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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
The premise of this book is very interesting and I think had I read it in my Twilight era, I would have ATE THIS UP. But now I'm a 34 year old lady and sometimes the early 2010s YA makes me cringe. It's very "of the time" even though that's only 10ish years ago. The best way I can think of describing it is like a CW show where it's not the best thing out there but you just want to keep watching. You want to see what happens next. The MC, Evie, is a popular cheerleader rich bitch type. She gets sent to a mental institution because of visions she is having. The story starts when she gets back to school and there are new kids in school - a biker gang of Cajuns? The way the biker gang was treated and seen kind of made me a little uncomfortable. There's a lot of slut shaming and pitting women against each other. Some of the switches back and forth between present and past were a bit confusing. There were some time jumps that were jarring in the past timeline that I didn't care for. I wish I had picked this up back when it was first out so that I could have viewed it from the lens of my more naive self.
I really liked most of this. The story is interesting and fun and I liked all the characters. However, there's a framework to this that ends up rushing what should be a major moment for a main character. It becomes tell and not show, and that cheapened the final act of the story.
Some of the world building is overly complicated. It's possible that it's just my not being overly familiar with tarot, but I sometimes had no idea what they were talking about.
This has a similar overarching plot to the Immortals After Dark Series- a mystical/magical event that happens every couple of centuries. I love it there and I don't mind it here. I look forward to reading more. I hope that the rushing of a main character's arc won't happen again though.
Some of the world building is overly complicated. It's possible that it's just my not being overly familiar with tarot, but I sometimes had no idea what they were talking about.
This has a similar overarching plot to the Immortals After Dark Series- a mystical/magical event that happens every couple of centuries. I love it there and I don't mind it here. I look forward to reading more. I hope that the rushing of a main character's arc won't happen again though.
this book wasn’t as good as I remember it from years ago lol
I will be reading the second again though so don’t judge
I will be reading the second again though so don’t judge
I usually don't like reviewing with too many spoilers, but this book calls for it.
The first thing to talk about is the prologue. Holy reel a person in! Then comes the backtracking and the "get to know your MC" part--which as others have mentioned was a bit longer than what I had hoped, but after finishing the book, I see it was meant to set up Evie's future. To show what she came from and move you along with her as she reaches her fate.
Some have mentioned their dislike for the fact that a good portion of the initial "AF" was nothing more than glossed over. I, on the other the hand, was grateful that was the route taken by Kresley Cole. I didn't want to read about the boring, tedious "let's get set up with supplies and mourn a bit" time. I just wanted to get back to the prologue! I found myself comparing the days, counting down to when we'd get back to Arthur again.
The AF read was exciting and had me going crazy--right along with the MC. When the last page came, I was so frustrated knowing that it will awhile before I can read the next in the series, I think a few choice words were uttered. This book was great at a 4.5, but it's setting me up for wanting nothing less than a 5 for the sequel!
The first thing to talk about is the prologue. Holy reel a person in! Then comes the backtracking and the "get to know your MC" part--which as others have mentioned was a bit longer than what I had hoped, but after finishing the book, I see it was meant to set up Evie's future. To show what she came from and move you along with her as she reaches her fate.
Some have mentioned their dislike for the fact that a good portion of the initial "AF" was nothing more than glossed over. I, on the other the hand, was grateful that was the route taken by Kresley Cole. I didn't want to read about the boring, tedious "let's get set up with supplies and mourn a bit" time. I just wanted to get back to the prologue! I found myself comparing the days, counting down to when we'd get back to Arthur again.
The AF read was exciting and had me going crazy--right along with the MC. When the last page came, I was so frustrated knowing that it will awhile before I can read the next in the series, I think a few choice words were uttered. This book was great at a 4.5, but it's setting me up for wanting nothing less than a 5 for the sequel!
I'll try not to be spoiler-y, but I'm already into the second book and so I might be jumbling a few things. Just a few things about this:
1. This is probably one of the scarier YA books I've ever read. The apocalypse, Bagmen (zombies), and other weird shit.
2. Jackson is not the best love interest. I get that he's all hot and brooding and Cajun (in my head, he talks like Gambit, so that's hot); but I could really do without his constant mood swings and anger.
3. This is a classic case of "If only the main characters weren't so stupid and kept so many secrets and WOULD JUST TALK".
4. Evie is kind of a weak heroine for probably 75% of the book. Weren't you a cheerleader? How can you not, like, run at least?
5. This is Cole's debut YA novel, and you can tell (just by content not writing or anything). She has plenty of Adult books out there, though I haven't read them, but this book almost verges more on adult than YA. There's much discussion of sex (which is another fault of Jackson's), many "shit"s and "ass"es to be had, and it's actually pretty gory/intense (I guess?) for a YA (all you need to do here is read the prologue).
6. About the sex thing: I get Jackson's thinking about just doing it - he is after all an 18 year old boy and it's the end of the world - but damn, dude. Back the eff off. Evie has this grand idea still over her virginity and whether they will ever be "boyfriend/girlfriend" (because even with the world ending, labels still matter), but for the LOVE. Just. Gawd.
