Review: A Beautiful Poison by Lydia Kang

A Beautiful Poison

by Lydia Kang

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 350

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Just beyond the Gilded Age, in the mist-covered streets of New York, the deadly Spanish influenza ripples through the city. But with so many victims in her close circle, young socialite Allene questions if the flu is really to blame. All appear to have been poisoned—and every death was accompanied by a mysterious note.

Desperate for answers and dreading her own engagement to a wealthy gentleman, Allene returns to her passion for scientific discovery and recruits her long-lost friends, Jasper and Birdie, for help. The investigation brings her closer to Jasper, an apprentice medical examiner at Bellevue Hospital who still holds her heart, and offers the delicate Birdie a last-ditch chance to find a safe haven before her fragile health fails.

As more of their friends and family die, alliances shift, lives become entangled, and the three begin to suspect everyone—even each other. As they race to find the culprit, Allene, Birdie, and Jasper must once again trust each other, before one of them becomes the next victim.

Kritters Thoughts:  When I read the synopsis for the book I was extremely excited to be a part of the tour, it has two things that are right up my alley - historical fiction and who dun it, I was so excited!  To get straight to the point, this one didn't work for me.  Usually I can pinpoint to a T what in a book I don't love, but this one doesn't stand out for me.  

Let me back up and say what I did love.  I did love the time period and the is it flu is it murder aspect.  I enjoyed that a murderer or two got away with some things for awhile because of the time period and all of the drama that was going on.  

I think the biggest thing for me that I didn't love was the pacing of the book.  There were moments where the book was go go go and I was flipping pages and loving it and then there were moments where concentrating on it took effort and I didn't care what happened next (I always care what happens next, its the noisy lady in me!)

So I am not on the fence about this book, but its hard to describe my feelings and that is unusual for me.  The writing was fine, the plot was fine and the characters were ok, but nothing was amazing and nothing was horrible.  I don't love the feeling of indifference and always love to give recommendations on here of the things I love and why I love them and the things I don't love and why so if you love those things then you can bypass my negativity and get it, but I am having a hard time with this one.


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.