I appreciate NetGalley allowing me to read this book as I do all of the pre-print novels offered.
But, and it is a big "but", "The Poison Garden" has little to recommend it.
Perhaps it is a mock-drama with every element intentionally cliched: plot, character, setting?
I do not think do, but it could easily be so.
Chick-lit-crime? Probably. From sleep-walking heroine to mixing flower potions; not one but two villainous husbands; a glamorous island setting...and all women gorgeous and strong, aside from one who who is shallow and sleeps with another woman's husband.
Guess what will happen. Guess again and again. Each almost-conclusion is implausible.
It is a "page turner". If started, turn the pages as quickly as possible.

A great novel, beautiful depiction of the characters with some tense moments thrown into the mix. Will definitely pick more books by this talented author.

Thank you net galley for giving me the opportunity to read this suspense/thriller. Every time I thought I had it figured out there was another twist thrown in. For fans of A.J. Banner a fast thrilling story.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for this ARC!

What a thriller! From the beginning, you hit the ground running with this one. I didn’t expect the story to go the way it did, and it was hard for me to figure out any twist that came. I love a book that keeps you guessing - which is hard to do when you primarily read thrillers. I literally inhaled this book and the writing was incredible all the way through. Just when I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong, and that was quite an amazing feeling. I love being surprised by the twist. That gasp, the jaw drop, hands in their air feeling - yes. This book has it. I highly recommend it!

This was not good. The writing is weak, the plot ludicrous, the characters actions are ridiculous and I'm just glad it was a quick read.


Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really struggled through this book. It just did not work for me. The story was all over the place and the characters were unlikeable and annoying. The twists and turns in the book seemed a little too convenient. I wish I could say nice things about the book but I just can't. It wasn't for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Poison Garden is an amazing book that will keep you guessing until the end. I loved the characters and descriptions in this book. A.J. Banner's books just keep getting better. I cannot wait to see what the next one brings

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had a hard time finishing The Poison Garden. There were way too many plot twists and the whole story line was just too far fetched... It just wasn't the right kind of suspense for me.

Fascinating premise, and the garden was almost a character in and of itself. Slow burn, good twists, and definitely psychologically twisted.

So this book was a bit crazy sauce but it did keep me guessing. It was kind of all over the place but the writing was good and I did enjoy it. Thank you to netgalley for the ARC!

Disclosure: I am a huge fan of all of A.J. Banner’s books. The Poison Garden is no exception. Banner’s straightforward prose offers twists that I don’t see coming, even though I’m an addictive mystery reader. Her characters are complex and confused which leads us, the readers, to wonder about the reliability of the narrator, or at least the narrator’s perceptions. The setting is lush- we feel as though we’ve been plunged into the forests of a northwest island, next to the unpredictable seas. The plot leaps forward, a true page turner, and my only disappointment was that I had to put the book down to go to work before I finished. When I reached the end, what satisfaction! I love un-gory thrillers, puzzles inhabited with full bodied characters, and clearly, The Poison Garden hit the mark for me.

I'm having a hard time considering how to rate this book. It wasn't that it was bad, but it was not exceptional either. There were probably too many twists and surprises, none of which were that surprising, but maybe were because I couldn't believe something so spectacular was happening again.
What I did not like about the book is the constant talking in circles... dragged out conversations... and thought processes by the main character. Multiple times (so many times), I was mentally saying, "yes, yes, the rest of us have a full grasp on what is happening, so what's taking you so long to catch up to speed?!" This made me want to skip particularly large chunks of the book to avoid being in the MC's mind so as to avoid these types of thoughts. 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.
While the plot looked interesting, I didn't find that the story lived up to the expectations I had. The idea of a poison garden and a newlywed who is an expert in herbal concoctions was intriguing. Her discovery of her husband's infidelity and subsequent paranoia should have heightened the 'thriller' aspect of the novel, but somehow it didn't. Elise comes across as weak and not particularly likeable. The lack of a strong supporting cast coupled with a lot of meandering in the plot caused me to lose interest in her fate. I wish there'd been a better sense of place as well.

So, this is the story of Elise, returning to her perfect life with her perfect husband a day early before they celebrate their first wedding anniversary.

Clearly, all that perfection wasn't to last and she returned to find it all shattered.

