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Sep 15, 2010

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" rated it:

I finished this book on Friday, and I took all weekend to decide what I wanted to say in my review. Let me start by saying that Poison Study is written in a very elemental fashion. If you are a reader who likes flowery, descriptive writing, this might throw you for a loop initially. The story is told inelaborately, and there is no hesitation in describing the ugliness of Yelena's situation. When I met Yelena, she was taken out of her prison cell, where she had languished for the better part o More...

49 comments like (94 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Letitia rated it:

I am torn on reviewing this book. On one hand it had the potential to be the best fantasy novel I have ever read. The world was intriguing, the characters endearing, the plot fascinating. Beyond that, the author managed to explore fascinating themes of mortality, right of choice, overcoming psychological demons, and tests of loyalty. I kept willing the writing to be better than it was. I would really love to see this author mature and develop her skill into something really worthwhile, because h More...

9 comments like (51 people liked it)

Nov 05, 2011

Jo rated it:

"It's a dirty way to fight, but I'm late for lunch."

Initial Final Page Thoughts.
I think I’m broken… why didn’t I love this one?

High Points.
The premise. Poisons. The setting. The baddies. The magic. Valek. Close combat. Acrobatics. Fire festivals. Valek without his shirt on. Ari. Janco. Maren. Tree climbing. Chocolate. Delicious food. Kick ass ladies. Secret Valek without his shirt…in a pile of hay.

Low Points.
The narration. I know More...

71 comments like (29 people liked it)

Feb 15, 2011

Lyndsey rated it:

One of these things does not belong here:

Well, one of these things does not belong in a fantasy novel. Hint - it is small, electronic, and blue!

More on that later. So this is another one of many books...

A story about an orphaned girl, whose been tortured and basically given a rotten hand that's full of all jokers, most likely dealt by some sort of sleight of hand magician or something. Rough life. Blada-blada-blah. After mysteries are introduced an More...

30 comments like (39 people liked it)

Aug 17, 2011

Nic rated it:

Some eye candy - Valek http://irresistiblereads.blogspot.com/20...

Favourite Quote: "Everyone makes choices in life. Some bad, some Good. It's called living, and if you want to bow out, then go right ahead. But don't do it halfway. Don't linger in whiner's limbo."

Fantasy and me have had our ups and downs. I have only read a handful as it is one of the genres I struggle with. But I had heard good things about Poison Study from everyone and they were right, it is More...

26 comments like (20 people liked it)

Jan 09, 2012

Hirondelle rated it:

Goodreads ate my review.

1.5 stars actually, if only goodreads would allow it.

15 of my GR friends have this listed and read, which is an amazing number - it gets beaten by some other, much more famous books, but this is much less known and I was so in awe of how many of them have read this that I had to try it for myself. Sadly it was a big disappointment. I admit I quit 3/4s of the way in. I would have read the whole thing, but our national health system went (as usual, More...

5 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2012

Quinn rated it:

Poison Study wasn't quite what I was expecting. The context I had always assumed when this book was recommended was that of an adult romantic fantasy, and I don't think that's what this is.

The writing style spoke of a young adult novel. That's not a bad thing - I really enjoyed the prose. It was strong and unassuming, providing no distraction from the story being told. And the story itself is very interesting.

But what makes Poison Study make the leap from good to great, i More...

10 comments like (10 people liked it)

Jan 22, 2011

Angee rated it:

With a strong and gripping beginning, this book completely enveloped me and I could not put it down. I was eager to get back to this book and finish it. I read into the early morning, hungry for the adventure and it's undercurrent of romance. The author created an engrossing story and wrote very well, and my favorite part about this story was that it was clean. Not a lot of cussing unless it was practically necessary (used from angry characters) and no sexual scenes.

6 comments like (10 people liked it)

Feb 13, 2008

Angie rated it:

I remember seeing Poison Study on the shelves when it first came out, but passed it up several times because of, yes, I admit it, the cover. It was this older mass market paperback cover and not the lovely new trade paperback one. The girl on the old cover looked just a little too haughtily seductive for me. And I knew that Luna was the fantasy division of Harlequin and so I was suspicious it was a romance thinly disguised as fantasy. So when the new trade paperback came out, I went and read a f More...

1 comment like (22 people liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

Suzanne the Mighty ~Satin Seductress~ rated it:

Yelena is about to be executed but is unexpectedly offereed a choice; become the Commander of Ixia's food taster or hang for her crime. Yelena decides to be the new food taster a position with a very short and painful life expectancy, especially when the Commanders chief of security tricks her into taking a poison for which he is the only one with an antidote. But momentous times are approaching and Yelena suspects there's a plot to murder the Commender that ties in with her horrific past.
More...

