By Corina De Armas for Aber Stoat Books
Rating: 7 out of 10
Spice Level: 4 out of 5
Cover: B
Audiobook Narration: N/A
Synopsis
This plot picks up two years after the first book ended, with Alina escaping Silas and Luka with her best friend, Phoebe. Alina, ever the badass FMC she is, has reinvented her life in 1890s Buffalo with Phoebe and other females to create their own Nest, who lure Vipera in and sometimes torture them to get their blood and venom for medicinal purposes. Alina is still self-medicating with booze and venom, at a few points even possibly overdosing. She is deeply depressed and going through mental health issues from what she suffered at the hands of Luka. Despite that, when the males track her down, she continues to engage with both Silas and Luka, making both men grovel for her forgiveness and aid her in her work. Silas makes an offer to be the main benefactor to fund the Nest in exchange for her hand in marriage.
Their relationship was irritating; how he expected her to just fall back into their old ways is mind boggling. When she confronts him about how he did nothing but join in on Luka’s torturing fun, they finally have a real conversation from both of their perspectives of what occurred. Up until that moment, though, Silas just kept toying with her with banter and forced foreplay. Aside from internal issues, there are corrupted Vipera taking lives, and the one behind their creation shocked me.
Strengths
Hot damn does the author know how to make my jaw drop to the floor towards the ending chapters with cliffhangers begging for more. I do enjoy the banter and dark romantic expressions of love, Silas says this to Alina. If I, a man, described me as his sweetest demise, I too would cave.
Weakness
In some chapters, I felt like nothing happened, and it was slow paced.
Verdict
I cannot wait for the next book in the series, very excited to see how Silas and Alina get closer. I was looking forward to this sequel since I loved the first book so much. I did enjoy the first book more, though, but it could be because I listened to the audiobook the first time, and the clicking noises of Silas gave me goosebumps. With the second book, I read it and forgot to make the sounds myself. (7/10)
Tropes
Second Chance Romance
Exes Getting Back Together
Forced Proximity
Broken Heroine
Stalker
Villain Gets the Girl
Human + Supernatural Being
Immortal/Mortal Love
Knotting
Historical
Trigger Warnings
Manipulation
Stalking/obsession
Possessive behavior
Blood play
Violence
Substance abuse
Weapon threats
Mental illness portrayal
Cliffhanger/incomplete resolution
Thank you to I.V. Ophelia, Simon Maverick, and NetGalley. I received advance review copies for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Order Your Copy
Aber Stoat Books (print)
Bookshop.org (eBook)
Libro.fm (audiobook) 🎧
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From the Publisher:
Publisher: Simon Maverick (Simon & Schuster)
Series: The Poisoner
ISBN: 9781668228210
448 pages
Categories:
Fiction / Gothic
Fiction / Romance / Historical / Victorian
Fiction / Erotica / Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror
Description:
***SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION with custom SPRAYED and DESIGNED edges, available only in the first printing!***
The hauntingly beautiful second book in the gothic romance Poisoner series, where Alina Lis finds herself the prey of her vampiric ex-lover, Silas. They’re a couple deadly as sin, and as intoxicating as a sip of poison . . .
Return to the world of The Poisoner...
In the shadows of 1890s Buffalo, a poisoner's bite leaves more than just scars—even for the undead.
Two years after fleeing London, Alina Lis has built something she never thought possible: a home. Leading a commune of women like herself, she's found a new, greater purpose; experimenting on the Vipera. But peace, she learns, is as fragile as a spider's web in winter.
Silas Forbes, the Vipera she escaped, hasn’t forgotten. But his thirst for Alina threatens everything he’s created in her absence. And he’s brought another along for the hunt: Luka Novikov, the man who once betrayed her, now bound to them both by wounds that won't heal and debts that can't be paid.
As human and Vipera worlds violently collide, old poisons surface and new alliances form. In a society where survival means choosing sides, Alina must protect the family she’s built, Silas must decide what price he'll pay for his obsession, and Luka—marked forever by the poisoner’s kiss—must survive the clash of an immortal’s longing and a woman’s fury.
Some venoms have no antidote. Some hungers can never be satisfied.
The Arachnid is the second installment of the darkly seductive Poisoner series, where humans and Vipera twist together like lovers in the dark.
Check the author website for content warnings
Author Bio:
USA TODAY bestselling author I.V. Ophelia is known for her gothic vampire series The Poisoner. Born in small-town New England, she now haunts the streets of New York City, writing the most unhinged tales she can conjure. When not crafting gothic romance, she works as a full-time artist, hoards 19th-century gowns and antique furniture, dotes on her menagerie of pets, and plots her next literary transgression.
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