Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

I am doing another review of someone else's review, this time on Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. I am going to be reviewing the book, as well as analyzing a review from Live to Read, Read to Live.

Both Mac and I agree that Poison Study was an extremely engaging and entertaining read. In his review, Mac said he thought the introduction of the characters throughout the story seemed strange or abrupt, a fact that I disagree with. In the exposition stage of the novel, we are made familiar with some of the main characters, such as Yelena and Valek. I personally liked how the minor characters were slowly brought into the story, because it stopped the story from becoming overwhelming, yet still kept the book interesting. I especially liked how certain characters like Irys would pop up at certain times and then fade to the background as we learned about other characters. I definitely agree with the fact that the book was exciting, with unexpected events, such as the fight scenes with Brazell's guards. Unlike Mac, I didn't notice any spelling mistakes, and I would definitely like to know what he thought the theme to be. I do, however, agree that anyone who enjoys mystery or fantasy would absolutely love this book!

Poison Study had me in a serious grip, and however hard I tried, it just wouldn't let go. Right from the minute I started the book, I was captivated by the unique, twisting plot and phenomenal characters. I really liked Yelena, the main character, which was very important because I was able to sympathize with her. There were certain times in the novel where I literally wanted to strangle one character in particular, which was, in a way, also important because I actually cared about what happened to the characters. Not only did I love Yelena, but I also felt that minor characters such as Ari, Janco, Rand, Dilana, and Margg really added a pop of interest and more layers to the novel. Another thing I loved about the book was how Snyder didn't just tell us right out why Yelena killed Reyad. Small details and flashbacks were sprinkled throughout the first half of the novel, leaving me clamouring to learn more about Yelena's tortured past. It helped to give the plot more complexity and keep the reader guessing. Snyder's ideas and plot twists in the novel were really unique and also contributed to my enthralment with the plot and world she created. I think the theme of this novel was to believe in yourself because the entire book was Yelena's struggle to gain confidence and really become herself again. I also think the book is about learning who to trust, because, as Valek says, "Trusting is hard. Knowing who to trust, even harder." I also found that, throughout the book, I was constantly kept guessing at who Yelena should put her faith into. Snyder slipped little hints throughout the book, and I had fun trying to make predictions about what the Criollo was and the intentions of different characters. I would recommend this amazing novel to absolutely anyone over the age of 13 for some mature content and references. Overall, I give Poison Study 5 stars out of 5 because I loved absolutely everything about this book!

Seriously. Pick this up and READ IT NOW. I am so glad it is one of the books I chose to buy. Thanks for reading! :)