Alina Lis has a rather selective approach to murder. A botanist whose preferred method of dealing with unpleasant men involves poison. Unfortunately for her, the man she decides to poison this time has absolutely no intention of staying dead….because he is something else…The Poisoner is the first book in the series by I. V. Ophelia. It’s a gothic romance featuring questionable morals, a little murder, and a little Victorian scandal 🤭.
Blurb
The Lost Apothecary meets Gothikana in a Victorian era gothic romance about a botanist who likes to poison unsavory men, but when her next target visits her apothecary, they discover their dark bond runs deeper than they imagined.
“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?
Genre
Dark Romance |Fantasy
Tropes
- Gothic setting
- Enemies to Lovers?
- She is THE POISONER
- Dark Themes
- Cat and Mouse game
My Review
Alina Lis (my favourite poisoner) has a very clever and selective approach to murder. Unfortunately for her, the man she decides to poison has absolutely no intention of staying dead. In The Poisoner by I. V. Ophelia, I was suck into the gaslit streets of Victorian London, where a botanist with a questionable moral compass spends her spare time dispensing her own version of justice. Then comes Silas Forbes: arrogant, mysterious, and much harder to get rid of than anticipated.
Alina Lis is accustomed to deciding which men deserve her particular brand of justice. She became way cooler as the story progressed. She is running her own apothecary (dream job) and helping women in need, while also carrying out her little hobby of unaliving the men who hurt women. Silas Forbes comes into the picture, discovers she is not what she seems, and dares to make her life difficult. She finds out he is something else, and the scientist in her wakes up, and she makes a deal with him to experiment……..on him…..lol, and he goes with it… because he was obsessed, and he was a goner the moment he looked at her. It was not instant love….mind you guys…..it was obsession!!!. He wanted to hunt first, but later the dynamic between them changes and their bond becomes something else.
Now, a woman who poisons unpleasant men and a man who refuses to remain her victim aren’t exactly promising candidates for a healthy relationship…lol….. But that’s where things become interesting 😋. Because beneath the gothic atmosphere, and the increasingly complicated association between Alina and Silas, lie secrets and more dangerous things happening in the city. Luka is another character who came into the picture, and I don’t want to talk about him atm.
I keep thinking about this situation tho……the person you’re supposed to fear becomes the person you’re drawn to…..hmmmm 🤔
p.s. I loved how Silas referred to her as a sleeping snake. The early chapters and their cat-and-mouse game are peak literature.
My Rating
- Overall: ★★★★★ | 5 Stars
- Plot: ★★★★★| 5 Stars
- Romance: ★★★★★| 5 Stars ( It’s nota romance but whatever was happening it’s 5 stars💁♀️)
- Characters: ★★★★★ | 5 Stars
- Pacing: ★★★★★| 5 Stars
- Ending: ★★★★★| 5 Stars
- Spice Level: 🌶🌶🌶🌶| Level 4
- Book Cover:★★★★★| 5 Stars ( Perfection)
The Best Part
- The hunter became the hunted; Alina and Silas games were too captivating.
The Worst Part
- Luka and whatever he thought he was doing is okay ( it was the worst)
