Poison Study

So much happens in this book, I hardly know where to begin!

We have Yelena, a strong, smart heroine with flaws. My favorite. We have Valek, who is strong, mysterious, and a bit brooding. Protective, yet still treats her as an equal. Totally my jam. We have solid world building. Ixia becomes a real place in your mind. You get enough information to understand where we are going, unlike other first books in a series. And you get interesting side characters, although at times not enough of them.

Condemned to death for murder, Yelena is given a reprieve as the Commander's food taster. Facing death every day in her new role, she is able to learn the job quickly (a good trait in a food taster!) and proves to be a valuable addition to the team surrounding the Commander, who has an interesting backstory himself. It's details like these that make this book a good read. Enjoy your trip to Ixia, but be sure you have someone taste your food while you are there. I'll see you when you get back.

At first, I was unimpressed with Poison Study. Perhaps I was in a bit of a reading slump, perhaps the writing didn't seem as skillful as I'd hoped. I just wasn't quite into it. Then I took the book to the lake on an overcast day and read most of it right there in one sitting. While admittedly it isn't brilliantly stunning, I was definitely caught up in the characters and the plot. I was gratified when the character I had liked from the beginning turned out to be good even more than he was good already in being a loyal person just doing his duty. The other characters in the story as well had depth, not incredibly so, but enough to make them real. As the story drew to an end, I realized that I wanted more closure than I was being given and I may have to read the sequels now just to let that happen. Poison Study draws a lot on there being more than one way to poison a person, and perhaps a physical poison itself is the least worrisome of poisons.

I often rate books with three stars, because it takes a lot to make me really strongly dislike a book and I can be really picky about which books I rate highly and especially cautious regarding which books get five stars. Three stars is definitely worth the read, though. In this case if you're into some Fantasy and Magic, a quick read with a bit of a romance, and not too much to think about, Poison Study will be a great choice.