A Fierce and Subtle Poison

By: Samantha Mabry

Narrated by: Graham Hamilton

In this stunning debut, legends collide with reality when a boy is swept into the magical, dangerous world of a girl filled with poison.

Everyone knows the legends about the cursed girl - Isabel, the one the senoras whisper about. They say she has green skin and grass for hair, and she feeds on the poisonous plants that fill her family's Caribbean island garden. Some say she can grant wishes; some say her touch can kill.

Seventeen-year-old Lucas lives on the mainland most of the year but spends summers with his hotel-developer father in Puerto Rico. He's grown up hearing stories about the cursed girl, and he wants to believe in Isabel and her magic. When letters from Isabel begin mysteriously appearing in his room the same day his new girlfriend disappears, Lucas turns to Isabel for answers - and finds himself lured into her strange and enchanted world. But time is running out for the girl filled with poison, and the more entangled Lucas becomes with Isabel, the less certain he is of escaping with his own life.

A Fierce and Subtle Poison beautifully blends magical realism with a compelling mystery and a dark, star-crossed romance - all delivered in lush, urgent prose.

©2016 Samantha Mabry (P)2016 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"A breathtaking story in which myths come to frightening life and buried wishes might actually come true. This is a hypnotic debut by a remarkable talent." (Nova Ren Suma, author of The Walls Around Us and Imaginary Girls)

too many myths

What did you like best about A Fierce and Subtle Poison? What did you like least?

I thought the story had too many subplots that did not connect - flat read

Magical Realism

I decided to get this book because I loved the lure in the description. The narration was fantastic and I loved how compassionate Luke was. Through his inner thoughts you got a sense that he really felt for others, and for a rich kid was pretty down to earth. What fell short for me with the story was the pacing. I thought that it would take place during a summer and be a slow cook love story with some mystery. But it went super fast, maybe over two weeks and this made me have no emotional connection to Isabella or their relationship. Seriously, I felt like there was no chemistry between the two characters and how could there be when he meets her twice and then suddenly a big twist (predictable one) is revealed and the book is over. The story and characters had major potential it just was majorly rushed...which bummed me out because I felt the writing style was strong and natural.

Mystery and Love??

If you could sum up A Fierce and Subtle Poison in three words, what would they be?

Love, Mystery, and a bit of Mayhem.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the fantasy twist on the mystery genre.

Have you listened to any of Graham Hamilton’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to any other performances from Graham. I find his voice soothing,but it almost put me to sleep a few times. I found his performances to be very good, however.

Any additional comments?

This is Mabry's fist book, but she does have a few short stories. I recently had the pleasure of meeting Mabry. She was the type of author we readers love. When a reader can connect an author's personality to their writing it makes their experience much more satisfying. Several times throughout her book I could picture Mabry writing the scene laid out before me and a smile would sneak across my face. If you live in or near the Austin area I suggest meeting the author at the 2016 Texas Teen Book Festival in Oct.