Poison Study
(Study #1)
by
Maria V. Snyder
"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…"
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 makes Poison Study the leap from good to great, is the protagonist Yelena. Yelena is
an extremely well-drawn character. She is strong and honorable, whilst
remaining realistically pragmatic. She never once strays into the to perfect or to silly territory. She is in an
untenable situation and works to turn the circumstances to her advantage
through blood, sweat and tears, not superhuman heroics.
The story is told in the first-person from Yelena's perspective, and it couldn't have been told as effectively any other way. We must know and see only what Yelena does as we try alongside her to navigate this world with its myriad of twists, deceptions and dangerous politics.
The story is told in the first-person from Yelena's perspective, and it couldn't have been told as effectively any other way. We must know and see only what Yelena does as we try alongside her to navigate this world with its myriad of twists, deceptions and dangerous politics.
This book was amazing. The writing was beautiful and the story complex. It was easy to read, but not 'dumbed down.'
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