goodeyreads's profile picture

goodeyreads 's review for:

The Poison Season by Mara Rutherford
3.25
fast-paced

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC.

NEEDED SOMETHING.

BLOG || INSTAGRAM

I wanted to love this. I went in hoping I would, buuuut here we are. I liked it, it just wasn’t a favorite.

It did have a very distinct YA fantasy feel. And I know that can be a winner for a lot. For me, I felt like I needed more. Something that added an edge, something I hadn’t read before. I don’t know. Within a few chapters I knew exactly what was going to happen and I wasn’t surprised by how it ended.

I did love Leelo as a main character. She has that strength and loyalty that I always appreciate in a FMC. I love that she was open to changing her opinions and took time to understand the new information that was being heaped upon her. Leelo handled a lot of things really well.

The romance is a bit much on the insta-love side. I was hoping for to see them connect over more things before confessions of love started rolling out. Leelo and Jaren were charming and easily sweet on each other.

I loved Leelo’s Mom and Brother. They were some of my favorite side characters and helped me enjoy and look forward to scenes with them. I liked the conclusion and do think it wrapped up things pretty well.

Overall audience notes:
- YA Fantasy + Romance
- Language: very little
- Romance: make-outs
- Violence: medium
- Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a parent, loss of loved ones, poison, weapons violence, murder, physical altercations