The Poison Tree-Amelia Atwater-Rhodes - ADVISABLE

Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia, The Poison Tree. Pgs. 219. Delacorte Press, 2012. $17.99.

Language: PG, Mature Content: PG, Sexual Content: PG

In order to escape their dark pasts, Sarik and Alysia joined SingleEarth, an organization devoted to helping supernatural beings fit in into the normal human world. Sarik is a shapeshifter whose father holds a lot of weight back home and will stop at nothing to get her back. Alysia is a former Bruja Guild assassin who claims those days are over. While out on a mission, Sarik finds herself the target of an assassin shooting Firestones and barely escapes alive. With that single attack, both girls’ pasts come back to haunt them. Was someone trying to kill Sarik and the other people on the mission? Who sent the assassin and the Firestones after them?

The characters are well-developed. The world Atwater-Rhodes created is unique and creative. The author masterfully blends fantasy and suspense while drawing the reader easily into Sarik and Alysia’s world. Fans of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’ other books or readers who like fantasy, supernatural, suspense, and mystery will enjoy reading this book.

MS. ADVISABLE. Reviewer: Kira M, Youth Services Librarian, WHI Public Library.