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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Dazzling Debut, July 6, 2010
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With the overly crowded sea of Tudor fiction out there, it's refreshing to see something just a little different. Newcomer Sara Poole takes on the deadly Borgias, an Italian Renaissance dynasty that ruled in Rome, primarily through their papal connections. The Borgias, though not often explored in fiction, offer a fertile ground of murder, intrigue, sex, lies, incest and all kinds of juicy things for authors to explore. It's the perfect backdrop for a soap opera complete with cutthroat power games.
In this wonderful debut from newcomer Sara Poole, the reader meets young Francesca, the daughter of an alchemist who makes a living by being the professional poisoner to Rodrigo Borgia. After her father dies, Francesca takes his place, using her knowledge of poisons to do Borgia's dirty work. Things start a little slow, but once Pope Innocent dies, the game is on to put Rodrigo in the Vatican. Of course, it's up to Francesca to see that it happens. Francesca finds herself pulled into a web of lies, murder, mystery and even romance with Rodrgio's son, Cesare Borgia.
Though a little slow at times and somewhat unpolished, Poison is a promising debut that weaves a fascinating and deadly tale of one of the most dangerous families in the history. Francesca, in particular, is a wonderful and unique heroine that pulls readers in. Unfortunately, I found Francesca to be so enjoyable that many of the other characters seemed to be forgotten. I can't complain too much though -Poole constructed a believable version of Renaissance Italian with an unexpected heroine.
Poison ends on an obvious promise for a sequel -can't wait to see it. Things can only get better.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
I'm not sure I love this one, July 3, 2010
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Set in 1492, Poison is told from the point of view of Francesca Giordano, professional poisoner to the Borgia family (or, more accurately, Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, later Pope). Cardinal Borgia is a dangerous man, willing to do anything to further his ambitions, and he hires Francesca to help poison the current pope. Meanwhile, Francesca discovers a plot that her father, also a professional poisoner, may have been involved in.
I did like the premise, I really did; that's why I decided to read this book. It has a great, eye-catching opener, too, which kept me reading. But the plot is so convoluted and so "been there, done that," that I found myself not caring anymore about what happened to any of the characters. I guess my main problem with the novel is that it fell short of my expectations; I expected a story about the Borgias as told by someone somewhat close to them, and instead I got an overblown adventure/romance story. Cardinal Borgia and Cesar make appearances here and there, and Lucrezia appears once or twice, but that's about it.
As I read, I increasingly found myself disliking Francesca, especially since the book is written in the first person. She's very modern, independent, intelligent, and yes, she wears boy's clothing out in public so that she may move around more freely. Basically, she can do anything she wants to, and doesn't seem to care about the consequences--even after she's been attacked by a bunch of thugs. I simply didn't "buy" her as a person form the 15th century. She's the keeper of a lot of people's secrets, yet, as another reviewer says, she's way too chatty. I also didn't really get her whole relationship with Cesar Borgia, which seemed to be there for sake of being there; it didn't add very much to the plot. As an adventure/romance story, this might work for some people, but as historical fiction, I didn't particularly care for it.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
intrigue at the Vatican, July 21, 2010
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What a delightful, evil, treacherous little tale.
"Poison", a novel of the Renaissance in Italy written with verve and an almost poetic turn by Sara Poole, draws the reader into the world of an obscure - but apparently very necessary - vocation, the art of the court poisoner; employed both to assure that the main court figure and his family remain unpoisoned and alive, and to conversely do in his opponents discreetly, via the use of herbology. The main character, Francesca Giordano, earns the title of poisoner to Rodrigo Borgia practically - by poisoning her competition. She comes by the trade, ahem, honestly, as her father had held the title before her. Circumstances - he knew too much about something - occurred that removed her father; someone beat him to death. In order to avenge him, Francesca needs to be the court poisoner, and she proves efficient at that craft; her father has taught her well.
More intrigue leads the plot along; Borgia aspires to become Pope. The current Pope is a sickly old man, trying to extend his life by nefarious and horrible means; Borgia assigns Francesca the task of devising some method of getting rid of the old man. If she does, Borgia - a cardinal - stands in good stead to be declared Pope. As might be expected, there are any number of people opposed to this plan, mostly in the employ of Borgia's enemies. It's a job for someone of quick wit and fast feet, and Francesca is up to the challenge.
Rodrigo Borgia, by all accounts in the history books an unmitigatedly evil character, is treated with humanity and some sympathy in this telling, allowed some degree of compassion, shown as devoted to his family - however extended - and a man of razor-sharp intellect. His children - it was a common thing of the time for men high in the Catholic church to support quite large broods, as well as wives and mistresses - are also shown as smart and knowledgeable about politics, which is pretty much what the Church amounted to at the time. At the point of this story, Lucretia, notorious later in life, is only 12. Francesca, while fictitious, is believeable and drawn as true-to-life, vividly portrayed and fascinating.
This book is well-researched, excellently written, and completely compelling. I found myself thinking about it when I was not able to read it, and enjoyed every minute I spent with the colourful characters in the book. Very lyrical writing, with clear images in mind of both personnel and setting. Highly recommended.
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