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ransomoney's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this even though I probably shouldn’t have been knowing how great an author Kresley is. Im excited to continue the series.
harleyrae's review against another edition
4.0
Wow i did not think i was going to enjoy and uninjoy this as much as i did. OK so once again we have another Dystopian kinda book. So of course i had to read it even though these kind of books are driving me CRAZY!
Poison Princess is mainly about a girl named Evie whose has visions and hallucination. Little did she know that they were of the future until the flash came and whipped out humanity. Stuck with bayou boy Jack, Evie embarks on a journey to find her grandmother to help her understand who she truly is.
OK so when i first started reading this book i was confused and a little creeped out. We start out with Evie coming to this mans house, where she meets Arthur. He instantly gave me the creeps, from the beginning when he was luring her into the trap to the very end. At this point though i was both confused and angry, i didn't like how it started after the flash, i thought it was gonna be a book that started before the flash. Then when i noticed the next chapter was before the flash i was not happy, i didn't want it having skipping days on me through out the book. Luckily it didn't. But i still cant get over Arthur, talk about a nut case.
A few things i did like though was that it was no book I've read, kind a. It dealt with tarot cards, which i felt was new and fresh. Not gonna lie had a hard time remembering who was who, but oh well i'll get it eventually.I also liked that it told of before the flash happened and how she is kind a connected with it in a way. A lot of books deal with right after it happened not before, or in this case both.
Time for my favorite part....the people. I loved Evie, but well she was a little to soft, you'd think she'd be a lo tougher with what she went through. And at times she just needs to keep her mouth shut, and becoming a little more trusting, i get why she wasn't but at some point you need at least one friend you can trust. Now for Jack, he is the type of kid my mom would probably slap me for bring home. But you just cant help but love him. At times he drove me insane, but i still loved him. Now for my least favorite Selena...i got gonna be quick cause if not i might start yelling.....i really dislike her.....see quick easy and polite. Now one last character i just gotta comment on Finn, he has a very small role since he doesn't come in till the last 50 pages but, he most likely ended up being my favorite. His part was short but he just made me smile the whole time not matter how inappropriate his comments are, yep Finn is my favorite, its been decided.
All in All it was a pretty good book( i feel like i say that all the time now o.O ), not to hard a read and has a good story line. I'd recommend it to anyone wanting something a little different with a good story line.
Poison Princess is mainly about a girl named Evie whose has visions and hallucination. Little did she know that they were of the future until the flash came and whipped out humanity. Stuck with bayou boy Jack, Evie embarks on a journey to find her grandmother to help her understand who she truly is.
OK so when i first started reading this book i was confused and a little creeped out. We start out with Evie coming to this mans house, where she meets Arthur. He instantly gave me the creeps, from the beginning when he was luring her into the trap to the very end. At this point though i was both confused and angry, i didn't like how it started after the flash, i thought it was gonna be a book that started before the flash. Then when i noticed the next chapter was before the flash i was not happy, i didn't want it having skipping days on me through out the book. Luckily it didn't. But i still cant get over Arthur, talk about a nut case.
A few things i did like though was that it was no book I've read, kind a. It dealt with tarot cards, which i felt was new and fresh. Not gonna lie had a hard time remembering who was who, but oh well i'll get it eventually.I also liked that it told of before the flash happened and how she is kind a connected with it in a way. A lot of books deal with right after it happened not before, or in this case both.
Time for my favorite part....the people. I loved Evie, but well she was a little to soft, you'd think she'd be a lo tougher with what she went through. And at times she just needs to keep her mouth shut, and becoming a little more trusting, i get why she wasn't but at some point you need at least one friend you can trust. Now for Jack, he is the type of kid my mom would probably slap me for bring home. But you just cant help but love him. At times he drove me insane, but i still loved him. Now for my least favorite Selena...i got gonna be quick cause if not i might start yelling.....i really dislike her.....see quick easy and polite. Now one last character i just gotta comment on Finn, he has a very small role since he doesn't come in till the last 50 pages but, he most likely ended up being my favorite. His part was short but he just made me smile the whole time not matter how inappropriate his comments are, yep Finn is my favorite, its been decided.
