Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Poison Study

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

45 reviews

spaghettii's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I could not put this book down! I had a hard time predicting a lot of the book, which was a nice change.

I knew Rand was going to betray her at some point because of how Valek described him, but wow. I like that despite being portrayed as the bad guy there was still depth to the chatacter.

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poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

The story premise is good but it almost reads like a rough draft. We get told rather than shown what happens. The narration was also flat and the strange music at the end of every chapter break pulls you out of the story and at times seems to mock the story itself. if you are interested in this series, I hear there is a revision coming. Listen to that one instead. its probably better done and the story itself isn't bad.

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jongseobxenvy's review

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adventurous funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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xerlynz_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I didn’t expect much from this but considering I finished it in one sitting I guess I did enjoy it more than I thought.

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jamby4546's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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maevebillings's review

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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_gabi_starry_paperback_'s review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Yelena had been sentenced to death for murdering the son of a very powerful man. She's awaiting her execution in a cell when Valek - the head of intelligence for the Commander of Ixia and the famous assassin who took the life of the last King, gives her a choice: die for her crime or become the Commader's taster and risk her life checking the ruler's food for poison. Yelena, wanting to live, chooses the latter.

I absolutely adored this book. One of the best books I've read this year!

I haven't read a protagonist as good as Yelena in a while! This girl just stole the book for me. Yelena is an incredibly complex character, one whose layers are being peeled off as the story progresses. She goes from a total mystery (why is a 19/20-year-old charged for murder?) to one of the most heartbreaking characters I have ever read to a fierce young woman. She's incredibly intelligent and resourceful which makes her a force to be reckoned with but she never comes off as a "mary-sue" type of character. Her journey in this book is just stunning.

She's supported by a wide range of characters each better the last most notable Valek. He is just a treat, a total scene-stealer that you cannot resist. Their romance is just *chef's kisses*. A slow burn of all slow burn! But, boi is it worth it. This book made me literally giddy with excitement for them.

The worldbuilding was well done. So far the world didn't blew me away but I'm certainly intrigued by it. I wish there was more history and details in the book, but since this takes place mostly in one place I can forgive not developing the entire country and lore for now.

This is definitely a character-driven story so the plot isn't anything out of this world, but the mystery plotline that runs alongside Yelena's development kept me guessing and ultimately concluded in a very satisfying way. I enjoyed how this world and its politics are not so black-and-white and how that is reflected in the characters' behavior, their choices, and the plot. I also enjoyed how daring some of it was. There were themes implemented and choices made by the author that I don't see often in modern YA. It felt like a breath of fresh air in that way.

A final note I would like to make is that despite it being YA, this book doesn't pull its punches. There are a lot of hard-hitting scenes and themes that made me wonder whether this shouldn't be considered NA or even Adult. Ultimately, I still think this is YA, albeit for older teens, but I would recommend checking out trigger warnings if you're affected by themes of assault, violence against children, and rape.

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