A To Z Book Review: Poison Study By Maria V. Snyder
My letter “P” pick for the A to Z book challenge was POISON STUDY (The Chronicles of Ixia, 1) by Maria V. Snyder. I had the pleasure of meeting Maria (and attending one of her workshops) at the Pennwriters conference this year, and grabbed one of her books from the bookstore. Of course, I grabbed book two. So I got ahold of book one and was promptly whisked away to an amazing world in an intricate plot.
Yelena (our protagonist) is currently emaciated, filthy, and rotting in a dungeon after murdering her rapist/abuser. She’s dragged out – she assumes – to finally head for the gallows only to be offered a reprieve: she will be given a room at the palace, clothing, and food, but she has to take the job of becoming the Commander’s personal food tester. She agrees and is now thrown into the care of Valek, the Commander’s head of security, who trains her thoroughly on all sorts of poisons so that she can properly recognize them. In addition, he secretly poisons her as well, forcing her to get the antidote from him daily if she wants to stay alive. This, of course, ends all hope of escape.
Meanwhile, the father of her former abuser (and a general) wants her dead, she has enemies at the palace, and despite their rocky beginning, she and Valek start gravitating toward each other. To add even more to the whirlwind, Yelena is involved in a conspiracy, and she begins developing frightening new magical powers. This story is a twisting, turning rollercoaster ride that will leave you breathless and waiting to see what’s lurking around every turn all the way to the not-quite-so-happily-ever-after. I’m so very glad I already have book two!
Yelena is a fierce and clever protagonist and Valek is a hard-ass with a heart of gold (I was getting serious Chaol and Celaena vibes from the early books in Sarah J. Maas’s THRONE OF GLASS series). The world building and culture were lush and intricate, but a bit too much of an info dump at times. I found myself having to go back in places, particularly early on, to review and refresh details. For that reason, I’m giving 4 1/2 stars (really it’s more like 4 3/4). An intriguing and immersive YA (that reads more like NA) story.
