Welcome to Litsy!

This took place in Puerto Rico and the settings were more vivid than the people at times. Storms, mosquitoes, landscapes, beaches, the hotel, and the towns all played important roles as Lucas and his friends try to fill their summer with parties and girls. Then he learns about Dr. Ford and Isabel and becomes caught up in the legends he grew up hearing about. A brooding and atmospheric tale with plenty of magical realism. Enjoyed it.

Up next! Only two chapters in but already very promising.

Mediocre in every sense. 🙁

I don't have many #signedcopies of books, but I did get this in an awesome Book Riot book box. (I still have to read it!) #booksacrossoceans

Maybe I'm just not in the mood for YA right now, but this just wasn't holding my interest and I have so many other things on my TBR that should be more interesting for me.

#WelcometotheJungle or poison garden, the cover looks like a jungle to me. I still have to read this one. #JuneTunz

I had high hopes for this book set in Puerto Rico about a poisonous girl. But even the beautiful cover could not completely distract me from the many plot leaps and holes. I wanted the girl Isabel's story. But the boy narrator got in the way with his less interesting nonsense - and while the story picked up once she appeared, it was never her POV. The only things keeping me from giving a 👎 are the premise and the hope I was in the wrong mood...

Now out in #paperback is...#AFierceandSubtlePoison and this is what our reviewer had to say about it, "Debut author #SamanthaMabry describes Puerto Rico with tender love and care, taking special pains to magnify each seemingly minute detail...[The] narrative is also aided by spot-on writing that, while beautiful, is incredibly fluent and reads like a dream."

Oops I did it again. Bought myself an early birthday present (at least that's what I keep telling myself) 😁

I loved the magical realism and lush Puerto Rican setting in this haunting YA debut featuring a rich white hotel developer's son, a girl full of poison, and mysterious missing girls. I will definitely be reading whatever is next from this author.

If we're judging books by their covers, I'd say this book definitely deserves a price. It's beautiful, and I feel classy when I'm seen with it! The book contains some lovely prose, almost poetic, and I like the interweaving of US culture and indigenous Puerto Rican culture. Plot wise, I think there are too many holes, and I finished a bit dissatisfied with how many items remained unexplained.

So, here is why I often don't care about reviews before I read a book - this one had some harsh reviews on Goodreads and a low rating here...but I enjoyed it! I loved the magical realism, the eerie mystery, the imagery. I wish the ending/explanation had been fleshed out a bit more, but overall it was unique and interesting. Also ppl who were calling out a white author & main char, they both have Hispanic heritage, AFAICT, so wev 4/5⭐

His expression was like the detective's: knife-wielding, crafty, hunting for ways to make means justify an end.

This cover though!!! #nowreading

I loved parts of this book and its magical feel, but the mystery was a little weak. I still enjoyed it! #litsyAtoZ

This was a nice and quick YA book after a trying time with the last book. Not your typical boy meets girl, boy falls in love book and I liked that about this one. Lucas meets Isabel, a mysterious girl with a strange history and illness and their lives become entangled one summer as more girls are disappearing on the island and Lucas becomes a suspect. Marked it as a pick because I didn't quite feel that it was just a so-so book.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!! #merrychristmas #happyholidays #books #sunday #booklovers

Rich kid Lucas seeks out enlightenment from a poisonous girl living in the same town after his girlfriend goes missing. Story misses a lot opportunity with symbolism and POV. Should have been Isabel's story!

Who eats an orange in a car WHILE applying mascara? No one does. Because that's not a thing.

So pretty! 😻

Onto the next! YA + magic

"Some say she grants wishes. Some say her touch kills. One boy is drawn into her enchanted world. " such a fantastic read.

#SundayNightVibes ✨📚🤓

A little bed time reading. #happyreading #sleepyreads 😴

The boyfriend surprised this sick girl with lunch! I think someone was a little jealous he was not included...😹 #workfromhome #catsoflitsy #Wawa

Christmas movies + Books = Terrific Tuesday Night!!

A Grimm-like fairy tale set in Puerto Rico

There were a lot of aspects that I really liked about this book. I liked the islands stories that were shared and hanged by each person who told it. I liked the idea that there was a girl who's body was filled with poison. But Lucas was a stereotypical rich boy. He had some depth but it annoyed me that he just thought every girl was there for him. I would have preferred to read the story from Isabel's POV.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book has me hooked! Too bad work is getting in the way of me reading it.

#bookdetails #currentreas

I was glad with its intriguing start. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the pace pick up as the story progressed. There were few interesting twists and turns but that was not enough to keep me hooked. It definitely has a different storyline. Just that I dint find it compelling🌟🌟🌟

Decided on my next read and these socks make me so happy.

#theveryhungrycaterpillar #currentread

My first #bookmailbox from @outofprint and @bookriot !!! So excited to get all of these wonderful book-nerd goodies! Now I need to read Bunnicula along with these wonderful 📚 I received. @AGirlAndHerBooks here's the picture, I hope you like it, and that you may decide to get a box as well. 😆🤓💕📚💕📦📚💕

Very True!!!

My Dad is always my inspiration!! #GladAndBlessed . Somehow, I feel bad and disappointed when I see a father around, not trying to become a Dad.. like the one above☝️️😿

So excited to come home to my first ever @bookriot book mail! I wish I ordered Septembers box as well...oh well, there's always next month. 🤗 #bookmail #readharder #booktober #peculiar

I saw a ton of mixed reviews for this one but all in all, I really enjoyed it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I started this book yesterday and cant put it down. No waiting at the nail salon for a #treatyoself situation and hoping I can tap my kindle to turn the page with wet nails. 😜💅🏼

I have been dying to get my hands on this book ever since I hear @Liberty and @rebeccaschinsky talk about it on All the Books, and now it's on sale!!!

#onthatlikearatonacheeto #tooexcited

Book Riot deal of the day is going to be the death of me! This had been on my TBR for a while now and while I've been trying to make more use of the library I couldn't pass up this deal. Sigh...stop it @bookriot - there's no reason for all this awesomeness. 😉

Reading between lectures. Hope my students don't notice!

Pretty good, but I wanted more of Isabel and less of Lucas. I loved the Puerto Rico setting though. 👓👓👓

YES!!! Although in my case I grew up in Arizona and fell in love with the ocean during vacations to San Diego. Being married to a Navy man helped too 😉

Pretty new books 😊

This fell apart just a bit at the end, but it was a lovely sort of fever dream throughout.

Interesting premise, but in execution it felt very rushed and a little incoherent. The "mystery" wasn't much of a mystery, and the explanation of why the crimes occurred didn't really make sense... Lush description of setting, though, and I like the idea of magical realism in a YA novel, but in the end there just wasn't much story here. Book 6 for #24in48 #readathon @24in48

I just started this, and I already love love love it!

Really hated this. To be fair, I'm not a young adult fan 9 times out of 10. But I believe YA can be much better than this. The characters are so underdeveloped, the whole book felt rushed and just plain silly.