Review: Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Premise: Yelena is in prison awaiting her execution. She killed a man (totally justified) and because he was the son of a powerful general, she's sentenced to hang. By decree, when a taster is needed to screen the Commander's food, the next in line to be hanged must be offered the job. So Yelena's life is spared by Valek (who will also mentor her). Of course, if there's any poison in the Commander's food, she will die. Yelena's bearing a little secret of which she wasn't aware -- she has magical powers. Magic's been outlawed. As she's trained by Valek their relationship develops amid court intrigue, attempts on her life, espionage, and learning of her true "heritage" and the threat she's become to a very select group of individuals -- witches and sorcerers who want her dead before her power matures and kills them all.

I enjoyed it, though it's not typically a story I might enjoy. I liked it enough to add Magic Study and Fire Study to my Amazon wish list for Xmas. I liked Yelena's growth, as a person, a warrior, and a magician (though this doesn't come to full fruition until the end of the story). I liked Valek too. The author did a good job of projecting his growing feelings toward Yelena (the story is written in first person from Yelena's POV). The author did a very nice job of world building.


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Caitlyn
www.caitlynwillows.com