The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

In the right dose, everything is a poison. Even love . . .

Jessamine Luxton has lived all her sixteen years in an isolated cottage near Alnwick Castle, with little company apart from the plants in her garden. Her father, Thomas, a feared and respected apothecary, has taught her much about the incredible powers of plants: that even the most innocent-looking weed can cure -- or kill.

When Jessamine begins to fall in love with a mysterious boy who claims to communicate with plants, she is drawn into the dangerous world of the poison garden in a way she never could have imagined . . .

Jillian’s Review:

I loved most of this book. It was intriguing and captivating. The main character, Jessamine, was a light in her dark world and she was so kind. Unfortunately she was also naive and blind to the truth that could have saved her a lot of grief.

And then enters Weed, the poor boy. I loved him from the start. There was something so mysterious and tragic about him. His connection to plants was fascinating however his background wasn’t as well developed as I would have liked.

But when Jessamine gets sick near the end of the book, the story turns really weird and evil. She has psychedelic visions and conversations with poisonous plants. Weed has to fulfill certain tasks given to him by those poisonous plants which he has to complete in order to save Jessamine from her sickness. These tasks grow in their horror and Weed does something unforgivable, something that goes against anything that could make a true hero, at least in my eyes. It was so upsetting to see him fall.

This story had such potential but it all ended in disappointment. I don’t think I can bring myself to read the next book in this series.