Poison Study (Study #1) by Maria V. Snyder

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...

My Rating: 4.4/5
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Read from September 30 to October 02, 2014


Paperback, 412 pages 
Published March 1st 2007 by Mira (first published June 1st 2004)




MY REVIEW:



To be honest, when I first started reading Poison Study my expectations were low. The series has received many negative reviews, but ignoring the rest of the trilogy, this book was really good. Snyder's writing style was neat and not tiring at all - the detailed descriptions of landscapes, buildings and what-not where present only when needed, and all the duelings and fights felt intoxicating to me. There where moments when the story got tiring, as some aspects of it grew into improportionate lenght in comparison to their importance.  The ending though was unexpected and full of action, rewarding the patience the reader had with the small imperfections.

Plot:

The first scene of the book takes place in a dungeon, where Yelena is held captive. The guards wake her to lead her out of the cell that was her residence for almost a year and she silently waits for the execution order - Yelena is accused for the murder of her legal gurdian's son. The guards drag her in the office of a man named Valek - the most feared and hated person in Ixia. Valek is a skilled assasin who masters the art of Poisons and an implacable ally of the Commander since his rise to the throne.

Valek seems surprised by the fact that she is a woman but goes on with his proposal: Yelena can be spared her appointed execution if she becomes the Commander's food taster - a job that may cost her life in any given moment. As she accepts without a spare thought, he offers her a drink, imbued with a poison he calls "Butterfly Dust". He is the only one who can give her the daily doses of her antidote, as he will do if she is faithful to the Commander.

Yelena is now linked to Valek, a man who, if he wishes, can have her dead. Truth is though, that day by day he seems less frightening and more appealing than he should... And if only that was her only problem -  because Yelena's magic powers are crawling to the surface, and in the country of Ixia, witches are sentenced to death...



The Characters:

Yelena is short, with frail build and dark-colored - with only exception the colour of her eyes, which are green. She is intelligent and stubborn, and from her reaction to various events, she lives her life without regrets. She spent most of her adolescence locked in her legal guardian's basement, as General Brazell and his son, Reyad, experimented on her capabilities with magic. As a result she trains in various styles of combat so that she will never be in that position again.

Valek is fourteen years (click to check my source) older than Yelena, which means that in Poison Study he is 33 years old. He is described by Yelena as having sapphire blue eyes, pallid skin, black curly hair and the "graceful step of a snow cat". Valek is highly intelligent and in combination with his combat skills he is lethal - something that Yelena soon realises, as he saves her life more than once.

What I liked about Valet is that in the beggining, I was convinced that this would be one more tale about a masochistic student who falls in love with her mentor - but no, this is not the case for Valek and Yelena.  Although he seems cruel and dispassionate, the reader gets to meet a softer side - but still, a kind of softness that is barely there and does not contradict with the cold-faced assasin.

This is one of the few YA books I've read where the heroine falls for a man a decade older than her, and I instantly liked it for the fact that this relationship was different, more mature than the others in a way.





Synopsis:

In conclusion, Poison Study is a good book, although I wouldn't recommend the sequel, Magic Study. If you want an enjoyable and easy read with a classy romance and a taste of adventure, then this is the one for you.