the first was okay, i have unfortunately DNFed this one though. i did like the writing style but i just couldnt get back into the story (even though i literally finished book one the night before).

I did not realise it was the second book in a series prior to requesting, but this was entertaining, gripping and a well written novel with fun characters.

Whilst I quite enjoyed Blood Flowers by this authors, I thought the sequel might be just as good. I felt lost for half of the book... The writing somehow changed, I dunno... I may give it another go if it ever comes out on audio.

I really enjoy the story. I found it easy to follow and the world building was great. I really liked the characters and the storylines that connected them. A Brillant story of love, murder , witchcraft and betrayal. These all make for a wonderful book 2 in the Blood flowers series

3.5⭐️

This book was good and I had a great time with it. I definitely enjoyed it more than book 1. That said this is a series that I would definitely pick up again when I’m more in the mood to read them. I definitely enjoy Jay’s writing so I am 100% open to read it again and also read more of his work.

Overall,
Very enjoyable, but as a mood reader I don’t think I was in the right mood for it at the time of reading.

4.5⭐️

Although I didn’t enjoy this as much as the first one (it felt a bit slower with jumping between different POVs) I still adored it. I just love the characters and the world we’re building, I really managed to build a better odea of the world in this book, and I loved the more political elements. The twists at the end! *chefs kiss*

This whole story came together perfectly at the end and I hope we get another book because I can’t wait to see where the author is going to take it!

3.5⭐️

This is the second book in the Blood Flowers series, a YA dystopian fantasy set in the walled town of Calleston, where there is a distinct divide between the rich and poor.

Poison Tides explores the world outside of Calleston and sees Bear, Felix and Meya set out on adventures of their own. I enjoyed Poison Tides a lot and while some second books suffer from second book syndrome, this certainly didn't. I found it was paced really well and had a lot of action from start to finish.

Jay's writing is extremely palatable and the characters are so loveable. Bear is a little bit a softer protagonist than I'm used to but that did not hinder my enjoyment. I think my favourite character had to be Maggie though, I love a little old lady. 👵🏼

That ending has me very excited to pick up the next book to see what happens next and how everything comes to an end.

*Contains spoilers for book 1*

Poison Tides picks straight up from the end of Blood Flowers. We continue to follow Bear after his escape from Calleston with the witches, the whip and Petal. As they travel towards Scarmont in pursuit of the Queen's fleet and hopes of rescuing the caged witch and finding Felix, we see Bear learn to develop his magic with the aid of the witches.

We also continue with Meya's POV after she killed her father and is now Lady of Calleston. As she tries to navigate ruling the town, while trying to share resources more fairly to help the Cobblesiders, she has to play host to a party from Scarmont whose intentions are unclear.

This book has the very welcome addition of POV chapters from Felix. We catch up to him in Scarmont where he is being ruthlessly hunted by Fennix hunters. I absolutely loved getting to hear from Felix in this book, his chapters were easily some of my favourites.

The book on the whole followed a similar tone to the first book with good pacing and lots of action. The 3 different POVs were well done and linked together nicely. I thought the ending was fantastic, I had no idea what was going to happen, there were so many twists I wasn't expecting, especially when they finally were able to free the caged witch, didn't see that one coming at all!! Very well done follow up book and I'm definitely going to be continuing this series to see what happens next.