Image Map

Monday, January 28, 2013

Poison Study, by Maria V. Snyder


Study #1
Release date: March 1st 2007
Published by: Mira Books
Genre: Young Adult
Find it on: Goodreads, Amazon

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...





I immediately added this book on Goodreads when I finished reading Touch of Power. I was curious to see how Maria V. Snyder would handle yet another fantasy series, and if they'd be similar. Fortunately, I was wrong. The only thing these two series have in common is a likeable heroine, a good plot, excellent world-building... and a good (almost decent) writing. 

Yelena is yet another main character that I adored. She, in order to survive, had to become the Commander's food taster - which is exactly what it sounds like. Yelena had to taste the Commander's food to see if it had any poison. She also had to be trained by Valek, the chief of security, to be able to identify different kinds of poison. That premise alone was enough to keep me interested in the story. However, the secondary characters - especially Valek and Rand - and all the tension surrounding Yelena's life brought me to the edge of my seat. I was unable to stop reading Poison Study. 

Something that caught my eye was that the Commander of Ixia wasn't the bad guy. When you read a fantasy novel in which the lands had been taken over by a new Commander, and the King, murdered, you immediately expect an oppressive government. Thankfully, Commander Ambrose was kind to his people and always tried to avoid bloodshed when he could. That was a welcomed change. It also made me realize that the author didn't need to take the story down that route to create the political problems. 

What really bothered me when I was reading Poison Study was the author's writing. I'm tired of having to say this again, but Snyder just can't write very well when it comes to fantasy novels. The dialogues are too modern, and some of the characters' actions were absurd, when you think about it. For example, a woman that was attracted to someone would never just lean forward and undo the guy's pants. It's ridiculous to even think about it... it just doesn't fit the setting of the story, you know? I was unable to give it 5 stars, which is a shame, since the characters are well developed, the plot is good, and the eventual romance is slow and delicious to read. 

Overall, Poison Study was an excellent novel. The only thing that was truly "bad" was the writing. If it had been better, I wouldn't hesitate in giving this book 5 stars. I'll probably read the sequel, Magic Study, pretty soon. Hopefully Maria V. Snyder will not disappoint me! 

3 comments:

  1. For example, a woman that was attracted to someone would never just lean forward and undo the guy's pants. It's ridiculous to even think about it... it just doesn't fit the setting of the story, you know?

    Oh my! Lol, I have yet to read Maria V Snyder, but I have two of her books on my kindle, both bought when they were on offer. I'm looking forward to giving them a whirl if the world building is so good, and the modern and perhaps cringe-worthy behaviour described in your review is something I'm really curious about now :) Great review, Beatriz.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think I gave this 4 stars (or maybe 4.5 stars) at the time too. It definitely impressed me as my first Snyder book. I didn't really have the same problem with the writing, but I'm glad you still thought it was an excellent read overall. :) Brilliant review!

    ReplyDelete

  3. Dear customer All of us suffer from problems at home difficult to solve and may pose a great danger to your life and life of those you love such as harmful insects dangerous, which threaten human life and the transmission of diseases and cause a lot of physical problems So provided theAl Manarah Company has all kinds of insects
    شركة تنظيف منازل بالرياض
    شركة تنظيف سجاد بالرياض
    شركة تنظيف بالرياض
    شركة تنظيف مجالس بارياض
    شركة مكافحة حشرات بالرياض
    شركة تنظيف مكيفات بالرياض



    عزيزي العميل عندما تنتقل من منزل لاخر وتحتاج ان تنقل عفش واثاث منزلك
    فعليك الاتصال بشركة متخصصة في خدمات نقل الاثاث والعفش لذلك شركة المناره افضل شركة نقل اثاث والعفش
    في ازي قومت بي نقل اثاث من مكان الي اخر فقوم بي اران علي شركه المنارة
    ليه خدمات المنزلية
    شركة نقل اثاث بالخبر
    ونحن سنكون سعداء جدا إذا تواصلت معنا لتنفيذ هذه المهمة مع ضمان كامل بسلامة الاثاث الخاص بك.
    شركة نقل اثاث بالقطيف
    نمتلك افضل عمالة مدربة علي نقل الاثاث والعفش
    لان وقد اصبحت فكرة نقل الاثاث متبلورة امام عينيك فلم يعد مطلوب منك سوى اخذ قرار والاتصال بشركة نقل عفش في الدمام مناسبة تقوم بتنفيذ تلك العملية لك
    شركة تنظيف بابها
    تقدم لقم شركة المنارة لتنظيف المنازل ولفلل ولشوقق ول اصار ول زجاج ول رخام شركه المنارة افضل شركه في دمام شركه المنارةتقدم عمل مميز وعمل جيد وشغل نضيف ونقدم لقم ناس تبزل جهد فل عمل وقل دا في اقصا وقت تتخيل شركة المناره تقدم العرود بي منسبت عيد الفطر
    شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان
    شركة المنارة تقدم افضل عمل ومضرب علي المكافحه الحشرات وفريق عمل ومميز شركة المنارة لي رش المبيادات ورشق انمل البيض ول مكافحه الحشرات شركتنا تتميز عن بقي اشركه في ازي جات تعمل صيانا لي االمنزل فقوم علي زر التصال علي شركة المناره


    ReplyDelete