Book Review: ‘The Poisoner' by I. V. Ophelia (a Gothic dark romance)
We're jumping straight out of the gate with the content warnings for this one. Because if historical setting + spicy + strange is for you, then great! ‘The Poisoner' by I. V. Ophelia is the book for you. But also… proceed with caution.
Content warnings provided by The StoryGraph include sexual content, sexual violence, stalking, blood, torture.
‘The Poisnoer' was one of those books that immediately grabbed my attention. I knew nothing about it before seeing it in the KU line-up (I'm on a KU journey this year, which you can read about here) but there was something about it that kept pulling me back during my “what shall I read next” trawl.
Here's the summary:
"Have you ever wondered how long it would take for a lethal dose of arsenic to kill you?
Thirty-five hours, twenty-nine minutes, and fifteen seconds.
I should know. I counted myself."
Amidst the gaslit alleys and cobblestone streets of Victorian London, two killers find themselves entangled in a waltz they cannot escape.
Alina Lis, a botanist and hobbyist poisoner, has a pastime of killing unsavory men in her twisted sense of poetic justice. When she targets the conceited playboy, Silas Forbes, only to find him in her apothecary the following week, she discovers human men are the least of her problems.
The pair’s unlikely association sparks gossip among affluent society. As their mysterious bond deepens, a chilling truth emerges—concealed identities, lurking foes, and questions as plentiful as the hydra’s head brew within this haunting Gothic tale of violent passion.
Will Silas and Alina find themselves in each other's arms, or will the shadows of their past keep them apart?
Right off the bat (ha! BAT!) you know you are in for something… dark… with this book. I'm no stranger to a dark romance, as I have mentioned many times ‘Den of Vipers’ by K A Knight is like the torch all other dark romance gets held up against. So if that's the worst (and by “worst” I mean probably the most complex and deeply unsettling but also addictive) then where does this book sit?
I'd say it's about 80% there. There waere some scenes in ‘The Poisoner' that left me feeling uncomfortable. There are some moments of dubious consent (and that's from a very relaxed definition on that) which I think will be the cause of most contention for readers.
However, I was hooked on the overall plot and the setting. And of course, the characters. In my opinion, you can't have a great book without great characters.
SPOILER ALERT
Silas is a snake-man-guy. In a way, ‘The Poisoner' becomes like a Victorian Gothic creature feature romance. A shapeshifter romcom (no, no, definitely no comedy, I just like the idea of it). A paranormal paramour.
I really enjoyed the character progession in this story. The way Silas and Alina go from literally trying to kill each other, to romacing each other, to almost being on good terms, and then it all kind of loops back around to hatred again? It's so well played.
I'm not one to divulge too many spoilers in a review, so I'm not going to give away the big plot twists, however I did think they were well placed. Was I shocked? No, but whereas I could sort of see it coming, I thought it was presented in a clever and refreshing way.
This book is dark. Just to reiterate. But. It features a fiercely independent main protagonist, and a slippery main love interest. There's betrayal, following such a great setup, and I found myself unable to put it down. It's also got a very balanced level of spicy to it. It's not over the top in that regard, but it's got just enough that if that's what you came looking for you won't be disappointed.
What I will say is PROCEED WITH CAUTION. Check out the content warnings, and don't go in uninformed.
This does appear to be part of a series, and I would hope so after where it leaves off. So, will I be continuing it? I dare say so. It doesn't look like there is a release date, currently, so maybe I'll have moved too far away from it by then. But I'm definitely interested!
In the end I gave it four stars, simply because of the way I couldn't put it down!
Written by Sarah
