Poison Study (Study #1)by Maria V. Snyder
Pages: 412-US Paperback
Publisher: Mira Books
Release Date: March 1, 2007
My Rating: 5/5
Book Summary: About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.
And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.
As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...
My Thoughts:
Quite honestly, I have had this book in my TBR list for years. YEARS. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I haven't been completely and utterly overcome with excitement to dig in, it's just that every time I decided NOW... now is the time i'm finally going to read it, something just.. stopped me. That kind of gut feeling you get when you tell yourself now is not the time for this story. And this is where I begin to kick myself in the ass. What in the hell was I thinking? Okay, whatever. We've established that I suck. But seriously...
Poison Study was unlike anything I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Quite frankly, Maria V. Snyder is a literary mastermind, and i don't use that term often. The characters she created really just seep into your being. You are not just a mere bystander, watching over their happenings.. you are there. You are Yelena. You feel everything she feels, and does everything she does. Yelena is a ture heroine, and one the I admire whole-heartedly. And quite frankly, Valek is HOT. I'm pretty sure he just got added to my list of top 5 fictional male characters that i'd like to get a little hot and steamy with. Oops. Did i divulge too much? Who the hell am i kidding? Once you read this, i know you'll totally agree.
The world building in this story is truly original and really quite beautiful. It's hard to pull yourself out of Ixia and back into reality when you're away from the pages.
Immediately after closing the last page of Poison Study, i proceeded to grab my Kindle and purchase the second in the series, Magic Study. SO. FUCKING. EXCITED.