All in All it was a pretty good book( i feel like i say that all the time now o.O ), not to hard a read and has a good story line. I'd recommend it to anyone wanting something a little different with a good story line.
cala_p's review against another edition
5.0
With the release of the final book coming soon, it was time for a much-needed series re-read and time to give this book a well-deserved review, since I didn’t review books in the past when I initially read this.
I recall being so obsessed with this book back in 2012 when it first released, and I’m pleased to say as an adult, my feelings remain the same. This is such a unique dystopia twist. The tarot cards in an immortal battle, almost Hunger Games style, I just love the concept so much.
The way the book unfolds is also very unique. We’re first introduced to this creepy man who is trying to poison Evie, the female main character. Before though, the deal for her “safety” is for her to tell her story of the days leading up to The Flash (the end of the world basically) and after. So these chapters with him, in his perspective, pop up every once in a while, while the main part of the story is told in the present, in her POV, as she’s recounting it.
Evie is all-around a regular teenage girl who is back from a stay at a mental hospital. Sees weird things, draws them, is basically drawing the future, unknown to her, which is what landed her stay. She returns to high school, her friends, and her doting boyfriend. We’re introduced to a new Cajun student, Jackson (Jack), who gets under her nerves, and that’s the first part of the book. The novel does really well in laying out the before and what her life was like.
Then comes the end of the world, and nearly a one year time jump, which I actually found pleasant. None of having to read about her and her mother figuring out how to survive. It’s a time jump and then Jack returns back into town and this is where the plot really takes off when she goes with him.
Like every dystopia novel, lots of survival as Evie is trying to get to her grandmother who had warned her about all of what she’s experiencing now, including the voices Evie hears as her Arcana powers are wakening for the new battle.
More characters slowly come into play. Friendship and more with Jack, and honestly, I forgot how MUCH I like Jack. I recall loving him in the first read through, and I also recall my allegiances shifting over the course of the books to the point of me hating him. Reading as an adult has me wondering if I’ll feel the same. Because Jack is so caring toward her. So protective and really, got her through the first part of all this. But enough on the romances this series brings because I’ll touch on that in another review.
All around, whether I was 18, 23, or now nearly 28, a reread of this book is as entertaining as it was the first time around. Easy novel to fall into if you like the dystopia YA books.
I recall being so obsessed with this book back in 2012 when it first released, and I’m pleased to say as an adult, my feelings remain the same. This is such a unique dystopia twist. The tarot cards in an immortal battle, almost Hunger Games style, I just love the concept so much.
The way the book unfolds is also very unique. We’re first introduced to this creepy man who is trying to poison Evie, the female main character. Before though, the deal for her “safety” is for her to tell her story of the days leading up to The Flash (the end of the world basically) and after. So these chapters with him, in his perspective, pop up every once in a while, while the main part of the story is told in the present, in her POV, as she’s recounting it.
Evie is all-around a regular teenage girl who is back from a stay at a mental hospital. Sees weird things, draws them, is basically drawing the future, unknown to her, which is what landed her stay. She returns to high school, her friends, and her doting boyfriend. We’re introduced to a new Cajun student, Jackson (Jack), who gets under her nerves, and that’s the first part of the book. The novel does really well in laying out the before and what her life was like.
Then comes the end of the world, and nearly a one year time jump, which I actually found pleasant. None of having to read about her and her mother figuring out how to survive. It’s a time jump and then Jack returns back into town and this is where the plot really takes off when she goes with him.
Like every dystopia novel, lots of survival as Evie is trying to get to her grandmother who had warned her about all of what she’s experiencing now, including the voices Evie hears as her Arcana powers are wakening for the new battle.
More characters slowly come into play. Friendship and more with Jack, and honestly, I forgot how MUCH I like Jack. I recall loving him in the first read through, and I also recall my allegiances shifting over the course of the books to the point of me hating him. Reading as an adult has me wondering if I’ll feel the same. Because Jack is so caring toward her. So protective and really, got her through the first part of all this. But enough on the romances this series brings because I’ll touch on that in another review.