It actually looks like I didn't like this book based on the above points. I did! I just had a few issues, so I'd probably rate this more of a 3.5 than a 4 star. The plot was definitely intriguing and a new one I hadn't read before which was nice. I just felt that maybe with a different hero and heroine it would have been closer to a 5 star.
1. This is probably one of the scarier YA books I've ever read. The apocalypse, Bagmen (zombies), and other weird shit.
2. Jackson is not the best love interest. I get that he's all hot and brooding and Cajun (in my head, he talks like Gambit, so that's hot); but I could really do without his constant mood swings and anger.
3. This is a classic case of "If only the main characters weren't so stupid and kept so many secrets and WOULD JUST TALK".
4. Evie is kind of a weak heroine for probably 75% of the book. Weren't you a cheerleader? How can you not, like, run at least?
5. This is Cole's debut YA novel, and you can tell (just by content not writing or anything). She has plenty of Adult books out there, though I haven't read them, but this book almost verges more on adult than YA. There's much discussion of sex (which is another fault of Jackson's), many "shit"s and "ass"es to be had, and it's actually pretty gory/intense (I guess?) for a YA (all you need to do here is read the prologue).
6. About the sex thing: I get Jackson's thinking about just doing it - he is after all an 18 year old boy and it's the end of the world - but damn, dude. Back the eff off. Evie has this grand idea still over her virginity and whether they will ever be "boyfriend/girlfriend" (because even with the world ending, labels still matter), but for the LOVE. Just. Gawd.
It actually looks like I didn't like this book based on the above points. I did! I just had a few issues, so I'd probably rate this more of a 3.5 than a 4 star. The plot was definitely intriguing and a new one I hadn't read before which was nice. I just felt that maybe with a different hero and heroine it would have been closer to a 5 star.
This book had great potential. The idea of the different Arcana tarot card embodiments coming into play after the apocalypse and battling to the death was pretty intriguing. There was some good action towards the end with the zombies, but on the whole I thought the characters were so difficult to like. Jack was completely insufferable. I liked Evie's character, but her actions, choices and passivity drove me insane. Selena was also annoying. Matthew was pretty original and intriguing. Overall, I didn't love the book.
BAM!!! Finally a book that has truly captured my attention! absolutely loved it!
2.5
I was gonna give it 2 stars but the last chapter was good so it earned half a star on its own.
I was gonna give it 2 stars but the last chapter was good so it earned half a star on its own.
Such a great book. Was not disappointed. Cant wait to start the next one in this series.
Let me begin by stating that this book is probably not for everyone.
This is coming from someone who was eager to begin the series because of how well-received it was when it first came out.
Poison Princess didn't make sense to me at all when I first started reading it. I find it challenging to comprehend the storyline, and I wonder whether I'm reading the first book because of how dreamily the story flows and how it was written. I think I was at about 80% when things started to make more sense.
I was thrown into the world of Evie, Jackson, The Flash, and Arcana without being given any information along the way (or maybe I'm just not paying attention enough), which left me guessing until all was revealed at the very end. It's gratifying to have eventually received the answers to my lingering questions along the way.
In all honesty, I found this book to be quite boring, but I kept telling myself that it will make sense at some point, and it did at the very end. I gave this four stars because I thought the conclusion worked well overall. The first half of the book was really boring for me because of the hazy descriptions of The Flash, Arcana, Cajun, Bagman, Death, Witch, and all the other shenanigans this book offers.
Overall, I felt that this novel had great potential. For me, it's a huge positive that the plot revolves around The Major Arcana and a dystopian backdrop. When the details poured in, I feel it was worth the initial haziness in the writing.
If you want to read something fresh and interesting, I suggest this book.
This is coming from someone who was eager to begin the series because of how well-received it was when it first came out.
Poison Princess didn't make sense to me at all when I first started reading it. I find it challenging to comprehend the storyline, and I wonder whether I'm reading the first book because of how dreamily the story flows and how it was written. I think I was at about 80% when things started to make more sense.
I was thrown into the world of Evie, Jackson, The Flash, and Arcana without being given any information along the way (or maybe I'm just not paying attention enough), which left me guessing until all was revealed at the very end. It's gratifying to have eventually received the answers to my lingering questions along the way.
In all honesty, I found this book to be quite boring, but I kept telling myself that it will make sense at some point, and it did at the very end. I gave this four stars because I thought the conclusion worked well overall. The first half of the book was really boring for me because of the hazy descriptions of The Flash, Arcana, Cajun, Bagman, Death, Witch, and all the other shenanigans this book offers.
Overall, I felt that this novel had great potential. For me, it's a huge positive that the plot revolves around The Major Arcana and a dystopian backdrop. When the details poured in, I feel it was worth the initial haziness in the writing.
If you want to read something fresh and interesting, I suggest this book.