Everything Is Poison
By: Joy McCullough
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 304
Published: January 14, 2025
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Dates Read: February 9, 2025 - February 12, 2025
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

Trigger Warnings: Death, abortion, blood and gore, physical and sexual assault, domestic violence

As soon as Carmela turned sixteen, she was finally allowed into the workroom of her mother’s apothecary in the 17th-century Campo Marzio neighborhood of Rome, where her mother and two women make some of the most effective remedies for the community. But the workroom of La Tofana is no simple place and for every flowery suave and tonic, there’s another potion where the main ingredient is dried blood or something else unpleasant. And then there’s Aqua Tofana – the apothecary’s remedy of last resort and a secret Carmela never bargained for.

So, I knew of Joy McCullough from a middle grade book of hers I read years ago, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, so this was my first Young Adult book of hers. I picked it up both because of her and as well as a women run 17-century apothecary sounded amazing!

Carmela, though she was sixteen, still had a lot of growing up to do within these pages. I know sixteen was a decent age during the 17-century, but sometimes Carmela’s attitude towards patrons of the apothecary kind of annoyed me. She was there to help people, regardless of their life standing. I was glad to see her growth with her empathy by the end of the book, especially when it came to Violetta because I felt she was holding a childhood grudge that needed to be let go.

Overall, I loved learning about a time period in history where women were undermined badasses who helped each other right under men’s noses.