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kirstieellen 's review for:
Poison
by Bridget Zinn
Poison
The Story
Poison is about a young girl, Kyra, who is a Master Potioner, or, at least, she was until she tried to assassinate the princess. Right from the get-go we’re introduced to this mysterious, independent girl who’s tried to kill royalty for the good of the kingdom, but we don’t actually know why. We know that she is certainly going to tick the box of kick-ass and totally not going to fall in love with a spontaneous male figure that might just pop up (refrain from eye-rolling, thank you), and entirely capable of fighting off any large quantity of baddies without any help, thank you very much. Yup. I read this book on a complete whim, I went, sure, let’s give this one a whirl. Maybe I’ll read the first few pages for a taster: the next thing I knew I was half way through with no intention of putting this bad-boy down. I loved this book.
So What Actually Happens?
Essentially, Kyra is trying to find the princess, now in hiding, to re-attempt to assassinate her because she is absolutely certain that this is the only way to save the kingdom. I did feel a bit so-so towards Kyra in her ambitions here, surely there’s another way? She doesn’t seem to give it much thought. But give the book some time to mature and you’ll find out soon enough.It was a frustrating wait to find out just why Kyra was so dead-set (pardon the expression) on killing the princess, her best friend. But when we realise that Kyra has the "spark" of a witch and has had a vision it's a big "ooohhh" moment. And from that point onward I was completely okay with her planning to kill her best friend - because we totally realise by that point that the princess is certainly not who she seems to be . . . A lot of the inner-workings of this book rely on retaining information from the reader to keep you in suspense with Kyra’s personality – to be fair, you don’t really know if she is, in fact, a good person. At some point during the plot she does happen across a rather dashing young man, and finds herself consistently bumping into him from that point onwards. I don’t want to give too much away, though, so I’ll leave you to discover the rest.
Good Characters and Bad Villains
There weren’t really any characters that I didn’t like in this book. It’s a very, very quick read and nothing too heavy – like I said, I read this within a handful of days, if that. So we don’t get into deep politics or weighty character constructions. It’s a straight forward plot with good and evil launched against each other in a race against time. I really, really enjoyed this book because of that. There were plenty of fantastical occurrences to go around and I love the world that was painted in my mind. Perhaps I’ve simply been influenced by the very beautiful cover, as is demonstrated here on Goodreads, but I enjoyed picturing this vividly coloured landscape full of slightly wild appearing creatures and fun adventures. It is a fun world and one I wouldn’t mind jumping back into with a different story but similar, if not the same, characters at some point in the future. So if Zinn could hurry along and write some more books, that’d be wonderful.
Edit: I later learnt that Bridget passed away in 2011. My thoughts to her husband and family, rest in peace Bridget.
Would I Like it?
If you like fantasy: yes. But more specifically, if you like Maria V. Snyder’s series, Poison Study then I really think this is the book for you. I’m not saying it rivals that series, it’s not quite that amazing, but it showcases similar tones and themes and who doesn’t love potion-magic? I love this idea of normal people learning this art and being able to do some really cool things with their own concoctions. Romance isn’t a huge feature of this book. It is there, but the main focus is on the adventure of the main character as she sorts out her own problems. I did like how the other potioners feature every now and then, casually popping into the story and usually being bonked right back out again by Kyra’s sassy awesomeness. High five to sassy heroines, hey?
Summary
4/5 stars because this book is just flat-out enjoyable. I highly recommend it to all who either think it sounds good from the plot or someone else’s opinion; it’s worth the read. It’s also a light read so don’t fear being burdened with the load. In fact, this is one of the few books I'd be keen to re-read to see what I missed but mostly just for the pleasure of experiencing the story again. I like the characters, I love the plot, and I super-enjoyed the setting, so it’s a yes from me!
Happy reading!
The Story
Poison is about a young girl, Kyra, who is a Master Potioner, or, at least, she was until she tried to assassinate the princess. Right from the get-go we’re introduced to this mysterious, independent girl who’s tried to kill royalty for the good of the kingdom, but we don’t actually know why. We know that she is certainly going to tick the box of kick-ass and totally not going to fall in love with a spontaneous male figure that might just pop up (refrain from eye-rolling, thank you), and entirely capable of fighting off any large quantity of baddies without any help, thank you very much. Yup. I read this book on a complete whim, I went, sure, let’s give this one a whirl. Maybe I’ll read the first few pages for a taster: the next thing I knew I was half way through with no intention of putting this bad-boy down. I loved this book.
So What Actually Happens?
Essentially, Kyra is trying to find the princess, now in hiding, to re-attempt to assassinate her because she is absolutely certain that this is the only way to save the kingdom. I did feel a bit so-so towards Kyra in her ambitions here, surely there’s another way? She doesn’t seem to give it much thought. But give the book some time to mature and you’ll find out soon enough.
Good Characters and Bad Villains
There weren’t really any characters that I didn’t like in this book. It’s a very, very quick read and nothing too heavy – like I said, I read this within a handful of days, if that. So we don’t get into deep politics or weighty character constructions. It’s a straight forward plot with good and evil launched against each other in a race against time. I really, really enjoyed this book because of that. There were plenty of fantastical occurrences to go around and I love the world that was painted in my mind. Perhaps I’ve simply been influenced by the very beautiful cover, as is demonstrated here on Goodreads, but I enjoyed picturing this vividly coloured landscape full of slightly wild appearing creatures and fun adventures. It is a fun world and one I wouldn’t mind jumping back into with a different story but similar, if not the same, characters at some point in the future. So if Zinn could hurry along and write some more books, that’d be wonderful.
Edit: I later learnt that Bridget passed away in 2011. My thoughts to her husband and family, rest in peace Bridget.
Would I Like it?
If you like fantasy: yes. But more specifically, if you like Maria V. Snyder’s series, Poison Study then I really think this is the book for you. I’m not saying it rivals that series, it’s not quite that amazing, but it showcases similar tones and themes and who doesn’t love potion-magic? I love this idea of normal people learning this art and being able to do some really cool things with their own concoctions. Romance isn’t a huge feature of this book. It is there, but the main focus is on the adventure of the main character as she sorts out her own problems. I did like how the other potioners feature every now and then, casually popping into the story and usually being bonked right back out again by Kyra’s sassy awesomeness. High five to sassy heroines, hey?
Summary
4/5 stars because this book is just flat-out enjoyable. I highly recommend it to all who either think it sounds good from the plot or someone else’s opinion; it’s worth the read. It’s also a light read so don’t fear being burdened with the load. In fact, this is one of the few books I'd be keen to re-read to see what I missed but mostly just for the pleasure of experiencing the story again. I like the characters, I love the plot, and I super-enjoyed the setting, so it’s a yes from me!
Happy reading!