal love potions to support her family.

Love potions are a dangerous business. Brewing has painful, debilitating side effects, and getting caught means death or a prison sentence. But what Venus is most afraid of is the dark, sentient magic within her.

When an enemy’s iron bullet kills her mother, Venus’s life implodes. Keeping her reckless little sister, Janus, safe is now her responsibility. When the powerful Grand Witcher, the ruthless head of her coven, offers Venus the chance to punish her mother’s killer, she has to pay a steep price for revenge.

The cost? Brew poisonous potions to enslave DC’s most influential politicians in order to pass legislation that will protect witchers for years to come.

As Venus crawls deeper into the corrupt underbelly of her city, the line between magic and power blurs, and it’s hard to tell who to trust … herself included.

The Poisons We Drink is a potent debut about a world where love potions are weaponized against hate and prejudice, sisterhood is unbreakable, and self-love is life and death.

©2024 Bethany Baptiste (P)2024 Recorded Books Action & Adventure Fantasy Fiction Literature & Fiction Science Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Dystopian Magic
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This is a book about sorrow, discrimination, the acceptance of self and reclaimation of personal power, all tied up in a complex witchy (witcher) fantasy version of our world and played out through characters as flawed as they are fascinating. Venus is particularly interesting as a main character, as she's not always likeable but so easily relatable that by the end I was a little in love with her. Not a perfect person, and all the more realistic because of that. "It" also turned out to be one of my favorite characters and I loved the interaction between Venus and It, their struggles and eventual understanding.

I could write essays on the metaphors, themes and allegories in this book and it certainly will leave me considering them all after reading. The world building is a little dense at times, but this story is so unique and fascinating this didn't matter to me. Passionately read by a narrator who clearly loved her work, this book is a treat, perfect for spooky season but it's going to be relevant and an interesting read at any time.

I will be looking for more from this author.

A truly interesting story, with passionate narration

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