The Poisoner

This book was made for me.It has everything I love. A brilliant, grumpy, spitfire of an FMC. An arrogant, borderline psychopathic MMC that falls first and falls *hard*. Enemies-to-Lovers. Stalking as a love language. MMC is really just a metaphorical feral cat in disguise, complete with morbid gift-giving. The banter is top notch. The violence is excellent. There's blood and spice. A great mystery with excellent twists and turns. Gothic vibes for days. A gutting, heart-breaking climax and the cruelest of cliffhangers, but at least our girl is safe and out of danger... for the present. Basically all of the good things.Also, good lord, this is I.V. Ophelia's debut? Sheesh - the bar has been raised, ladies, gents, and nbs. Because this book was immaculate and I have zero notes. I literally read this twice in forty-eight hours, that's how much I loved it. I inhaled it on the first read and went back as soon as I finished to savor it a bit more on the second time around.The writing is absolutely gorgeous. The prose and cadence is to die for, the imagery is utterly fantastic, the characterizations are exquisite. And the dark humor? This book had me cackling out loud on more than one occasion - but then, I do have a sort of dark and macabre sense of humor.The chemistry between Alina and Silas was a caliber I haven't seen in a hot minute. The tension between these two is constant and just oozes off the page, even when they're trying to off each other (yes, you read that correctly. I did say this was enemies-to-lovers). The way that passionate animosity organically turns into a mutual respect and kinship and then finally love is masterfully executed and just generally wonderful because these two kids are both unhinged in their own delightful way and I love them together. Silas really does bring out the best and worst in our girl, but he sees her and is so hopelessly lost, it's so good, just inject it right into my veins. Seriously, I love Silas so much. He's certifiable.But to get back to the point - what ends up blossoming into this beautiful connection between the pair is also what makes the revelations and horrifying events toward the end of the book all the more gut-wrenchingly impactful. The way my stomach just bottoms out thinking about what Alina has to go through... without getting into spoiler territory, let's just say that I need that second book like I need air. In fact, I need to rest of this trilogy in my possession ASAP.I wish I could more adequately articulate just how much I love this book, but this is another one of those "If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more" situations. And quite frankly, I can't think of higher praise to offer a book.The Poisoner is a brilliant debut, a fantastic read, and I cannot recommend it enough. Keep an eye on I.V. Ophelia, everyone. This woman has raw, unfettered talent. I see her going quite far.

This is an outstanding debut novel by an indie author!First I want to preface that this is my first dark romance book. I have read other horror/thrillers in the past but this is the first to involve romance. I found out about the book and the author with her amazing marketing on Instagram. Huge kudos! I know how hard it is to stand out especially with the Instagram algorithm.The writing was really good. It was very smooth and didn’t have that usual indie debut book writing feel where the prose is very choppy and inconsistent. It was perfect enough to get sucked into the story.Spoilers below👇Since I am new to the genre, it was big jarring to see the cat and mouse game happen in the first half of the book, with all of the traps, catch and release. It wasn’t doing it for me TBH but I acknowledge that that’s a trope that a lot of people look for. I just realized that it’s really not my cup of tea 😅 I kept going because I really enjoyed the writing but wasn’t too convinced that the MMC and FMC would get past that. But once they did, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I really liked them as a couple and the drama between Silas, Alina, and Viktor.On to the cons:There were several chapters that felt like vignettes of Alina’s life as she was navigating this, which left me a bit confused of the timeline. But I guess it reflected how she was feeling with everything going on?There’s a lot of questions I still have like: how was her father killed exactly? It’s alluded that she made a mistake and killed him when trying to kill the assistant but I really wish we would’ve been told how exactly. And after Luka tortured and basically SAd Alina during the rice incident, why did Silas say he had a plan that only Luka would help with but then proceeded on just feeding (threesome style) with Luka? He really did nothing and just gave up on the woman he mated with? Not sure if he was just riding it out and waiting in his father to show up? Or if that was his way of being there for her?Hopefully we get more info in this with the next book which I will def read ☺️Overall I enjoyed it! It’s twisted and new for me. Don’t think I will continue with the dark romance genre but I will continue with book 2 for this series! 😁 I would recommend, but yes, definitely don’t skip the kinks/trigger warning page at the beginning. It’s not for the faint of heart 🖤

If you like dark, gothic romance, this book is for you! This book was addicting! Not a dull moment the entire book, the whole thing was engaging and paced perfectly. The author writes very beautifully. I read it in one day and devoured it. The dynamic between the two main characters feels so authentic and made me love them and this book. The characters' personalities and interactions feel very realistic and you can feel their humanity as well as their general dark unhinged-ness. This book is my new obsession and I find myself thinking of it weeks after reading it for the first time. Definitely one of my new favorites! Can't wait for book 2!!

