Loved this!! I so wasn’t expecting the ending. I loved that we had LGBT characters! Like well done Chelsea! (Great name!) I loved Jack & Raven! I loved Lily and Belle. This book kept me guessing and I will definitely be recommending it everyone. Thanks for a copy NetGalley.

Triggers: loss of a parent, mention of neglect, abuse, mentions of self harm and wanting to commit suicide, inpatient treatment, substance abuse, being kicked out for being gay

“The wickedest monsters know better than to leave footprints”

Okay I definitely wasn’t planning on reading this book all in one go but I could not put it down, I was intrigued from the start and just had to know what happened and I’m glad I did because I really enjoyed it.

I thought the characters were so complex and interesting as well as a little bit over the top and very catty😂😂 my heart ached for all of the teens and kids in this story because they all went through such horrific things and I wanted to hug them all. And Jack, oh my god, I’m really happy with the way that the author handled Jack and his identity and the way they changed the pronouns when he was comfortable with himself felt so comforting to me as an enby human!

The plot of this was kind of confusing at times but it had me hooked from the absolute start to the end and I didn’t have any trouble following along once I properly got into it but at the start I was like wait what?😂

I think this is truly such a solid YA thriller and I’m glad that I picked it up and have the authors other book on my shelf because reading this really made me want to dive into that one head first too!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of ‘Lies Like Poison’ by Chelsea Pitcher in exchange for my honest review. Thank you, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and Margaret K. McElderry Books, for the chance to read Lies like Poison.
Poppy, Lily, and Belladonna would do anything to protect their best friend, Raven. So when they discovered he was suffering abuse at the hands of his stepmother, they came up with a lethal plan: petals of poppy, belladonna, and lily in her evening tea so she’d never be able to hurt Raven again. But someone got cold feet, the plot faded to a secret of the past, and the group fell apart. Three years later, on the eve of Raven’s seventeenth birthday, his stepmother turns up dead. But its only belladonna found in her tea, and its only Belladonna who’s carted off to jail. Desperate for help, Belle reaches out to her estranged friends to prove her innocence. They answer the call, but no one is prepared for what comes next.
Now, everyone has something to lose and something equally dangerous to hide. And when the tangled web of secrets and betrayal is finally unwound, what lies at its heart will change the group forever.
‘Lies Like Poison’ is a perfect fast paced thriller that keeps you gripped from the moment you pick up the book until the very end. The story is told in 4 POV’s which I really liked as you can see things through different perspectives and it just made the story more enjoyable. Each POV tells the reader the truth according the POV of three different people Bella, Jack and Lily. You cannot predict this book at all because there are so many twists and turns, when you think you have figured something out you find out you were completely wrong.
There are many themes that are explored throughout the book such as murder, family issues, sexuality, gender identification, revenge and love.
If you enjoy YA thrillers, then I am sure you will love this book. It is fast paced and very easy to read. The only thing is, I would recommend it more to younger readers as for me (age 21) some parts were a little bit annoying and unrealistic.

I was really excited to read this book, having read Chelsea Pitcher's previous mystery novel. She has an amazing ability to come up with fascinating plots built around great concepts, and this is really indicative of that.

Lies Like Poison follows four... acquaintances, who's relationships are really too complicated to be called friends! There's Raven, the prince in need of saving; Belladonna, the wild and unruly witch; Lily, the princess who's own need for saving goes overlook; and Jack (or Poppy), the knight trying to save the day. Once upon a time, three of the four had a scheme to kill the evil stepmother, and set Raven free. That was four years ago, however, and it never panned out. It should have been long forgotten about: except that the one trace of it was never destroyed, and when Raven's stepmother is killed in a fashion eerily similar to the old plan, that trace looks like it might bring one, or even all, of them down.

As I said in the introduction, this is a really fascinating plot: it's really clever, and very compelling. There were loads of twists, and it really highlighted how great the 'unreliable narrator' device can be, especially when there are multiple points of view. All of the characters had their own storylines, their own histories, their own things to contend with, which was great. Despite there being four main characters, it felt like each was given ample space and time for the reader to get to know them. I also adored how queer it was!! I felt that Jack's character was, for the most part, developed and explored really well in regards to their gender. Something that really strikes me about this is how talking about Jack's gender identity being a journey that the book encompasses doesn't feel like a spoiler. This is how it should be! Except in rare cases, gender identity and coming out shouldn't be a plot point or shock reveal, and Lies Like Poison really demonstrated how this can be done well.

