Book Review- The Poison Diaries based on the concept by The Duchess of Northumberland

By Maryrose Wood

Published by HarperTeen

To Be Released July 20, 2010

Source: HarperTeen

3 stars- It Was A Good Read

Jessamine Luxson lives with her father, Thomas, an apothecary, in an isolated cottage near Alnwick Castle. Thomas’s pride and obsession is his locked garden full of dangerous plants, which Jessamine is forbidden to enter.

When a traveler brings an orphan to their cottage, he claims the boy has special gifts that Thomas might value. Jessamine is drawn to the strange but intriguing boy, called Weed. Soon their friendship deepens into love. Finally, Weed shares his secret: He can communicate with plants. For him they have distinct personalities—and some are even murderous. From the locked garden the poisonous plants call to Weed, luring him with promises of deadly power.

When Jessamine falls inexplicably ill, only Weed’s relationship with the Poisons can save her. But Thomas is determined to exploit Weed’s abilities, even if it risks Jessamine’s life—or drives Weed to the brink of madness.…(from good reads).

The Poison Diaries is a story that fascinated me. I liked that a whole story was woven around botany, mixed in with romance and given a twist at the end. Maryrose Wood really set the tone for The Poison Dairies in her setting. The countryside was described beautifully, and yet had a dreary, gothic feeling to it. It was captivating, erie and real. The story introduces us to Jessamine and her father, who live a very isolated life in a small, run down cottage on the out skirts of the Alnwick Castle grounds. Jessamine's father is obsessed with finding curses with his plants and is often called to assist in helping someone who's sick or injured and healing them. His greatest obsession is his beloved poison garden which Jessamine is forbidden to enter. With her father being gone up to a couple days at a time, Jessamine finds herself lonely, until a stranger is brought to their house, Weed.

It wasn't until Weed's appearance in the book, did I feel the story pick up for me. The language, being authentic for the time period gave the story a real historically feeling. Though it took me a couple chapters to really get into the story, once I did, I didn't put the book down until I finished. It's a quick read, as it doesn't take long for Jessamine and Weed's relationship to grow. Jessamine wasn't a character I connected to, but she was still a character I enjoyed reading about, as she is at a stage in life where she wants her work obsessed father to stop treating her as child and treat like the young adult she's becoming.

Weed's character is one I really enjoyed. He is a wild, broken boy, who's both intriguing and a bit sinister. Weed has a supernatural power that I was fascinated with. It added a new element to the story. His love for Jessamine is so sincere and I really liked reading about their stolen moments together. The dark plot twist at the end took me for surprise and gave the book a darker feeling. It was something I didn't see coming. What I had loved about the book, was a little lost in that feeling. Having said that, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next, when the next book in the series is released.

I was so intrigued by The Poison Diaries and the concept, that I did a little research into it. I needed to know more about the story, which is based on the Poison Garden of The Duchess of Northumberland. You can find out more the real Poison Gardens and the story behind Maryrose Wood's series here http://tinyurl.com/2v3bw4f. I would definitely recommend this for 14 years and up and I think it's going to be a series that readers will become fascinated with.

To find out more about the book, please visit this site here http://www.poisondiaries.com/