The Poison Diaries: Nightshade by Maryrose Wood

Title: The Poison Diaries: Nightshade
Author: Maryrose Wood
Release Date: October 25th, 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 288
Format: Electronic Copy
Acquired: ARC; Netgalley
Interest: Series
Others in the Series: The Poison Diaries
Age Group: Young Adult
Rating: 5 Stars

Our heroine, Jessamine, has lost her faith in the men she loved, and her innocence as well. She turns to the dark side and plots to kill her father, using his own poisons, before becoming an assassin, a poisoner for hire. Can she recover from her heartache and reunite with her true love, Weed? Find out in this thrilling story where poisons, darkness and horror are a part of everyday life, and love is the only cure

I'm not going to lie, I didn't read the first book, but now I'm going to have to read it, because I want to know how Jessamine and Weed (I still can't believe that's his name) fell in love, and the relationship with her father. There was a lot that was going on that I didn't understand too well, since I hadn't read the first book, but what I really like about Maryrose is that I understood enough to get me through.

I like how you can understand who Jessamine is and get a pretty clear picture of the first book, to understand. I could see her being almost being different in the first book, than when she's in this book where she's dark, haunted. And the pull she has to the dark force of Prince Oleander, is very easy to catch.

What I love about Maryrose is how she can make the reader feel exactly what Jessamine feels; there's this sense of guilt, this darkness inside of her, and it's almost like poetry is being written here. But like every haunting tale there's always that one piece of light, and that's Weed. Even though Jessamine is being seduced by Oleander to become this assassin, Weed searches for her, and there's this moment when the reader wants them to find each other, because it's like magic.

I don't want to give too much away, but the ending almost had me in tears. I love the imagination that is being poured into this story and I just can't wait for the next book to come out. Of course, I want Weed and Jessamine to find each other and take this evil that has taken hold of them both and throw it away.

The story takes you to another world where things can get twisted and there's this huge force of darkness around our heroines. I cannot wait for the next book and I highly recommend it.