Poison Study [REVIEW]

Title: Poison Study

Author: Maria V. Snyder

Pages: 409 pages.

Murder, mayhem and magic…

Locked in a coffin-like darkness, there is nothing to distract me from my memories of Killing Reyad. He deserved to die – but according to the law, so do I. Here in Ixia, the punishment for murder is death. And now I wait for the hangman’s noose.

But the same law that condemns me may also save me. Ixia’s food taster – chosen to ensure that the Commander’s food is not poisoned – has died. And by law, the next prisoner who is scheduled to be executed – me – must be offered the position. [Back of book]

The first paragraph got hooked me from the start.

Locked in darkness that surrounded me like a coffin, I had nothing to distract me from my memories. Vivid recollections waited to ambush me whenever my mind wandered.

I read a lot of reviews saying that it was a good book, but nothing special. I beg to differ. I don’ read a lot of fantasy books like this, so that might be what made me feel different about this book. This book has everything… suspense, murder, poison, kidnapping, LOVE. I thought that Ms Snyder had truly outdone herself.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The suspense of everything just about killed me, but it was worth ever agonizing moment. The interaction between Yelena and Valek had me smiling every time I read it.

Yelena is a very good heroine, I must say. She is convicted of murder and has one hell of a terrible life. Until she meets Valek… then it is only kind of terrible. She is strong, but she also has her moments of weakness. She is one of the least Mary-Sue characters I’ve seen (in my opinion). Yes, she is strong, magical in a society where it is banned, and is really smart. But she also doesn’t think before she acts, not every guy is tripping over himself to get to her (only one), and she looks like a skeleton.

Valek… oh my. He is swoon-worthy. I don’t think anyone could ever read this book and hate him.

The uniform enhanced his athletic body, and my thoughts drifted to how magnificent he would look with his uniform puddled around his feet.

I think everybody’s thoughts went in that direction. Who cares about the possibility of dying whenever you eat, I would trade places with Yelena to be with Valek. I mean, he is an assassin, super smart, and loyal to boot.

I was a huge fan of Ari and Janco, too. They added humour to the book and were great to Yelena.

But this book didn’t always have me smiling. Ms Snyder doesn’t skim over the disturbing bits. She tells us about Yelena’s situation, but not all at once. When the book starts, she is being taken from her cell to be executed. But why? It mentions that she murdered Reyer, but why did she kill him, what did he do to her? There are many questions, but they are answered over the course of the book. I also had tears in my eyes twice.

This book had a few curse words and some ‘fade to black’ sex scenes. Also, it talks about rape, though it isn’t in complete detail.

I rate this: 5/5 stars!