Trigger Warnings: there are mentioning of Mental, Physical, and Sexual Abuse, and Rape within Poison Study.
Murder, mayhem and magic…
Locked in a coffin-like darkness, there is nothing to distract me from my memories of killing Reyad. He deserved to die–but according to the law, so do I. Here in Ixia, the punishment for murder is death. And now I wait for the hangman’s noose.
But the same law that condemns me may also save me. Ixia’s food taster–chosen to ensure that the Commander’s food is not poisoned–has died. And by law, the next prisoner who is scheduled to be executed–me–must be offered the position.
This review was originally posted on my Tumblr, but since I’ve recently re-read Poison Study, I’ve moved it here, with my new thoughts on the book below. Enjoy!
Initially recommended to me by my friend, Rebecca. I doubted that this book was as good as she said it was. Boy was I wrong! This book dug its claws into my and just held on for dear life.
We see major character growth within Yelena. She starts off in her memories as a happy, young girl. She has a roof over her head, and . With time and energy she grows into her role as the Commander’s Food Taster. She has her ups and downs with the other characters in the story, but they soon become friends. People think very little of her but she always proves them wrong.
In the end, we see Yelena to her full potential. We see her loved, we see her love, and we see her free. I will be definitely re-reading this book!
My added thoughts on Poison Study are:
I remember that the first time I read Poison Study (PS), I loved it. I loved the characters, the setting, the fanatasy element.. This second time around reading PS, I still enjoyed reading Yelena’s story, but I didn’t love it like the first time I had read Poison Study.
Snyder’ writing is so smooth and the story flows so effortlessly. The action scenes are pretty impresively done as well, and they’re incredibly interesting. — I love the world of Poison Study. I’ll admit that in the grand scheme of things, Poison Study is a little bland in the settings department, but with how the story progresses, we realize that as Yelena is growing as a character, she’s also realizing how big her world actually is.
I like how there was a teensy bit of romance nearing the end of the book that didn’t take away from the story at all. And the story doesn’t end up being “If I’m not with him, I can’t do anything” the romance ends up being more along the lines of “I love him, and would love to have him by my side, but I do not need him.” I think that’s what more Young Adults need to be honest.
I liked that nearing the end of Poison Study we realize that this isn’t a standalone novel. Poison Study is actually the first book in a 6 book series, I believe! I’ve read the second book, but I’m not entirely sure if the point of view in the series changes after the fourth book or not. — I’m glad that Poison Study isn’t a stand alone. If it were, I would have very different thoughts on the book. That, and there’s so much more of this world that Yelena hasn’t discovered yet, it’d be a shame for the readers to not experience this world with Yelena.
My first rating of Poison Study was 5 of 5 stars, and I’m going to keep it that way!
Have you read Poison Study? What are/were your thoughts on the book?
Happy Reading
Adele
Adele Is Reading 
Great review! This book looks really interesting! I think I’ve heard of it somewhere before. 🙂
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Poison Study IS interesting. You should definitely give it a try! Thank you!
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Thank you! I hope I get to read it in the future! 🙂
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