All around, whether I was 18, 23, or now nearly 28, a reread of this book is as entertaining as it was the first time around. Easy novel to fall into if you like the dystopia YA books.
magikspells's review against another edition
4.0
What a fun book this was! In fact, it was so much fun that I couldn't put it down, which seems to be happening a lot with me lately. Too many single day reads are going to drain me.
Anywho! If you know anything about tarot, which I do not, then you'll know the name of the series 'Arcana Chronicles' is dervived from the tarot deck. The arcana are the powerful cards of the deck and these card characters have taken on human form. The problem is, most of the people who are these 'card characters' don't know it. Enter your main character, Evie, who is unsurprisingly one of them. Before the world went to shit, she was a well off southern girl from Louisiana with friends and a great (kinda dumb) boyfriend. But she's keeping a secret that her mother locked her away in a mental ward over the summer because she heard voices. Evie's grandmother has been telling her stories her entire life and the mental institute was meant to turn off the indoctrination.
The book begins with an alternating perspective between this creepy ass guy Arthur who has Evie in his home attempting to kidnap her. The world has become a wasteland and he's asked to hear her story of what life was like before. Her's is the dominant perspective of the book after that, while occasional interludes return to the present while Arthur considers how to take her life in some disturbing ways.
Before the world fell apart, a few new kids started at Evie's school after parish lines were redrawn. This group of five cajun ruffians are nothing but trouble, including their main man Jackson. Jackson is such an asshole like all the time, but part of me kinda dug it because he didn't pretend like he wasn't an asshole either. He was just a god fearing southern boy with an attitude problem and that's probably what helped him to survive the blasts that destroyed most of the world.
Jackson and Evie meet up again after the blasts have happened and he agrees to help her as she attempts to find her grandmother. Along the way, they meet a few new allies that help to unravel more of the secrets about Evie's abilities, visions, and the voices she hears. By the end, we've come full circle to see how Evie has ended up in Arthur's home after all.
There's a lot of questions still left unanswered and a lot more I'm interested to get to the bottom of. I'll definitely keep reading.
Anywho! If you know anything about tarot, which I do not, then you'll know the name of the series 'Arcana Chronicles' is dervived from the tarot deck. The arcana are the powerful cards of the deck and these card characters have taken on human form. The problem is, most of the people who are these 'card characters' don't know it. Enter your main character, Evie, who is unsurprisingly one of them. Before the world went to shit, she was a well off southern girl from Louisiana with friends and a great (kinda dumb) boyfriend. But she's keeping a secret that her mother locked her away in a mental ward over the summer because she heard voices. Evie's grandmother has been telling her stories her entire life and the mental institute was meant to turn off the indoctrination.
The book begins with an alternating perspective between this creepy ass guy Arthur who has Evie in his home attempting to kidnap her. The world has become a wasteland and he's asked to hear her story of what life was like before. Her's is the dominant perspective of the book after that, while occasional interludes return to the present while Arthur considers how to take her life in some disturbing ways.
Before the world fell apart, a few new kids started at Evie's school after parish lines were redrawn. This group of five cajun ruffians are nothing but trouble, including their main man Jackson. Jackson is such an asshole like all the time, but part of me kinda dug it because he didn't pretend like he wasn't an asshole either. He was just a god fearing southern boy with an attitude problem and that's probably what helped him to survive the blasts that destroyed most of the world.
Jackson and Evie meet up again after the blasts have happened and he agrees to help her as she attempts to find her grandmother. Along the way, they meet a few new allies that help to unravel more of the secrets about Evie's abilities, visions, and the voices she hears. By the end, we've come full circle to see how Evie has ended up in Arthur's home after all.
There's a lot of questions still left unanswered and a lot more I'm interested to get to the bottom of. I'll definitely keep reading.
brendalovesbooks's review against another edition
3.0
It took a long time for anything to really happen in this book, and once it finally got going it was over. I will keep reading the series, though.
halynah's review against another edition
5.0
SPECTACULAR, GRIPPING AND BREATHTAKING!