9 comments like (6 people liked it)

Mar 24, 2011

Alethea rated it:

I was looking for something I'd love as much as Twilight and this is as close as I'm ever going to get, I think. Or maybe surpassed it, I don't know. I might have held my breath through the entire reading, and I read the trilogy in 2 or 3 days (foregoing sleep, food, and potty breaks)--I suppose I must have gone to work and/or school at some point, I don't really remember now. Hmmm. If you're looking for romance, there's a bit in this--just enough for me, but if you're looking for details I thin More...

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Oct 20, 2010

TJ rated it:

There are many books I like (3 star), quite a few I really like (4 star) but not many I absolutely LOVE (5 star). This would be as close to a 5 star as possible without actually hitting it as a book can come! It is absolutely riveting from page one, the biggest downside being that it ends way too soon!

Ms. Snyder has taken a subject that has rarely been explored, the job of a food taster in a royal court, and educated and enlightened us while weaving an absolute tapestry of intrigue More...

21 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2011

Annalisa rated it:

It's been a long time since I read a book I could not put down. I did nothing today (or very little), but read this book that sucked me in. Incidentally, I know this is marketed is young-adult, but I don't think it is, so I'm not labeling it that way (there's some dark, graphic history to Yelena I would not recommend for younger readers). It's set in a medieval meets modern day society where a woman, Yelena, who is about to be executed is selected to be the king's food taster. Around every corne More...

3 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 25, 2010

Mike (the Paladin) rated it:

I came close to giving this a 5 star rating, but as I am constrained by my own rule of "5 stars only for the top few" I give it 4.

Interestingly (to me anyway) I more than likely would never have picked this book up except for a recommendation given here. The cover gives the impression this is more of a romance, a genre that leaves me distinctly cold. In fact it is a well written story (fantasy)following a young woman who having been condemned to death has her noose removed, More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Nov 15, 2009

Amelia rated it:

When I first got this book, I wasn't too thrilled. I started reading it but the writing style distracted me. Maria V. Snyder uses shorter sentences than I'm used to. Not horribly short but I'm used to, say, J.K. Rowling's good sized sentences. HOWEVER! There is some allure to this book that I can't explain. I kept reading it and finished it within a day. When I finished, I thought to myself, "This series is well on its way to becoming a favorite of mine."

It's just s More...

2 comments like (11 people liked it)

Jul 29, 2008

Corinne rated it:

This book has been recommended to me by many people. I wondered if it would live up to my expectations and what do you know? It totally did.

Yelena is "rescued" from execution when she is given the opportunity to be the food taster for the Commander. Which of course, means, that if someone attempts to poison the Commander, she's poisoned first. She decides the trade off is worth it and enters life in the castle. She works under Valek, the second in command, who teaches her t More...

4 comments like (7 people liked it)

May 02, 2011

Emily rated it:

Poison Study is easily one of the best young adult books I have read this year. So far, the genre has become increasingly disappointing to me and I was beginning to lose faith in novels marketed at older teens. What I really don't understand, though, is why Snyder decided* to make Poison Study a young adult book. In my opinion, even though it was good, the book could have been even better if she'd allowed for Yelena/Valek smut and instead marketed the book to a more adult audience. It's not even More...

7 comments like (15 people liked it)

Mar 28, 2010

Anne rated it:

Poison Study: my absolute favorite read of the past five years!

Yelena is about to be executed. When Ixia’s number 1 assassin, Valek, makes her an offer. To become the Commander’s food taster and train to recognize poisons. A slightly dangerous vocation. But then, for a young woman haunted by the ghost of the man she killed, a past which no one will believe, and a gift that is considered a crime, well, really . . . what choice does she have?

15 comments like (20 people liked it)

Sep 11, 2010

UniquelyMoi *~*Dhestiny*~* rated it:

This book was amazing. The writing was beautiful and the story complex. It was easy to read, but not 'dumbed down.'

I loved the story from beginning to end. I was captivated by Yelena's strength, determination and valor and Valek's military might and compassion. What a great book... now easily amongst my favorites.

I couldn't put Poison Study down and now I'm looking forward to Magic Study and Fire Study.

12 comments like (14 people liked it)

May 24, 2008

Andrea rated it:

I LOOOOOOVED it! It had my attention right from the beginning and never slowed down. The main character, Yelena, had kind of a disturbing past, but I felt like the author didn't go overboard with gross details. Great love story,too! I'm so excited to read the sequels.

