Welcome to the first day of our book club read-along for OwlCrate's July book, This Poison Heart!
Just a reminder that this will be a SPOILER discussion for Chapters 1-4 of This Poison Heart, so make sure you read are finished this section before continuing.
Discussion questions are listed below, and anyone who participates in the comments will be entered to win a free OwlCrate box!
The story so far...
Chapter 1:
Mr. Hughes leaves his late wife a dozen white roses every weekend, no matter what. Sadly on this day the shipment of flowers containing his roses was in an accident and didn’t arrive at their flower shop. Not wanting to let him down, Briseis takes the single leftover white rose she has into the back yard and uses the earth and her own power to grow half a dozen beautiful white roses. But she has to be careful not to lose control.
Since Briseis was a toddler she has had an affinity for plants. Plants seem to notice her and react to her presence. It wasn’t bad until she turned 12 and plants started reacting more extremely. Currently she helps out in his mom’s flower shop, but needs to use caution. The only place she can truly relax is her bedroom where she lets the plants react to her as they wish.
Briseis applied for a botany program at a local college for the summer, but unfortunately due to her GPA she isn’t eligible. She finds high school hard and exhausting trying to keep her powers under control and not be found out - or hurt anyone. She spends a lot of time researching plants, not because she wants to be a scientist, but because she wants to get to the bottom of why she has these powers in the first place.
Chapter 2:
Bri heads deep into a park, far away from where anyone else would wonder, to check on the water hemlock she’s been growing over the past month. Harvesting some of the poisonous plant, she brings it back to her bedroom to study. Unfortunately, as she’s looking at the roots with her scalpel, Mo frightens her and she cuts her finger. In theory, the poison on the scalpel should kill her in 15 minutes. Oddly, nothing happens, and other than a slight pain in her finger Bri feels completely fine. She decides to call her friend Gabby, who used to be her best friend. They’ve been growing apart for a long time. Gabby sort of knows about Bri’s powers but chooses to ignore it.
Chapter 3:
The next morning Bri overhears her parents discussing the money problems they're having. They're rent is increasing and running the flower shop is also becoming more costly. The three of them head to get bagels before opening the shop, but something comes over Bri when she looks out the window and the two oak trees outside react to her, roots twisting and breaking through the concrete. As people react and gawk, Bri and he moms leave the area.
In the shop, Bri's mom gets a phone call from an estate attorney. Apparently her birth mother's sister had recently passed, and as Bri was her only living relative she left her the estate. They agree to find out what exactly that means.
Chapter 4:
They go over everything thoroughly with the estate agent and in the end agree that the three of them are going to go stay at Bri's new house for the summer, which just happens to come with 40 acres of land.
Questions:
- Do you think that Bri's aunt had some other reason for leaving Bri her estate other than she being her only living relative?
- Why do you think Bri is so easily able to handle poisons?
- Do you think Bri is the only person who has the abilities she does?
- Just where do you think Bri's powers come from?
- Did you enjoy the first section of the book?
Pick up your July "Potions & Poisons" box and your signed exclusive copy of This Poison Heart in the OwlCrate Shop!
