From the TBR Pile: Blog Tour: A Beautiful Poison by Lydia Kang

Friday, September 1, 2017

Blog Tour: A Beautiful Poison by Lydia Kang

Author: Lydia Kang

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Date of publication: August 2017

Just beyond the Gilded Age, in the mist-covered streets of New York, the deadly Spanish influenza ripples through the city. But with so many victims in her close circle, young socialite Allene questions if the flu is really to blame. All appear to have been poisoned—and every death was accompanied by a mysterious note.

Desperate for answers and dreading her own engagement to a wealthy gentleman, Allene returns to her passion for scientific discovery and recruits her long-lost friends, Jasper and Birdie, for help. The investigation brings her closer to Jasper, an apprentice medical examiner at Bellevue Hospital who still holds her heart, and offers the delicate Birdie a last-ditch chance to find a safe haven before her fragile health fails.

As more of their friends and family die, alliances shift, lives become entangled, and the three begin to suspect everyone—even each other. As they race to find the culprit, Allene, Birdie, and Jasper must once again trust each other, before one of them becomes the next victim.

In A Beautiful Poison, people around Allene are being murdered and it is up to her and her two estranged friends to find the culprit before it's too late. The setting is the early 1900s at the height of the first World War in New York during the Spanish influenza epidemic. It is told through the perspective of the three friends.

At the end, I had kind of OK feelings about the book. I did like the historical setting. I also enjoyed the science parts of the book. The solution to the mystery was also a big surprise to me. However, I felt like the first half of the book really dragged for me. I wasn't immediately sucked in. It may have been the multiple perspectives. They just didn't flow well for me. I wasn't in love with any of the characters and couldn't find one to really like. Maybe Birdie... I felt most badly for her being one of the "Radium Girls". Her story was the most tragic.

About Lydia Kang

Lydia Kang is a physician and author of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. She was born in Baltimore, Maryland and graduated from Columbia University and New York University School of Medicine. She completed her residency and chief residency at Bellevue Hospital in New York City and currently lives in the midwest, where she continues to practice internal medicine.

Connect with Lydia

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Lydia Kang’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Tuesday, August 1st: Reading Reality

Tuesday, August 1st: Reviews from the Heart

Wednesday, August 2nd: 5 Minutes for Books

Thursday, August 3rd: The Maiden’s Court

Friday, August 4th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Monday, August 7th: Write Read Life

Tuesday, August 8th: Kahakai Kitchen