Magic Study (Study, #2) in Study Buddies

Dec 30, 2014 Victoria rated it it was ok

what did I just read?! I cannot believe that this is the sequel to Poison Study, the two books just do not fit together at all. PS was pretty well written, and the plot was gripping, despite being predictable, however this felt poorly written and rushed in comparison. I almost gave up reading it.

the first half of the book felt a little flat, there wasn't really much suspense or action, and then Yelena started talking to horses about "Peppermint Man" and I knew things were going to get weird, and what did I just read?! I cannot believe that this is the sequel to Poison Study, the two books just do not fit together at all. PS was pretty well written, and the plot was gripping, despite being predictable, however this felt poorly written and rushed in comparison. I almost gave up reading it.

the first half of the book felt a little flat, there wasn't really much suspense or action, and then Yelena started talking to horses about "Peppermint Man" and I knew things were going to get weird, and not in a good way.

The relationships in this book were either under, or over exaggerated. For example, I found it hard to believe that Cahil and Yelena would go from enemies to BFFS going to the New Beginnings feast together in the blink of an eye. I thought Yelena would have been more cautious, especially given how her friendship with Rand in the first novel turned out. Similarly, in Poison Study I love love loved reading about how her friendships with Rand, Ari and Janco developed - I felt it added an element of warmth and normalcy to the book, yet in Magic Study her one real friendship with Dax was barely mentioned, and Gelsi was only mentioned about twice until her role in the novel became more important.

I actually really disliked Yelena in this book. She became so arrogant and full of herself! After being a slave for Brazell, and a servant for Valek in Ixia, I found it hard to believe that once she got to Sitia that she would just go off and do whatever she wanted, and totally disregard the Master Magicians. Old habits die hard, and I think that she would still instinctively pay attention to what someone with authority would tell her to do.

Don't even get me started on Valek. He was the reason I loved Poison Study so much, he was such an interesting character with personality, and I was hoping that he would appear in Magic Study and liven things up a bit. He arrived over halfway through, and after that he always seemed to be there, and it was just too much. I kind of wished that he would go away for a bit. Also, why did he keep calling Yelena "Love"? Made me a lil' nauseous. Their relationship didn't need to be ridiculously sappy, they both have the ability to be independent and powerful by themselves and this just wasn't reflected in how their love was portrayed.

I was seriously so disappointed with this - the plot just wasn't right, and I felt as if Maria had followed her head instead of her heart when writing this. Some of the writing was just awful - there was a bit near the end where Leif and Yelena were bickering like brother and sister, and Valek told them off as though he was their dad. I couldn't stop laughing/cringing/crying-on-the-inside at how awkward it was.

I was pretty excited to explore Sitia, but now I wish that Yelena had escaped back into Ixia or something - it would have been better than this. ...more

Like · see review

Sep 28, 2015 Jennifer rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own

Since I have reread Poison Study I thought I would reread the rest of the series. Since it was a rereading I knew what would happen, I could remember the story too well. Magic Study is no. 2 in the series and it continues where we left Poison Study, personally I thought it was a good second. I liked the plot for the second one where you still follow Yelena, who are faced with new challenges. The magic system in the story was an element I liked to explore, the magic system was well carried out.

Th ...more

Like · see review