Although the book was pacey and the plot very enticing, on the whole I found the story quite unfulfilling as there were so many (too many?) twists and turns that ultimately made it all seem far fetched and predictable.

It was still an enjoyable read, but left me questioning all the many ways I could have put my time to better use that day...

I could not put this book down.
Elise has been married to Kiernan for just about a year. She surprises him by coming home a day early from a trip, except, she is the one who finds a surprise. There were so many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming.

From that point on, I was not able to put this down. I absolutely loves this novel.

I’ve been bitten by the A.J. Banner bug! Started her latest addictive thriller and could not stop reading. I mean COULD NOT STOP ‘til the very end. And whatta end! Sheesh, a girl’s gotta have a life, A. J. But all I wanted to do was read. And read. And READ! I bet you will too when you pick up THE POISON GARDEN and meet Elise, she of the perfect life on the cusp of her first wedding anniversary, who learns the most shocking thing. Is what she thinks true? Is her very life in danger? OMG! 5/5

Pub Date 22 Oct 2019.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#ThePoisonGarden #NetGalley

"On the ferry ride home, I was not yet planning to kill anyone."

The Poison Garden by A.J, Banner starts out on a high and intense note. You are dropped in on a young woman running for her life, but from what, we do not yet know. The story revolves around Elise, who is a wealthy woman who worked as a pharmacist but now runs her late mother's apothecary shop in her backyard studio.

Elise is about to celebrate her first anniversary with her second husband, Kieran. When she decides to return from Seattle a day earlier to surprise him, what she discovers will set of a series of chain reactions which will keep you on your toes the whole time.

I will scroll down a bit, because what I am about to say could spoil the book for some. For those not scrolling down, I would recommend this book. It is a quick read and is engaging. It keeps you guessing from page 1 to the end. Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing.








***Spoilers******

This book was very similar to B.A. Paris, The Breakdown. There were quiet a few parallels between each of these books. The way the book is written, you can see yourself as Elise, "is this happening? Am I going crazy?" Which was very similar to the way The Breakdown made me feel. I do not want to give anymore than that away!

What a heart stopping, fast paced psychological thriller by A. J. Banner!


My first book by this author, I literally did not want to stop reading this at any time, and actually finished it pretty quickly.I had to keep going. I was hooked from the very beginning. Great characters and story plot!

I must say, when I started this book, I was not expecting such a psychological thriller. Not usually a fan of such books, but this one wasn't too bad.

Right off the bat, the excitement starts in Chapter 1 with Elise walking in on her husband and his mistress. I will say, I felt the prologue was completely useless. It seems like it was placed there to let the reader know that things are going to get very thrilling and 'mysterious', but once we get to the part in the book where the prologue is happening, it wasn't quite as thrilling.

The characters were all hard for me to like, and no one was really fleshed out. We're kind of 'told' that Elise has a sleepwalking problem and may be a complete whacko, but we're not given much about her background other than her father died when she was young and her mother (an herbalist) raised her. I never came to feel a connection with her.

Her ex-husband Brandon is a cardboard cutout nut-case...again, very little background on his life or his marriage to Elise. I just could not picture the two of them ever having been married. We're TOLD they were married and were given a couple flashbacks into their marriage, but it felt stilted and just made me question whatever the hell Elise saw in him in the first place. She doesn't seem to have a single positive thing to say about him...so why did she marry him?! Same with Kiernan's deceased spouse (I can't even recall her name). Chantel is the neighbor with a weird past work history and is shady AF, and Kiernan is totally and utterly predictable in his douch-baggery.

I don't normally read thrillers, so I am very easily surprised when it comes to the plot. Because I'm not super familiar with the genre, it doesn't take much to shock me, however with this story, I saw what was coming, and I wasn't at all surprised. Some of the finer details were mildly surprising, but the ultimate ending just didn't blow me away.

Overall, while this is definitely a page-turner, I didn't find it a 'thrilling' page turner. I kept reading because I wanted to see what happened, but I never came to care for any one in particular. Elise was a weirdo who was very hard to like, and as the main protagonist, that's kind of a bummer.

This was my first A.J. Banner book, and I'm pretty sure it'll be my last.

**This book was provided to me free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is one thrill ride. Elise believes she has the ideal life. Then she catches her husband cheating on her. This begins a tale with so many twists. I didn't know what to believe half the time. Very well written and the ideal psychological thriller.