Poison's Kiss Paperback – January 10, 2017

Poison's Kiss heroine embodies the qualities that I look for in a protagonist, especially female heroines. She's not afraid of making the tough choices, and she's firm in her convictions. Marinda is a visha-kanya, a poison maiden, her kiss is fatal to anyone who comes into contact with it. She was created as a weapon, forced to be used as a tool in war that is as old as time. Marinda hates the countless anonymous men/boys she is forced to kiss and kill for the Kingdom's benefit. It's only her young sickly brother Mani, that influences Marinda to stay in her captivity instead of seeking freedom. Paired with her in her deadly deeds is Ilya, who charms the marks that Marinda is slated to take out. She woes them and sets up the chance meetings between the anonymous men/boys and Marinda. While Marinda and Ilya have grown up together in this arduous predicament together and share love for each other, we come to see the many layers beneath these characters and the turmoil that brews just beneath the surface.The thing I appreciated the most due to Shields superb execution is her vastly complex characters. Each character had many layers to them, and as a reader, you are forced to accept these characters as they come. It was hard to gain a concrete connection to some of them because of their erratic behavior and multiple motivational driving forces. While some may see that as a negative, I see it as a challenge. It put me on edge at all times because I was always trying to guess what would a character do next. You have Ilya who is beautiful and is able to lie easily, so you're always questioning who has her fealty. You also have the enigmatic Deven, Marinda's love interest, who's gentleman ways tend to distract you from him trying to complete his mission. Then we have the infamous Gopal, Marinda's "handler". He's the one who utilizes her skills in regards of the Kingdom. He's ruthless in his control and uses a web of lies to govern Marinda into submission. Gita is also an enigma because she plays as both Marinda's surrogate mother figure and also manages her behavior when Gopal isn't around. And lastly, we have Kadru, the snake charmer who's past is both mysterious and intriguing to say the least.Shields does a fantastic job at interweaving Marinda's internal dialogue with the many plot-twists and pivotal events throughout the story. We come to find that Marinda will stop at nothing to protect her brother Mani from harm. In her quest to uncover the secrets behind her role as executioner, she begins to see what failing at protecting Mani truly entails. This sends her into overdrive and we see our protagonist truly tested.What I also admired about the story was the amount of research Shields did to help build her solid and fascinating world. A lot of her world is built on Indian folklore and culture, however, her world is uniquely her own. Folklore has always interested me and I find ones from other cultures to be even more fascinating, since they aren't my own. Marinda's role as visha-kanya and the backstory of the many Raja's and their history were deeply entrancing and I couldn't wait to see more details coalesced into the story.Poison's Kiss by Breeana Shields is a story about love, betrayal, loss, a journey of self-discovery, and staying true to ones own beliefs. Filled with mysterious Indian mythology, we find ourselves immersed in Shields' world. Once you dive in to the story, you will be hard pressed not to want to finish the book in one sitting. This is definitely the ultimate page-turner.

“That's how you know something is ready to be devoured, when it gives just a little under pressure. It's the same with people.”― Breeana Shields, Poison's KissThis book is breathtaking. The cover art is magnificent. So is the story within.I loved reading about Marinda, the visha kanya, whose kiss is poison. She works for the government and it is her job to kill by kissing, anyone the government wants her to. However, when the boy she falls for is added to the kill list, she begins to question everything.I LOVED the whole mythological aspect to this story. The whole idea is riveting and makes for an intelligent and dazzling novel filled with Mythology, snakes, romance, mystery and suspense. I never got tired of reading and read this in one sitting.This is part of a series but I think there is only one other book not two. I have the second one on my TBR list..any day now. Hope it is as riveting as the first. Five amazing stars.

I purchased a paperback print copy from Book Depository. The UK-printed version smells very clean & crisp, and I highly recommend it over the USA hardcover.This novel quickly climbed my list of favorites (currently at #3) for many reasons:+ It has strong, multidimensional characters with hidden motives that kept me guessing. The kind-hearted Deven and his mission. The beautiful Ilya and where her true loyalties lie. The vulnerable Mani and the origin of his condition. The ruthless Gopal and his network of lies. The ambiguous Gita and her duality as mother figure and manager. The mysterious Kadru and her past. It is hard to believe in retrospect that the main cast contains only 10 characters, but they all hide so many shades of motive and personality that it feels like an entire world.+ The plot twists stemming from those characters start from page 1 and continue non-stop to the end. I got into bed one evening at 9 PM hoping to read just 10 pages, and ended up devouring the entire novel and not sleeping that night. Breeana Shields spaces the pivotal events far enough apart that we hear plenty of Marinda's internal dialogue and reactions interspersed in the interludes, but the novel never felt slow. The events continue to escalate like Robert McKee's ever-widening gaps. Masterful storytelling, and I could never predict what would happen next.+ The quality of writing: sentences with multiple meanings, easily understood but nonetheless resonant. Simple first-person but told with enough solemnity and seriousness that I never doubted Marinda's judgment or decision-making. Intimate, yet trustworthy. Beautiful metaphors (like the snake), vivid imagery. Lots of memorable sentences, from the description of the poison's effect to the recurring theme of poison from the inside, all the way to the mythical proverbs about betrayal scattered and sold throughout.+ The worldbuilding: I never once considered this to be a fictional world, and thought I was reading about some subculture of India the entire way through, until the author's note at the end. Accurate or not, it had me believing, in the gods, in the proverbs, in the culture.I don't have anything negative to say, except that perhaps the cover snake should have been white instead of green. Third person limited usually tells a more interesting story to me, so this first-person novel surprised me on multiple levels. It's a fast read, an enjoyable journey, and an inspiring story. I'll keep it with me for the rest of my life.