Also, Maria is celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the release of Poison Study with these really cool posts about each chapter so please check out her blog for more information after you've read the book! You can find Maria Snyder here!
Now, without further ado...
What the back of the book says:
CHOOSE:
A QUICK DEATH...OR SLOW POISON...
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...
What I say:
I love this book. The first time I read Poison Study, it was a one-sitting read. Despite the fact that I've read it again and again and know the story almost by heart, I can still read it in one sitting. It's a fantasy and romance novel woven into one that is refreshingly different from the rest of the pack. Maria Snyder created an interesting world that I haven't seen in this genre. Ixia is a military dictatorship more fitting for a dystopian teen novel than a fun fantasy read, but it makes sense here. The action keeps coming in this novel, which makes me almost feel bad for Yelena, who barely has time to breathe.
As far as the characters are concerned, I can't say I have one favorite. Yelena is strong, intelligent, and stubborn. She's also not perfect and makes mistakes, which makes her easy to relate to. Valek, Ari, and Janco are also wonderful characters and Maria's quick wit shines through all her characters. Not that there aren't a few I can't stand. Maria peppers the unpleasant ones throughout the story, but it's obvious you're meant to hate them. That's not a great thing to me since I tend to like my villains to have a little depth. Sometimes, the bad guys in Poison Study are just too flat.
There are a couple things about the book that have always bothered me. Throughout the novel, there are a few scenes where rape gets brought up. It began to feel like a go-to threat, which made me cringe. Does it ruin the book for me? Obviously not, since I still love the book. Also, I don't think she handled it poorly or dismissively towards victims of rape. I suppose my issue with this at all is that I felt she could have gotten a little more creative with the threats. After all, it could get tedious if every villain your main character runs into threatens to break their wrist. Variety is the spice of life!
Would I recommend this book? Ab-so-freakin'-lutely. Maria's writing style is so addicting and the first-person POV only helps it more. I'd recommend it to Fantasy lovers, Romance readers, adults and there's even a YA version that I believe gets rid of some of the rape-stuff I just complained about. I didn't say much about the romance because it's a little bit of a twist, but seriously. Just read it. So. Good. I've been recommending it to friends and family for about nine years, and no one who did read it came back saying they didn't like it.
Have you read it? Have a different opinion? Or agree completely? Comment below!!!
About the Author:
Maria Snyder
When I was 12, I learned about meteorologists and decided to become one. My visions of chasing tornados didn’t pan out since I was bad at forecasting. Let’s face it, I’m a daydreamer—always have been. I did graduate from Penn State University and was hired as an environmental meteorologist. It’s never a good idea to get caught idle, so I wrote my daydreams down. My first novel was Poison Study and it was published in 2005! I caught the writing bug and Magic Study and Fire Study soon followed. Even though I went on to earn a Masters degree in writing from Seton Hill University, I never lost my fascination with storms, which is evident in my Glass Series (Storm Glass, Sea Glass and Spy Glass). The environmentalist in me comes out in Inside Out. Trella’s world is contained and they must reuse and recycle everything. One thing they got right in one otherwise messed-up world! I love my new job. Where else can you take fencing lessons, learn to ride a horse, study martial arts, learn to pick locks, take glass blowing classes and get a tour of a maximum security prison and call it work? I’ll give you a hint—not working as a meteorologist :)
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