I think my main criticism of this book is that it was quite confusing, and hard to follow at times. The beginning especially sets up a lot of mysteries, and there's lots of foreshadowing and questions that are raised. This is great in terms of creating an interesting narrative that draws the reader in, but I also lost track of what it was I wanted to know, and what the various mysteries going on were. Although, for the most part, I really liked the way Jack's gender identity was explored, I do feel a bit icky about their old name being a major plot point. In practice though this was handled fairly well, and trans experiences aren't a monolith- for some trans people, their old name isn't a massive thing, and that's completely fair! There is also a point where Jack is kind of outed? Which wasn't great, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that bit. Also the 'I've always known' narrative can feel a bit harmful at times, but again, there are positives to it too I think (as in, the narrative can often- and did in this- border 'oh I've always known' and 'I've always known you for you', if that makes sense). There was some interesting eating disorder rep that I don't personally feel able to comment on, but would be interested to see other reviews and opinions of.

Overall, I think this is a really strong book (I actually preferred it to Pitcher's first!), and I'm really excited to see what this author brings out next!

I thoroughly enjoyed Lies Like Poison.
I liked the characters and found them to be enticing and curious, always trying to guess what happened next and the twists and turns kept me guessing which I always enjoy.
Very quick and easy read for me and I would highly recommend.

What a tangled web of lies and deceit these pages revealed...thank you to the publishers, Simon Schuster, and NetGalley for letting me read this prior to publication.
Poppy, Lily and Belladonna are our focus for this story and everything hinges on their relationship to Raven, their best friend. It isn’t immediately clear how this group formed or the reason for the dynamics between them - but we know they have a shared history, and would do anything to protect each other.
Our story opens with a body, that of Raven’s stepmother, being found. She has been poisoned with leaves of belladonna placed in her tea. There’s a recipe, written in fourteen year old Bella’s handwriting, on the table next to her that outlines the perfect poison. It would seem that Bella came good on her vow to protect her best friend Raven from his abusive stepmother.
It all seems clear-cut, but then things start unravelling. Poppy - who now calls herself Jack - claims Bella was with her on the night of the murder. The police don’t believe her as Poppy was the one who first went to the police years ago with claims that Raven’s stepmother was hurting him. She is told to go away and think about her story...and determines to work out what happened.
We have our story split into three distinct parts - the truth according to Bella, Jack and then Lily. As we read each story we unpick the various deceits these characters (and those around them) have told, and learn more about the complex background of each.
There was a fairytale quality to this story, and while it focuses on murder it also charts the journey each character has towards acceptance of themselves and their situation. Mercurial in tone, constantly shifting and leaving us with a sense of uncertainty, this was a story that delivered a lot more than it promised. I can’t wait to see what others make of it.

This was an excellent high school thriller in the vein of “One of Us is Next”. The characters were believable and their strong bond was really touching.

This is one of them YA books that has you guessing who did it, while trying to pin it on everyone else.

There's LGBT+ themes throughout which I think is well-written.

The plot was full of twists and turns, it will hopefully keep people guessing throughout.

It was a fairly quick and easy read for me, and I did enjoy it. This would be a good read for someone who wants an read to help them from a slump.

I really loved the idea of this book, but I just couldn't get into it. The writing style felt off - I'm not sure if it just wasn't my cup of tea? But it did mean that I couldn't enjoy the book like I wanted to.

I also didn't connect with any of the characters - I found them all quite awkward. However, the mystery plot was interesting - not quite enough to make up for the other shortfalls, but engaging enough that I kept reading to find out who the killer was.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this not really having a lot of expectations. I read Chelsea’s other novel last year (which I sadly DNF) but I wanted to give this one a chance because the premise was literally so up my street. I was pleasantly surprised for most of this book. The last half of the book definitely was a lot better than the first and I was kept on my toes and didn’t expect the ending which was good. But there is something almost childlike in Chelsea’s story telling and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it’s just not really for me. I can appreciate this book and would recommend it for younger YA readers who want to dabble in some mystery.

