Audiobook Review: An Affair of Poisons by Addie Thorley

Look, I know I am about to give you a 5 star review for a FANTASY novel but just think about that for a minute – there’s a fantasy book I loved enough to give it five stars. Yep. Check out my thoughts on An Affair of Poisons below!

An Affair of Poisons

by Addie Thorley
Published by: Page Street Kids
on February 26, 2019
Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Bookshop, IndieBound
Goodreads

No one looks kindly on the killer of a king.

After unwittingly helping her mother poison King Louis XIV, seventeen-year-old alchemist Mirabelle Monvoisin is forced to see her mother’s Shadow Society in a horrifying new light: they’re not heroes of the people, as they’ve always claimed to be, but murderers. Herself included. Mira tries to ease her guilt by brewing helpful curatives, but her hunger tonics and headache remedies cannot right past wrongs or save the dissenters her mother vows to purge.

Royal bastard Josse de Bourbon is more kitchen boy than fils de France. But when the Shadow Society assassinates the Sun King and half of the royal court, he must become the prince he was never meant to be in order to save his injured sisters and the petulant dauphin. Forced to hide in the sewers beneath the city, Josse’s hope of reclaiming Paris seems impossible―until his path collides with Mirabelle’s.

She’s a deadly poisoner. He’s a bastard prince. They are sworn enemies, yet they form a tenuous pact to unite the commoners and former nobility against the Shadow Society. But can a rebellion built on mistrust ever hope to succeed?

Review

The cover of this book originally drew me in. SO DANG SHINY. But I also love that it’s a standalone, something we almost never see outside of contemporary. An Affair of Poisons has a clear set up, enough action to keep you roped in, and a solid ending that leaves you satisfied.

Oh, and dual POV narration (fab audiobook!).

Besides that, here are a few reasons why I loved this book:

1. Dragons. THERE ARE DRAGONS. That sounds so random for a story where the royalty is being murdered by poison I was like a kid in the candy store for the dragons.
2. A bastard with a heart of gold. I loved how Josse cared for his sisters through the story. I also cheered for the romance, not going to lie.
3. Villains being villains. Let the bad guys be bad. The villain in this story reminded me of Levana in Fairest and I am here for it.
4. Alchemy. I will basically read anything with alchemy in it. 

So if this sounds like your jam, put it on your TBR. I haven’t read anything else quite like it and I’m a little sad that it’s a standalone!