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A review by thunguyen
The Study of Poisons by Maria V. Snyder
4.0
4 stars out of the sheer enjoyment I personally had from reading another Valek's story.
It is not recommended to read this book before reading Poisons Study, or even before Soulfinders trilogy. There's a lot of suspension points in Poisons Study revealed at the very beginning of Study of Poisons, because Valek was the key to these secrets, so it will spoil Poisons Study if you haven't read it yet. On the other hand, Study of Poisons feels like a weird story to read as it's missing a lot of stuff, because they happened to Yelena only and they were told in Poisons Study. I don't remember everything as told in Poisons Study so at times, it' a bit hard to understand where things were in Study of Poisons.
Still, it's good fun to see things from Valek's POV, knowing that there's a lot he didn't know about Yelena and her activities, but he was falling in love with her like never before. Understanding that he himself is super loyal to who and what he treasures explains a lot about his freak meltdowns as happened to Yelena in Poisons Study.
I really enjoyed the fact that Valek's side of the story was told more like a romance than Yelena's side, how it brew from an attraction to love, hence the confession scene in the prison was perfect timing and didn't feel like it came out of nowhere.
Valek is the pinnacle of "Bad guy got the girl" trope, except, he's not bad, he's badass.
It is not recommended to read this book before reading Poisons Study, or even before Soulfinders trilogy. There's a lot of suspension points in Poisons Study revealed at the very beginning of Study of Poisons, because Valek was the key to these secrets, so it will spoil Poisons Study if you haven't read it yet. On the other hand, Study of Poisons feels like a weird story to read as it's missing a lot of stuff, because they happened to Yelena only and they were told in Poisons Study. I don't remember everything as told in Poisons Study so at times, it' a bit hard to understand where things were in Study of Poisons.
Still, it's good fun to see things from Valek's POV, knowing that there's a lot he didn't know about Yelena and her activities, but he was falling in love with her like never before. Understanding that he himself is super loyal to who and what he treasures explains a lot about his freak meltdowns as happened to Yelena in Poisons Study.
I really enjoyed the fact that Valek's side of the story was told more like a romance than Yelena's side, how it brew from an attraction to love, hence the confession scene in the prison was perfect timing and didn't feel like it came out of nowhere.
Valek is the pinnacle of "Bad guy got the girl" trope, except, he's not bad, he's badass.