Started out very intriguing, really lost interest in the second half. It became far too teen drama for me. The spice lost its luster after the MMC gained a conscience. Idk. I'm not a dark romance girly usually but the first half really did it for me.The middle to end dragged hard. Pretty repetitive in spots too.

I don’t know if this book is everyone’s cup of tea, but it was definitely mine, the story was great but I truly fell in love with our MCs, the chemistry!! they’re flawed and complicated but so interesting and isn’t that what we want? A well rounded character?I’m glad this is a series because I can’t wait to know more about them.If that is something that you need to do personally, please do check your TW

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 /5🌶️🌶️🌶️/5Utterly delectable. I devoured the gem that is this debut novel. I was so eager for The Poisoner to be out in the wild, my sights have been set on it for months. The Poisoner goes straight to my favorite books ever.Alina and Silas were exquisite together, the bantering and the thrill of the hunt were quite fun. The storyline was gripping, the writing style pulled me in from the very beginning. I adored the Victorian setting, the gothic atmosphere. I’m such a suck3r for those kinds of books. For a smart girl, Alina sometimes was actually quite blinded by her curiosity (it’s okay, we all have our moments) and Silas, for a Vipera, was quite a sweetie when it came to her.The anticipation regarding this book was killing me and I’m elated to say that it did not disappoint. I cannot say that the ending was what I was ‘’expecting’’, but simultaneously, it’ll fuel supreme angst for the next installment (Silas *shake my head*). The author, I.V Ophelia, stated that The Poisoner is a combination between Penny Dreadful and Crimson Peak and I clearly see it. I don’t want to say more in fear of inadvertedly spoiling something. Just know that I ADORED IT.Check your tw.

𝙏𝙞𝙩𝙡𝙚: 𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝖯𝗈𝗂𝗌𝗈𝗇𝖾𝗋𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧: 𝖨.𝖵 𝖮𝗉𝗁𝖾𝗅𝗂𝖺𝙋𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨: 𝟦𝟥𝟦⭐️ 𝟦/𝟧🌶️ 5/𝟧𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞:☠️ 𝖵𝗂𝖼𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗂𝖺𝗇 𝖾𝗋𝖺 𝖫𝗈𝗇𝖽𝗈𝗇🖤 𝖣𝖺𝗋𝗄 𝖺𝖼𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗆𝗂𝖺☠️ 𝖵𝖺𝗆𝗉𝗂𝗋𝖾𝗌🖤 𝖳𝗋𝗎𝖾 𝖾𝗇𝖾𝗆𝗂𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗌☠️ “𝖳𝗈𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝗁𝖾𝗋 & 𝖽𝗂𝖾“🖤 𝖣𝖺𝗋𝗄, 𝖾𝗋𝗈𝗍𝗂𝖼 𝗋𝗈𝗆𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾☠️ 𝖳𝗁𝗋𝗂𝗅𝗅𝖾𝗋 𝗉𝗅𝗈𝗍🖤 𝖡𝗈𝗍𝖺𝗇𝗂𝗌𝗍/𝖺𝗉𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝖼𝖺𝗋𝗒 𝗏𝗂𝖻𝖾𝗌(Before you read this, make sure to read all the TW.)𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰:You don’t read this for the plot, you read this for the experience, the characters and the prose. That being said; there IS plot, and it’s quite good too, albeit slow paced. This is the authors debut novel and I am so impressed!I adored the characters, the setting, the atmosphere, the science vibes… ugh!!! *chefs kiss*The attention to detail throughout this book was incredible, not only in the description of the characters but also the apothecary, the plants, the experiments, the spice ✨ Silas and Alina’s chemistry was everything!This book is unique in so many ways and I highly recommend it, IF you think it’s something you’d like (after reading the CW/TW). It’s beautifully written and I found myself tabbing A LOT of quotes and going back and rereading them.

This book definitely delivers on everything!!!If you're not into dark romance (like for real dark romance not just some more erotic romance) then this is a book for you. Someone described it as a "dark erotic bdsm vampire thriller" and it's exactly that. I enjoyed every minute reading (and questioned my sanity for that) the dual pov is really well executed and I think The Poisoner should be a must read on every shelf ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Such a nice surprise, I honestly would rate this higher if I could! Great characters and a fantastic plot. Very well written, a page turner that i finished in two nights. Can’t wait for the next one!