“Everyone makes choices in life. Some bad, some good. It's called living, and if you want to bow out, then go right ahead. But don't do it halfway. Don't linger in whiner's limbo.”
Poison Study is easily one of the best-written and underrated high fantasy, young adult series that I’ve come across, and I’m so happy that I reread it again this year. After a while, YA high fantasy tends to become oversaturated with similar storylines, but this was SO ORIGINAL and I LOVED IT. I also enjoyed how character-driven this novel was, rather than emphasizing the fantasy aspects (although magic is very much prevalent).
Yelena is a brave, clever, and determined young woman, who was given the chance to escape execution, in exchange for taking up the position as the Commander’s food taster, a potentially lethal occupation. She consistently fought over and over again for her own survival, never allowing herself to wallow in self-pity. She took accountability for her actions, even admitting to the crime of murder, and never attempted to conjure up excuses in order to escape the noose. When there were numerous attempts on her life, she went out of her way to learn how to best defend herself, from hand-to-hand combat to knives. When there were instances where she needed to get past locked doors, she endeavored to learn how to pick locks for herself. She was SO ambitious and resourceful! She never waited for any knight-in-shining-armor to come and save her. She did the saving for herself! ;) Honestly, though, I’d like to know how she wasn’t suffering from PTSD, considering her tragic past... We definitely need to see more characters like her in YA literature, who makes decisions based upon their brains, rather than their hearts. Talk about a fierce 19-year old! 😮
Valek was also a pleasant surprise. Initially, I was quite indifferent to him because he treated Yelena quite cruelly and poorly (since he saw her as nothing more than a murderer). However, as the plot progressed, I really came to like him. He is a deadly assassin (what a hypocrite, haha) and the Commander’s loyal, right-hand man. Although I will admit that the revelation that he was Yelena’s love interest definitely took me by surprise (so you do not need to worry about insta-love!). I loved seeing how he fell in love with Yelena’s loyalty and inner-strength. I think that they make a lovely pair, yet they are also different enough to balance each other out. The romance is perfect in this book as it was not obvious from the beginning if there was going to be any, and if so with whom, but as the story went on it was there just enough to keep you rooting for them but not too much to overtake the story. As the series grows the story and characters develop accordingly and wonderfully.
I also like Ari and Janco’s character’s as they add humor to the book and they also help Yelena out of her shell and become a bit surer of herself.
Therefore, I will recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys books about fantasy worlds, magic systems, court politics, soldiers, assassins, beautiful writing, and strong character development. If you haven’t gotten to this series, which seems to have been forgotten among the depths of YA high fantasy, you should definitely give this a go as soon as you can! :)
This is an excellent book that is perfect if you are looking to read a fantasy book that is in-between a YA and an adult novel. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes Trudi Canavan or Kristin Cashore
- Relatable 3.9/5
- Good world-building 4/5
- Writing style and clarity 4.6/5
- Good slow-burn love story 4.5/5
- Sense and logic 4/5
- Plot 4/5
- Action : romance --4:2
- comedy: just a pinch
do read it and let me know your reviews.
My Goodreads account : https://www.goodreads.com/stumbleinto
Comments
Post a Comment