SOLVED. Fantasy/Romance Series, YA, similar to Graceling and Poison Study. [s]

[Rachel]

Ok, I believe the series was three books long. Fantasy with kingdoms, clans, war, battles, magic, etc. I remember that in the beginning the main character, girl, is imprisoned with another and being experimented on with electric/magic devices and tortured before they are rescued. She is part of some court as an asset to a king, and I think in book 2 is reclaimed from a barbaric clan/tribe as the king/chief's missing daughter during a council meeting. There are two love interests, the chosen one fighting for hand at some point at her clans homelands. I think he gets her hand in marriage without her knowing. In the third book she travels with the love interest to his homelands and is judged by an elderly woman with a test where she is asked to drink tea from an overfilled cup. I believe she ended up doing something the older woman had never seen before, like pouring some into her love interests cup. The only other parts I can remember is that the other love interest, the sweet one (the other one I talked about is brooding and all that), is from a town where his family are the lords. His town is high into the sky and I think you had to use ropes or elevator type devices to get to it. They may have battled here in one of the books. I hope someone knows what this book series is, I'll post more updates with any other parts I remember.

[Melanti]

Possibly the Study series by Maria V. Snyder?

Poison Study

[Rachel]

Melanti wrote: "Possibly the Study series by Maria V. Snyder?

Poison Study"

I keep looking at it and I'm not sure! Do you recall the tea scene by chance?

[Melanti]

I really hated books 2 & 3 so I've done my best to delete them from my memory, so unfortunately, I don't remember many details other than each book takes place in a different location and I vaguely remember trees.


I was recommending it based more off the plot of first one.

She's imprisoned and tortured, but is eventually let out under the condition that she be a food-taster for a king - under threat of death. (She's been poisoned and she has to get a dose of the antidote every morning to stay alive - so she can't simply run away.) It's very Stockholm Syndromish.

The following books are a lot lighter in tone.

She was kidnapped as a young child and in book 2 she does return to her birth family. I don't remember where she goes in the 3rd book or why, though.

[Rachel]

It's driving me crazy! The book I remember sounds so similar to the Study series, but yet not. I remember she was in like a council type meeting with the king or something and then a group of barbarian/tribe people, pretty sure her dad was leading, came in to claim her and take her back to their village/town. And then a bunch of suitors eventually fought for her hand since she was the chief's daughter. Ughhhh

[Chrissy]

The iron butterfly sieriesThe Iron Butterfly

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Deleted duplicate thread.

[Rachel]

The iron butterfly that's it!