Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a great read! The story reminded me of Obernewtyn, which I just read, and also Throne of glass – book books that I loved. Yelena, who had been spending her time in a prison cell for murder (totally justified murder that is) is picked as the official food taster for the current Commander of the lands. She has to learn what different poisons taste like in order to identify them in the Commanders food. Throw in Valek, who is teaching her about the poisons along with driving her crazy with his rude comments (yeah…. You know there is going to be some swoon happening there!!) and a cast of characters from Cook to seamstress, to medic, to guards, all living in a mixed up castle, along with a number of choices for who the evil bad guy/girl really is and you have yourself a good story!
I really liked Yelena and I liked watching her get to know her place in the castle and also grow more confident in her skills and abilities. Valek was a strong character who I could just tell was a big softie and the evil baddies, were definitely evil. Lots of action and adventure with swordplay and fighting and a little bit of swoon as well. I found the writing just flowed and right now I really just want to get the second book in the series so I can stay in this world for a little but longer.
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