Review of 'Lies Like Poison'

Riverdale meets Kara Thomas's The Cheerleaders in this electrifying, twisted thriller about estranged friends who reunite when someone commits the murder they'd planned--but didn't go through with--and leaves one of their own to take the fall.

Poppy, Lily, and Belladonna would do anything to protect their best friend, Raven. So when they discovered he was suffering abuse at the hands of his stepmother, they came up with a lethal plan: petals of poppy, belladonna, and lily in her evening tea so she'd never be able to hurt Raven again. But someone got cold feet, the plot faded to a secret of the past, and the group fell apart.

Three years later, on the eve of Raven's seventeenth birthday, his stepmother turns up dead. But it's only belladonna found in her tea, and it's only Belladonna who's carted off to jail. Desperate for help, Belle reaches out to her estranged friends to prove her innocence. They answer the call, but no one is prepared for what comes next.

Now, everyone has something to lose and something equally dangerous to hide. And when the tangled web of secrets and betrayal is finally unwound, what lies at its heart will change the group forever.

Review

Lies Like Poison is a compelling young adult mystery with great LGBTQ representation, bringing old friends together to form their own family.

Family

The story’s core is about finding and making one’s own family with their fails to love them. Belladonna, Raven, Lily, and Jack (Poppy) all come from complicated homes.

Each of them has parents who abuse them in various ways. From emotional to mental abuse, these kids come from fractured homes.

It speaks volumes about society today how people are starting to form their own families with friends because their “blood” family is toxic. This story encourages readers to do that, to make your own family with people who love you, with people who know you, inside and out, and respect you and love you down to your core.

I loved this message because you always hear “or they are family” as an excuse to condone toxic behavior, and that is not okay. No one should ever let themselves be brought down emotionally, mentally, or physically by “family” because of their relation to them. Nope, not okay, so to see these four friends bind themselves together to form their own family is incredibly empowering.

Storytelling

As far as the story goes, it was very engaging. Lily’s mother, Raven’s stepmother, is murdered, belladonna petals in her tea. Of course, Belladonna is the immediate suspect, arrested, the recipe for the murder they wrote as children to get rid of the woman torturing Raven found on the kitchen table.

These four estranged friends are brought back together, forcing them to face their past and come to terms with their identities. None of them trust one another since they have not seen one another for years, but they come together, in the end, to solve the murder and save Belladonna from prison.

Also separated into three parts, each perspective drives the story forward. The reader is learning more about who these kids are through their perspectives, experiences, and mindset. It also keeps the reader guessing. Any of them could be a suspect for murder. They all had a motive as Lily’s mother was a truly horrible and delusional person, so to see each part as “The Truth According to…” gives the story some range and depth to keep the ending unpredictable and unsuspecting.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Lies Like Poison is a compelling young adult mystery. It has emotional depth to make the characters engaging, and the pacing allows the plot to remain compelling and unpredictable, offering readers an engaging read.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Like this review?

Don’t forget to follow Cyn’s Workshop on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Spotify | YouTube | BookBub | Goodreads | LinkedIn to stay tuned for future reviews.

About the Author

Cynthia Bujnicki graduated from Emerson College with a BA in Writing, Literature and Publishing. She has always loved to read since she was a child. A contributing writer for YA Fantasy Addicts, she is also the Editor-in-Chief for Cyn's Workshop. She lives in sunny South Florida with her husband and son and their two cats, Mr. J the Kitten and Nyx.