A Drop of Venom Quotes

“War is the invention of the power-hungry and soulless.”
― Sajni Patel, A Drop of Venom

“A Drop of Venom is, for me, perhaps one of the most important, because it deals with issues that so many young readers will face in one way or another during their lives: fighting societal expectations, speaking truth to power, finding your authentic self, surviving trauma, claiming agency. Most of all, it asks the questions: If you had the power, would you be better than those who use power against you? What makes a monster, and what makes a hero?”
― Sajni Patel, A Drop of Venom

“Manisha is a nagin, her people hunted as monsters and rebels by the kingdom. To stay alive, Manisha must pretend to be a human orphan. She enters the service of the kingdom’s great temple, where she hides her true identity and tries to rise in rank, going deep “undercover” in the hopes that she may someday bring down the system from the inside. Pratyush is the last slayer, a hero born with epic strength and skill, who has his own reasons for disliking the kingdom, but who sees no choice except to honor his debt to the King and protect the kingdom from monsters. When Manisha and Pratyush meet, the chemistry between them is immediate, but love between them would be strictly forbidden.”
― Sajni Patel, A Drop of Venom

“Stories like A Drop of Venom give voice to survivors, while provoking all of us to think about what it means to be a hero, a monster, a good person.”
― Sajni Patel, A Drop of Venom