From the small things to the bigger, general things, the world building needs work and this book would have benefited from some Indian beta-readers who might have been able to help fine-tune some of those issues. The world building is EXTREMELY lacking though. The romance is way too insta but it is engaging, there aren’t many plot holes and the characters are relatable. I was hoping to like it because I was intrigued by the premise but even when I was excited to read it, a small part of me was worried that it would not do justice to my culture. I am not entirely sure what I was expecting when I dove into Poison's Kiss. This review also appeared on Xpresso Reads This is one of those books that people either love or hate, at least from the reviews. I just loved this book and I look forward to the next one. Lies and deception and the race to save everyone. We then enter the quest of revelation after revelation. Marinda realizes something isn't right because they only kill evil people and Deven isn't evil. Until the day comes when she is asked to kill him. They are finding a friendship and he's great with Mani. This is where she means the sweet love interest, Deven. Marinda works part-time in a bookstore <- yay, even though she doesn't have to, but she wants a somewhat normal life. There are some other characters that help with these plans but I didn't really care for them. If she doesn't do everything Gopal says, he may hurt Mani. Marinda has a little brother named Mani and she will do anything to protect him. Her handler is an evil man named Gopal who turned her into this at a young age, it actually took 10 years but I won't tell you what all was done to her.

She is a visha kanya, a poison maiden who kills only with her kiss. She thinks she is doing good in the world by assassinating evil people. Because in six hours my guilt will be almost too much to bear. I hope whatever he did to deserve this fate was truly horrible. In four hours he will have lost control of most of his bodily functions. In three hours his chest will tighten, his pupils will constrict, he will feel like he is being squeezed in the jaws of a giant snake. In two hours his nose will begin to run and his stomach will roil. I can picture him taking off his black jacket, tugging at his yellow shirt, fanning himself with a newspaper. The poison will take some time to absorb into his skin where my lips brushed against his, to find its way into his blood-stream.

Poison's Kiss by Breeana Shields