blackgirlmagic_

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kalynn-bayron/this-poison-heart/ Briseis was given up for adoption before she turned a year old and was adopted by her parents, who both happen to be women (Mom and Mo respectively). They run a flower shop in Brooklyn and Briseis has just begun summer vacation (after her Junior year). Due to increased rent and gentrification, money is a concern for this three person family.

When Mrs. Redmond shows up informing Brieis that her birth mother's sister passed, and has left property to Briseis about two hours away, the trio decide to go and stay there for the summer. For Briseies, the decision is so easy, because her friends have distanced themselves from her and it's harder for Briseis to hide her powers there. I'm pulling Briseis right after she's learned that her birth mother and birth aunt ran an apothecary and a successful one. Mo and Mom have just decided they agree with Briseis and want to see if they can get it up and running again.

Briseis is a young Black girl from Brooklyn. At first glance, she looks pretty typical. Average grades, except for botany and environmental science classes. She’s applied for an Introductory College Course, but because she only had a 2.75 GPA, she’s not accepted. The fact her friends are drifting away leaves Briseis feeling lonely and that she doesn’t feel safe using her powers? Well, she ends up with a headache and nausea if she even grows six roses.

But Briseis has a large capacity for empathy. When we first meet her, she’s working in the flower shop her moms own and run. While they want their daughter to have a fun summer and relax, they can’t deny they’re floundering and could use the help in the store. When a widower (a regular customer) comes in for his regular order of white roses to lay at his wife’s grave, Briseis doesn’t hesitate to use her powers and grow six roses after their supply ends up scattered on a highway. Even when she finds an old man skulking in the poison garden section in her new house, she visits him in the hospital and ends up supplying him with the plant he tried to find to help with his ailments.

She’s vain about her hair. When Marie shows up at her house (who Briseis thinks is the most gorgeous girl she’s ever seen), Briseis hates that her hair is a mess and vows to not be caught out with her hair a mess again. One of the things she loves about the new house is that she has her own bathroom. This means nobody can interrupt her on hair day and she does sleep in a bonnet every night.

She has a determination to learn all she can about the apothecary and all of the plants in the vast garden in her new house. Partly because it might mean more money for her family, but also because she wants to help those in her community. Briseis worries a lot about her family’s financial situation.

She is into pop culture, referencing both Get Out and Black Panther. Briseis is always a bit weary of white people, at one point voicing she’s concerned that a white woman will take over her body and mind like in Get Out when they arrive to the new small and mostly white community. Briseis will use sarcasm. Sometimes she’s blinded by others’ obvious flaws if she finds the person attractive, but she’s quick to jump on someone if they pose a threat to her moms or a person she cares about.

Briseis has powers over plants and poisoned plants. Trees, flowers, plants all want to be near her when she's around and they react to her moods. She can grow a flower from a seed in less time that it takes people to pour a cup of coffee. (I do foresee Alyssa's annoyance about this, but she'll get over it. lol). She can handle the most poisonous plant, because her body absorbs the poison, and it feels like ice in her vains, but doesn't tend to last long. She automatically knows plant names, even in a foreign language, can read and understand some Latin, and has just been learning how to combine plants/poisons to create home remedies. Her one mom calls her "Literal Black Girl Magic" at one point and someone else refers to her as "Black Poison Ivy" at another point.

in game