What did I like?
1. The characters. Jack I adored and his journey throughout the book would really fall to a lot of younger readers. I think Chelsea delivered this perfectly. I hated Belle with a passion and couldn’t sympathise with her one bit. She was annoying and ungrateful. Raven was nice but I wish we got more from him and his back story. I felt like the entire time we were been told what happened to him but the book would have been more effective with some flashbacks thrown in there.
2. The concept was interesting. Like I said, the premise really captured my attention and I enjoyed the plotting and pacing of the story. The ending was a little rushed but it worked out well in the end.
3. I think there needed to be a clear distinction between every characters chapters and I definitely think the third person POV was wrong for this type of book. I wanted to see deeper into each person’s thoughts and feelings and we just didn’t get this. However, I liked that this book didn’t just focus on one sole character.

Overall a decently written book with an interesting mystery.
I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an incredibly gripping story from the very start. I loved the Pretty Little Liars vibe and it was that style that will have me coming back to the story again and again.

I was super excited to receive this book as an ARC, allowing me an early read of a book which sounded great to me. I enjoyed the author’s latest book, This Lie Will Kill You, although it wasn’t my favourite it was a bit of fun.

I have to be honest, I didn’t enjoy this as much as the other book. But I’ve rated them the same. Why, you ask. Why rate them the same if I have different opinions on the tone and quality of them?

Her previous book contained elements that I am really into in fiction; tropes such as games. It was basically the wage Clue which was a ton of fun, even though it was a bit silly. This book read a little more maturely than the last point (point in favour!), the writing was better. The tone was darker. But I didn’t find it as enjoyable a read. I just wanted to get to the end to find out who did it and be done. And I wasn’t surprised. For me there were only two people who could have done it and one was too obvious at the halfway mark.

With this kind of book, if I’m not getting something thrilling and life changing then I want something amusing and entertaining, and this didn’t fit in to either, which was disappointing.

I’ve been a bit negative in this review but honestly I enjoyed the book and if you like YA thrillers then you’ll probably enjoy this too. It’s not the best out there but it’s worth a read if you’re a fun of the genre.

Lies like Poison, Chelsea Pitcher. 3/5 🥀

Poppy, Lily and Belladonna would do anything to protect best friend Raven. So when they discover the abuse he is suffering at the hands of his stepmother they come up with a poisonous plan. Petals of poppy, lily and belladonna in her evening tea will ensure she can never hurt him again. But someone gets cold feet, the group falls apart and plot becomes the past.
Three years later on the eve of his seventeenth birthday, Ravens stepmother is dead. But with only belladonna in her tea only Belladonna is carted off accused of murder. Frantic, Bella reaches out to her friends, but if she didn’t who did? Someone is lying and lies are like poison.

There is always a lot to unpack with a Chelsea Pitcher YA novel. This one was coined as being for fans of Riverdale and that’s a fair comparison. Pitcher works more than just murder into her plot lines, every page drips with folklore and fairytale. I compared her last book “This Lie Will Kill You” as being Once Upon a Time crossed with Pretty Little Liars and this one for me is very much the same.

Once again these kids are like none you will ever meet, each one with a unique set of awful parents and serious issues, however, *potential spoiler ahead!* I have to applaud Pitcher for her work here with the character of Jack. It is so rare to find a mainstream YA that will tackle LGBT characters so beautifully and so delicately. The transition of Jack here was wonderful. Choosing carefully to change pronouns once the character was ready for the transition, honestly mainstream YA fiction needs more of this.

Lots and lots of red herrings, twists, dead ends and “oh it was” “oh no it wasn’t” here. Some readers I know do find the endless jumping about tiring after a while, but I was okay with it, the final villain if you will felt very bittersweet though.

A complex storyline, multiple narratives, lots of twists, beautifully handled LGBT issues and lots of fairytale and folklore make for an interesting read here.

Thanks to #NetGalley, #Simon&SchusterUK and #ChelseaPitcher for my ARC of this book.

Three young people who all dream of escaping their own struggles band together in an unlikely friendship - The Prince, the Knight and the Witch. When their childhood fairytale plot to escape a wicked stepmother comes true years later, they are all suspects and have to work quickly to find out who is responsible.

Lies Like Poison has something for everyone, a sprinkling of every genre that keeps the reader turning pages and features a diverse and inclusive cast of characters which pique the reader's interest and each add their own unique mark on this wonderfully original and captivating story.

A great hodgepodge of genres: contemporary, fantasy, fairytale, murder mystery. Page turning enough that I read it in one sitting. Representation of someone non - cis. This new stand alone book is well worth a look.

I got access to this book through netgalley as an E-ARC.