Poison Study – Review

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

“To Yelena, our newest food taster. May you last longer than your predecessor.”
Poison Study is entertaining, captivating, fast-paced, plot driven & amazing!

Yelena is next in line to be executed for murder until an offer is presented to live, but with a cost. Instead of being executed for the life she took, instead she is offered to become the Commander of Ixia’s food taster. Where everyday she tastes his food, and risks being poisoned to protect the Commander.

Caught up between a rebellion, magic and threats from every direction, Yelena must make choices to save Ixia and to try safe herself.

Since this is a review, below does contain spoilers, if you haven’t read the book, don’t read any further. You have been warned.

The premise for Poison Study had me intrigued from the first moment. However, I read this one due to the endless raving from the lovely Elli from Fanatical.Fantasy! I trusted her opinion on this one, and she definitely didn’t let me down!

The writing for Poison Study was simple, but in the best way. It took less time to read than a normal fantasy and made for a very fast-paced reading experience. The writing style and plot of the book really complemented each other perfectly. Considering there was so much going on from a plot standpoint, simple writing is exactly what this book needed. Honestly, there was not a dull moment in this story, the plot was packed full of entertainment, suspense and was thoroughly enjoyable.

Our MC Yelena was a wonderful protagonist to follow, not only was she intelligent, but she was kick ass and I can’t wait to see who she will become in the next two novels. I enjoyed that she wasn’t nice or grateful that she was ‘saved’. I appreciated that Yelena felt realistic, and brought a different tone than a typical fantasy MC.

Moving on to Yelena’s character development, holy it was amazing. You can see her develop from a young, terrified girl who had been abused, to a woman who is mentally and physically strong, courageous, and determined. I think this character development really shined through due to being able to flick between past and present. I really appreciated how far she had come as a character throughout the book.

Then we have our mysterious, handsome and brooding assassin Valek, who as character was amazing. I enjoyed that he had the so many layers and we saw him not only as a deadly assassin, but also a softer side which was revealed closer to the end. He also was extremely intelligent and I definitely cannot wait to see him in Magic Study.

Quick Note: I didn’t think the relationship between Yelena & Valek was necessary in this book. I think each character is wonderful on it’s own, and would of been happy to see this relationship develop further in future books. However, Poison Study had a lot going on, I don’t think it needed the slight additional romance.

Honorable mention to two of my favourite characters, Ari and Janco. They were wonderful additions to the story and I hope we see them in Magic Study, because their brother/sister relationship with Yelena really gave me life.

Overall, Poison Study was an amazing start to a series that I cannot wait to continue. I was entertained from start to finished, and baffled at how much I enjoyed it! I recommend this book to anyone looking for a fantasy read that isn’t complex.

Favourite Quote: “One, and two, and three, four, five. Keep fighting like this and you will die,”
Rating: 5/5

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