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A review by doubleohelix
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
2.0
This was a book I wanted to like. It set up some intriguing ideas but didn't really follow through on them. Yelena is a character who has things happen to her. A lot. I lost count of the number of times people grabbed her while she was walking through a hallway.
None of the characters really seemed fleshed out to me. The villains were villainous, complete with maniacal laughter and laughably complicated evil plots. I immediately recognized the setup of the friend who betrays you. I was hoping for a twist I didn't see coming, and I can think of one instance in the book where it happened, which was great but didn't happen enough. The further I read, the more the writing seemed to come apart. I read on the jacket that this was a first novel and I can definitely see it in the constant (unnecessary) explanations of all the characters' actions. I don't need to see a laundry list as to why this course of action is better than that one, I really don't.
The world was interesting but didn't feel very fleshed out. Some of the language they used (very modern) seemed incongruous with the setting (castles, no firearms). I don't say this often about books but it could have used a little more exposition before jumping into the action.
In conclusion, the story was interesting enough to finish but didn't make me want to read the next one in the series.
None of the characters really seemed fleshed out to me. The villains were villainous, complete with maniacal laughter and laughably complicated evil plots. I immediately recognized the setup of the friend who betrays you. I was hoping for a twist I didn't see coming, and I can think of one instance in the book where it happened, which was great but didn't happen enough. The further I read, the more the writing seemed to come apart. I read on the jacket that this was a first novel and I can definitely see it in the constant (unnecessary) explanations of all the characters' actions. I don't need to see a laundry list as to why this course of action is better than that one, I really don't.
The world was interesting but didn't feel very fleshed out. Some of the language they used (very modern) seemed incongruous with the setting (castles, no firearms). I don't say this often about books but it could have used a little more exposition before jumping into the action.
In conclusion, the story was interesting enough to finish but didn't make me want to read the next one in the series.