A Taste of Poison

Half-fae Astrid Snow is falsely accused of murdering her father. Her stepmother, Queen of the Spring Court, sends the Huntsman after her. His motivation is a release from a 100-year servitude sentence to the Fae Alpha Council and a reclaim of his estate.

What he does not anticipate is believing Astrid's claim of innocence, and setting out to help her prove it. And on top of it all, falling in love with her.

What I really liked about this book is that even though the fairytale elements are clearly there, they are surrounded by unexpected twists.

Astrid's magic being mirroring the looker's best or worst qualities makes her a much more interesting character than simply a damsel in distress. When she settles in the Seven Sins Hotel, she gets a job using her magic skills and supports herself. When she's faced with the Huntsman, she does not give in and tries reasoning and force to get out of his grasp. And even when she fails she doesn't give up and tries again. She doesn't back down from coming face to face with a kelpie, an ogre, her old nemesis, or her terrifying mom. And in the end, she does not hesitate to run to her potential demise to save the man she loves.

And the Huntsman's bargain with the Queen makes his motivations more complex and human. He is bound by a magical oath to retrieve Astrid's heart. In exchange, he will be released from the remaining 95 years of his sentence as the Huntsman. More so, if he turns over the Chariot, he will regain all his estate, something he wouldn't be able to do otherwise. Convincing the Queen to accept his heart in lieu of Astrid's made mine flutter!

The history Astrid and Torben unknowingly share is another sweet twist. Fated mates can be a stale trope, but their connection manages to achieve the destiny manifestation without robbing them of their autonomy. I love when she tells him “Which means I've basically been obsessed with you my whole life.”

The only thing I found confusing is Astrid's resistance to forgiving the Queen in the end. At the end of the day - Tris was only reacting to what Astrid's uncontrolled magic reflected at her. She had shown remorse and asked for forgiveness, on top of rescuing Astrid from her vicious mother and ensuring that the Huntsman was released from all his bonds. To me, she had paid her dues multiple times over.

The book touches on two heavy subjects; grief, and addiction, and I think it does it nicely in a way that naturally fits the flow of the story while being realistic to the effects of those issues.

First, with grief, the book opens with Astrid having just lost her father when he was poisoned by the pie she made. He was the only person who saw Astrid as herself and not as a reflection of himself. He was her only family, her home, her savior, and her safety. Later, when she learns that she could have control over her magic, and she could have exercised that years ago, she is hit with grief over herself, and the life she could have had. This gets coupled with her guilt and self-blame over the death of her father, which she believes could have been avoided had she controlled her magic.

On Torben's side, he lost his mother when he was 6 due to iron poisoning caused by a forgotten bear trap. Both he and his father grieve her, and even though he moves on from that, his dad never could and resorted to relying on Crimson Malus to ease his pain. With his dad's death, Torben's grief over him, and his guilt over not having noticed what he has been going through, push him into gambling, which costs him his inheritance and his freedom.

This brings us to the second topic, addiction. Astrid's accident causes her injuries that require Crimson Malus to help her recover. This started her addiction to the substance, and since it helped with controlling her mood, she kept it going not realizing the detrimental side effects it could cause her. Torben has seen this happen with his dad a few years earlier, and that's what helps him convince her of the harm of the substance. His helping her through withdrawal showed the type of character he is, and helped cement my liking him. His own personal experience with addiction, although to gambling not substances, adds another layer to his character. He understands the outcomes of his actions and was paying his dues. His determination to lead a hardworking honest life once he regains his freedom showed his honorable and proud side.