That was a genius idea to mix dystopia with Tarot, and even a greater idea to make cards characters!
The plot was very exciting and eventful with rather good pacing. I can't say that I was completely satisfied with characters, but the uniqueness of the book and the masterfulness of writing compensates for it. The prologue was very creepy, and the book in general is rather dark, even the romance is bumpy and difficult, so if you expect sweetness, softness, easy reading - that's not your book. The cliffhanger is rather merciless, so to say that I'm looking forward to the sequel is quite an undersatement!
Compliments to the author, that she has created such a different book from her IAD series - it's not easy not to repeat yourself at least in some small details, and believe me, Poison Princess is nothing like IAD, or any other books for that matter.
That was a genius idea to mix dystopia with Tarot, and even a greater idea to make cards characters!
The plot was very exciting and eventful with rather good pacing. I can't say that I was completely satisfied with characters, but the uniqueness of the book and the masterfulness of writing compensates for it. The prologue was very creepy, and the book in general is rather dark, even the romance is bumpy and difficult, so if you expect sweetness, softness, easy reading - that's not your book. The cliffhanger is rather merciless, so to say that I'm looking forward to the sequel is quite an undersatement!
Compliments to the author, that she has created such a different book from her IAD series - it's not easy not to repeat yourself at least in some small details, and believe me, Poison Princess is nothing like IAD, or any other books for that matter.
shawniebooks's review against another edition
4.0
I love the interesting world, the characters, the tension. Looking forward to starting book 2 for the November VF read.
cwkhalil's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
celjla212's review against another edition
1.0
One day...ONE DAY I will be able to read a book that is set in my home state without being horribly offended by the stereotypes contained within. But alas, today my friends is not that day.
See, the first thing is that the main character is a girl named Evangeline. How cute, right? I know it's fiction, but I've lived here nearly 28 years and I don't know one damn girl with that name. Ok, whatever. Moving on.
This is where I started to get more offended...
I just had a whole lot of wat. Talk about a whole lot of stereotypes rolled into one small section. Does this woman not understand that frog legs are a delicacy in places wayyyyy fancier than most can afford?
And finally...
ALL of my WAT. Look, I don't care how country or backwoods you are, you know what a cell phone and texting is, especially if you're of high school age. Come ON, Kresley Cole...nobody's that sheltered.
There are several more reasons why I quit reading this book, but I think being offended is probably the most important one. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this cliched YA paranormal snore.
See, the first thing is that the main character is a girl named Evangeline. How cute, right? I know it's fiction, but I've lived here nearly 28 years and I don't know one damn girl with that name. Ok, whatever. Moving on.
This is where I started to get more offended...
“Who are they?” I asked. “Have they come to start trouble?”
Grace answered, “Haven’t you heard? They’re a bunch of juvies from Basin High School.”
Basin High? That was in a totally different parish, on the other side of the levee. Basin equaled Cajun. “But why are they here?”
“They’re attending Sterling!” Catherine said. “Because of that new bridge they built across the levee, the kids at the outer edge of the basin are now closer to us than to their old school.”
Before the bridge, those Cajuns would have had to drive all the way around the swamp to get here—fifty miles at least.
Until the last decade or so, the bayou folk there had been isolated. They still spoke Cajun French and ate frogs’ legs.
Though I’d never been to Basin Town, all of Haven’s farm help came from there and my crazy ole grandmother still had friends there. I knew a lot about the area, a place rumored to be filled with hot-blooded women, hard-fighting men, and unbelievable poverty.
I just had a whole lot of wat. Talk about a whole lot of stereotypes rolled into one small section. Does this woman not understand that frog legs are a delicacy in places wayyyyy fancier than most can afford?
And finally...
"You typing to that beau of yours?" Again Jackson got that frustrated look on his face. His moods were so changeable.
"TEXTING. Yes."
ALL of my WAT. Look, I don't care how country or backwoods you are, you know what a cell phone and texting is, especially if you're of high school age. Come ON, Kresley Cole...nobody's that sheltered.
There are several more reasons why I quit reading this book, but I think being offended is probably the most important one. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this cliched YA paranormal snore.