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Jen aka Spam Master J rated it:

Review from my reread of Poison Study

This is a reread but Poison Study will always be my ‘it’ book. I read it when it was released way back when (ok, it really wasn’t THAT long ago…just a few years) and even though it was not a genre I would have normally considered, I ended up loving it. It got me back into reading and I have not stopped since.

Since I read this long before my book reviewing days I wanted to give it some well-deserved attention this second go around.
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0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2008

Drew rated it:

My tag-line for this book would be (in homage to Point of No Return starring Bridget Fonda): The government gave her two options: die today, really fast or die at some other unknown date in a really slow, painful, unpredictable way...

Surely I know I would choose the slow, painful, unpredictable death if I thought it would save me for today, but it's so tempting to say, "Well, wouldn't it be nice just to get it over with." And yet, despite the world being against her, Yelena More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Feb 27, 2011

Kristi (The Story Siren) added it

Yelena has been convicted of murdering General Brazell’s only son Reyad and she awaits her execution by hanging. With only hours left until her death Yelena is offered a stop to her execution, but only if she agrees to become the food taster for Commander Ambrose. Thinking that escape may be possible, she agrees.

It would seem that being a food taster would be an improvement to Yelena’s former life locked in a dark, dreary, rat infested dungeon but there are different ways to be held More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Apr 11, 2011

Misty rated it:

I'm going to get straight to the point: I love this book. Wholeheartedly, in retrospect. It came highly recommended shortly after its release from a friend, and I was dubious. It wasn't the type of book I read at that time, and from the first 20 pages or so, I didn't think I was going to like it. And then something clicked and I found myself falling in love. With Yelena. With Valek. With Ixia and the Commander, and every little detail of the fully-realized world Maria V. Snyder created.
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7 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 13, 2011

Hannah rated it:

I love this book. Not only is it brilliantly unique and well written, but it is also the sort of book you remember. There's an overwhelming and ridiculous amount of teen fantasy books nowadays, so it's difficult to sort the good from the bad, and most just end up being a remake of another famous story such as: Twilight or Harry Potter. But Poison Study is utterly memorable and different. The characters are swell; the plot is absorbing; and the romance is flawless. More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 05, 2008

Lauryl rated it:

In life, death is waiting just around the corner. In Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder, death guaranteed for Yelena after she is convicted of murder. Yelena is given the opportunity to become food tester instead of being executed. The trouble with this is the fact that, though death still looms overhead, she would not know when her time would come. Saved from death by execution, Yelena becomes the official food taster of the Commander, the overlord of the land. Her new position as food taster does More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Feb 04, 2012

Ari rated it:

I picked up this book last night.
It was late and I couldn't sleep.
I didn't intend to read it all, but just a bit, just a chapter or two, to clear my mind.

Oh, what a terrible mistake :D

What I didn't know is that you can't read just a bit of it. This book is like glue - you hold it in your hands and you can't put it down.

There is not much I could say right now about it because I'm literally at a loss for words.. but let me tell you this More...

6 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 20, 2011

Lisa rated it:

Originally posted at Read Me Bookmark Me Love Me

I never expected to love this series so much. I was blown away by how much I adored certain characters and detested others! If the sizzling romance doesn't do it for you…..perhaps the exciting action and magical plot? Maria V. Snyder has written yet another amazing series I hope everyone will read. Although Poison Study certainly has an adult novel feel to it (minus the "adult content"), fans of the young adult genre will easi More...

28 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2012

Sena rated it:

Everyone makes choices in life. Some bad, some Good. It's called living, and if you want to bow out, then go right ahead. But don't do it halfway. Don't linger in whiner's limbo

Güzel kitaptı.
Kitapta Yelena adındaki kızımız Brazell'in oğlu Reyad'ı öldürdüğü için idam edilecek.Ama idam edilmeden önce buna son bir şans daha veriliyor.Çeşnicibaşı olma şansı.Kız da kabul ediyor tabii.Sonra eğitimlere falan başlanıyor.Tabii bundan sonra da olaylar durmuyor.

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38 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 07, 2011

Kelly rated it:

About six month ago, while on vacation, I brought Poison Study along for the ride. For some reason, I couldn’t get into it. Must have been the crisp, fresh Smokey Mountain air affecting me. A few days ago, I had an itch to read Poison Study, to give it a go once more. I feel books are just like other things in life - it’s all about timing. Sometimes when you pick up a book, you’re just not feeling it because the timing isn’t right. Or there are those moments where you come across the perfect boo More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

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