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A review by rays_reads
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
dark
medium-paced
5.0
I've never heard of this series or author, and considering it was published a while ago, I didn't have many expectations as I thought it was YA, but WOW.... I was bamboozled. And I loved every minute of it!
Please note that as the title suggests, the book is about poisons, but it's also about a dictatorship government, corruption, child abuse, rape, and torture. There were so many dark elements, but it matched the overall vibe of the book and the characters' attitudes. Yelena was a closed off and scared individual, as she should be, and I loved her journey in finding herself and gaining the strength to be able to pursue self-defense. Unlike in most fantasy books where the character had no fight experience Yelena was really smart and thorough, she had a survival instinct (which is because of a certain reason but nevertheless it was a really good instinct to have) which helped her overcome hard times in the beginning.
She gets into a lot of shit though since the book is dark, so uhh... don't go into this book thinking it's happy-go-lucky because it's survival of the fittest at least 89% of the time.
Moving onto Valek, his character was super mysterious, which matched his overall character. He kept me and Yelena on our toes because I could never tell if he was happy or angry with her. As a second in command, he's definitely seen some stuff 😂 i hope in the future books we get more depth from him as I do feel like his broody and mysterious stature was kinda getting old towards the end of the book and the author did fix it a bit towards the end but I wish I got more so I'm sure I'll read about it in later books.
Also, Valeks and Yelenas relationship as a whole was an interesting dynamic as I wouldn't say it's enemies to lovers but definitely not friends to lovers. I think it was mainly just girl trying to survive, and boy helps, both characters lie and hide... and then along the way, they scheme and bond through shared trauma. It worked for the book, and I'm excited to see how this dynamic will change now that they trust and love each other.
Overall rating: 5/5
Please note that as the title suggests, the book is about poisons, but it's also about a dictatorship government, corruption, child abuse, rape, and torture. There were so many dark elements, but it matched the overall vibe of the book and the characters' attitudes. Yelena was a closed off and scared individual, as she should be, and I loved her journey in finding herself and gaining the strength to be able to pursue self-defense. Unlike in most fantasy books where the character had no fight experience Yelena was really smart and thorough, she had a survival instinct (which is because of a certain reason but nevertheless it was a really good instinct to have) which helped her overcome hard times in the beginning.
She gets into a lot of shit though since the book is dark, so uhh... don't go into this book thinking it's happy-go-lucky because it's survival of the fittest at least 89% of the time.
Moving onto Valek, his character was super mysterious, which matched his overall character. He kept me and Yelena on our toes because I could never tell if he was happy or angry with her. As a second in command, he's definitely seen some stuff 😂 i hope in the future books we get more depth from him as I do feel like his broody and mysterious stature was kinda getting old towards the end of the book and the author did fix it a bit towards the end but I wish I got more so I'm sure I'll read about it in later books.
Also, Valeks and Yelenas relationship as a whole was an interesting dynamic as I wouldn't say it's enemies to lovers but definitely not friends to lovers. I think it was mainly just girl trying to survive, and boy helps, both characters lie and hide... and then along the way, they scheme and bond through shared trauma. It worked for the book, and I'm excited to see how this dynamic will change now that they trust and love each other.
Overall rating: 5/5