Poison Study - Maria V. Snyder

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
Series: Study #1
Publisher: Mira
Publication Date: August 15, 2012
Source/Format: Borrowed from the library || e-book

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. (from Goodreads)

I really liked Poison Study. But after reading a couple of fantasy novels back to back, it was the unfortunate victim of “same genre syndrome” and failed to impress me. It’s a solid fantasy, as it possesses a kick-ass heroine, a swoony love interest, some corrupt officials and underhanded politics and, of course, magic. But it not only took time for me to get invested in this story, I finished it feeling a lack of connection to the characters. The bright points of this novel – dealing with poisons, Yelena, her new friends, Valek – did manage to keep a hold on my attention until the end. So, even though it wasn’t a five star read for me, it was pretty darn good.

Yelena is a well-written character. I say that because she’s very complex, which is always interesting to read about. She’s still very young, and still possesses some semblance of her idealism and innocence. It’s surprising to come across moments where we see her as soft, vulnerable, gentle. But she’s also hardened against the world after the suffering and consequential torment that she’s had to endure. This is where her strength, grit, determination and need to survive come into play and readers get to see that she’s a warrior. I certainly admired many of the traits that she possesses, particularly her duress under great strain. 

Yelena is great, but she’s not my favorite character in this novel. That honor is bestowed upon Valek, who is the chief of security for the commander. Initially, he seems hard, tough and completely unfeeling. But gradually, in bits and pieces, Yelena (and subsequently, the readers) realizes that there’s more to him. He’s good at what he does, and takes his position very seriously. He’s also extremely crafty and intelligent. But more than that, Valek has a surprising amount of compassion and gentleness. AND above all that, he has a creative soul. He’s obviously very much my type, so it’s no surprise that I really enjoyed his every appearance in this book.

Snyder definitely added her own spin on common fantasy plots with this story. The most fascinating parts of this book were Yelena’s history before she committed that major crime that landed her in the dungeon and the crazy corruption that threatens to bring down the entire chain of command in Ixia. While I was able to guess at most of the twists, it was still a highly enjoyable book. There were equal amounts of danger and romance, and the combination was positively intoxicating. The first half dragged the teensiest bit for me, but the latter half definitely picked up and had me eagerly flipping the pages.

Poison Study is thoughtful, well-done and interesting. It’s also got a main character that will appeal to readers, and a love interest that may cause some swoons. While it didn’t quite leave a lasting impression on me, I did enjoy it and would gladly recommend it to other readers.

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