Reviews with content warning for Rape - Poison Study

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

115 reviews

mallorypen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

This was overall a fun read! The world building was basic but tight; the trope of hidden magic user in a land that prohibits magic was well done; and the way the author described the trans character coming into his own was really well done, if brief.

I particularly enjoyed the set up of a poison taster as the protagonist in this harsh, no-nonsense society of rules. I’m sympathetic to the Commander - especially because of his secret - but the totalitarian rule feels like the pendulum swung too far in the other direction. The mercy he shows at the end is a little weird, but I got what the author was trying to do.

What I didn’t love was how the author handled Yelena’s trauma. We meet her when she’s dealing with the murder of her abuser, bundled with years of horrific treatment from a father-figure, and followed with over a year of imprisonment. Then, Yelena is subjected to additional mental torture thinking she’s either going to be poisoned, not going to get her cure, or killed by General Brazell’s cronies. Throughout the book, Yelena does have moments of dealing with her past - being haunted by the ghost of her rapist, suffering doubts, panic, paranoia, and then asking to be taught self defense, finding a network of friends, coming into her power - but the rape is treated like just another abuse. The only mention of working through that trauma is as she’s having sex with Velak, thinking “oh good, I’m still able to have good sex even with this abuse in my past!” I’m not sure what I was hoping would happen, but the grin and bear it method felt a little shallow.

Overall, Yelena is a little one-dimensional - she’s powerful, good, is able to succeed in everything she’s tasked to do. I would have enjoyed seeing her with a few more human qualities, especially as it pertains to dealing with her traumas.

I really liked Ari and Janco as side characters - supportive, loyal and funny, but also good foils to all of the political intrigue. Their loyalty to Yelena felt a little intense very early, but I enjoyed reading about them.

Valek … what to say about Valek? I love an enemies to lovers, but I don’t like a power imbalance breeding romance. The author was careful to say they were equals once they confessed their feelings to one another, and Valek had revealed Butterfly Dust wasn’t a thing and Yelena told him about her magic, but it didn’t feel like the most natural romantic development, or that the power imbalance was really gone or not. I liked Valek’s character as an assassin and loyalist to the Commander, but the example of Valek being merciful to the farmer but still being willing to kill Yelena if the Commander ordered it felt a little weak. The farmer example made Valek much more likable, but I would have preferred a “Don’t make me choose” moment where the Commander allowed Yelena to escape without having Valek prove that he would be more loyal to the Commander versus Yelena.

Again, I enjoyed this book overall, and I’d be interested in reading the sequels!

Content Warnings

aseel_reads's review

Go to review page

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

this had so much potential and it just flopped so bad. the magic system was quite vague and i don't see the point of its addition. the story was quite predictable as well.

Content Warnings

siglerbooknook's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

kincardine's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

ardentlyalexia's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

5.0

Content Warnings

lisa_m's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Don't get me wrong, this was a good book. I might even say it was a great one but it was just nothing special. I really wish I would have enjoyed it more. This could have been a five star read but something was missing. I liked the writing, loved the characters, loved the plot and magic system. My only real concern was that the romance felt rushed and underdeveloped. Since the rest was good I don't really mind though.

I think the reason I didn't like it as much as I could have is how much YA Fantasy I have already read. At some point it just starts to become repetitive. I really hope that is not true though because I love YA Fantasy. :( If I read this book 2 years ago I would have probably liked it more.

Another concern I had was that certain serious topics where discussed quite graphically which I don't like and which always makes me uncomfortable. It was used to establish Yelenas character and her past trauma but still I wished it had been less graphic.

Nonetheless I will definitely be reading the following books of the series. I also hope Ari and Janco will be in the next booka as well since they were my favourite characters. (Btw. I thought their friendship could have been established better. They basically went from not knowing Yelena to wanting to die for her which felt very rushed.) I guess I just wished it was longer but since it is the first book of a series that's not really a big issue.

Edit: One more thing. I didn't expect the romance to be Between thlse two people for two reasons. 1. it was underdeveloped and 2. he is 33 and she is 19!! I didn't even realise it that much while reading the book but at first I did think he was going to be a sort of mentor/father figure. When they started hinting at a romance I aged him down in my mind but now that I finished the book I looked it up and he really is 33! Idk what to think about that tbh

Content Warnings