A Fierce and Subtle Poison

A Fierce and Subtle Poison is by Mabry.

Everyone knows the legends about the cursed girl--Isabel, the one the señoras whisper about. They say she has green skin and grass for hair, and she feeds on the poisonous plants that fill her family’s Caribbean island garden. Some say she can grant wishes; some say her touch can kill.

Seventeen-year-old Lucas lives on the mainland most of the year but spends summers with his hotel-developer father in Puerto Rico. He’s grown up hearing stories about the cursed girl, and he wants to believe in Isabel and her magic. When letters from Isabel begin mysteriously appearing in his room the same day his new girlfriend disappears, Lucas turns to Isabel for answers--and finds himself lured into her strange and enchanted world. But time is running out for the girl filled with poison, and the more entangled Lucas becomes with Isabel, the less certain he is of escaping with his own life.

The Breakdown:
1.  This story had so much potential, but Mabry just did not deliver on it.  While well written, the story just fell flat mainly because the main character, Lucas, was so flat.  The setting was wonderful and I was fascinated by Isabel's story, but I felt those were pushed to the side for Lucas's story.

2.  Lucas was such a disappointing character. He was flat, and honestly did not make sense for the story.  He inserts himself into a situation where he really had no business, which Isabel tells him multiple times.  He is just a really boring character.

3. Mabry left wanting more of Isabel and her mother's story.  The teases she gave from their lives and why Isabel is the way she is were the best part of this book.  I wanted to know where Isabel's mother went, and felt there was so much more to that story.

4.  I also felt that when Lucas becomes a suspect in the girls disappearance did not make sense.  I get that the Inspector did not like him for being a main lander whose father is a jerk, but any investigator worth their salt would have easily concluded he could not have done it.  Especially due to the fact the American girl went missing before he arrived on the island for the summer.  It was ridiculous.

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