First Line: “Locked in darkness that surrounded me like a coffin, I had nothing to distract me from my memories.”
One Word Review: Good
Book Synopsis: “About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia. And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison. As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear.” -GoodReads
My Review:
I actually really enjoyed the story. Yelena has had a very hard life, especially the last three years. Two of which she was terribly abused and the last year was spent in a grimy dungeon. When she is given the opportunity to be the Commanders food taster instead of being hanged she jumps at the chance. I liked Yelena’s character, I’m not sure if her behavior was that realistic considering what she’s been through (trusting, friendly, etc), but it’s easy to overlook that and really root for her character. I like that she is smart, quick thinking, athletic, and loyal. This brings me to Valek, the head of security, assassin, and love interest for our lovely Yelena. I have mixed feelings about Valek; I like the idea of him but he kind of fell a little flat for me. I guess I didn’t really feel a whole lot of chemistry between the two. There was enough there to satisfy me, but I wasn’t as attached as I was to Bran (Son of the Shadows), or similar characters. I do like him though; he’s tough, smart, and compassionate. I really liked friends Janco and Ani, and thought they added a lot to the story.
There are some disturbing things in Yelena’s past, I don’t think its too much of a spoiler to say that she had been raped. I think that’s why I was not really looking forward to this book. Snyder really didn’t go into detail, thankfully, it was more implied than described. I was grateful for that. Her past did add a dark or sad element to the story, but it does help to build Yelean’s character. Overall, I thought it was a good book, I wasn’t really surprised with how things played out but it was still fun going on the journey. I will definitely be reading the next two books.
Reading Order:
Book One: Poison Study
Book Two: Magic Study
Book Three: Fire Study
Other Reviews:
Angieville
Book Minx
Book MuncherReading Order:
Book One: Poison Study
Book Two: Magic Study
Book Three: Fire Study
Other Reviews:
Angieville
Book Minx
Melissas Bookshelf
Story Siren
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Okay, I just have to say there was one element of the story that I really thought was stupid, that of the commander. If you've read the story you know what I mean. Thought that was dumb, otherwise everything else was pretty good.
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