Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

24 reviews

noellegrace8's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This type of fantasy is so hard to come by. It's more traditional, with the slow pace and less of a view into the emotions of the characters. They're more static than dynamic, coming into their own if changing at all. The combat scenes are the type of thing I would go back to read only THAT paragraph just for the fun of it (the mug scene, anyone?!). There is no sensationalism or glamorizing of the sexual assault in the book, which I appreciated. On the same note, I liked the represenation of someone whose romantic and sexual desires are unaffected by her past trauma even if that trauma(PTSD) does show up in other aspects of her life. There were no attachment disorder issues or anything, just a strong, decisive relationship. Readers who are looking for a very emotionally charged fantasy, especially on the romance side, will be disappointed in this, as the actual world-building and plot are where it shines. I honestly loved this book so much. Ready to read the others.

The one giant low point for me, despite my 5⭐ rating, is the 19 y/o with the 33 y/o thing. Gross. But to be honest, I genuinely can't imagine Yelena as any younger than 28. So... that's what I choose to believe she is lol. There's this whole section at the end of the book that has the writer going into her chapter notes on the book, and I was so disappointed to hear that a lot of her plot points were not planned, because in hindsight, I can see it. I wish I hadn't known tbh. That being said, the worst was the whole "I didn't plan for the age gap but it was the only thing that made sense." Nah. You can almost ALWAYS make writing work for your vision, you just have to have the skills to do so. Yes, Valek needed to be older to be the commander's first in command. But Yelena could have been older. Make a caste system, it seems like that's already a thing anyway with the way she's not even allowed to defend herself. She could have been owned by Reyad or something, making her disobedience punishable. There are so many ways the age thing could have been above board but Snyder deliberately chose not to put the effort in. So, again, in my head, Yelena is close to Valek's age, because she also ACTS like she is. NO 19 y/o would make the mature decisions she makes.

I give Kristin Atherton 3.5/5⭐. Sometimes she REALLY just HAS it, you know? With the way her voices are all different and recognizable especially. But she has way too much of a monotone most of the time, emotionless (that more stuffy British sound) or without enough pauses and inflection. More than that, however, is her pacing. I NEVER listen to dramatized readings at higher speeds than recorded because that, to me, is like watching a movie at high speed and therefore incorrectly depicts the art of the performance. But I listened to this on 1.5x without remorse. It was unbearably slow otherwise.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Transphobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and War

savage_book_review's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Destined for the gallows, Yelena is no fool and accepts an offer to keep her life. In return, she must become the food taster for Commander Ambrose, leader of Ixia. Risking her life with every bite, she must also navigate the 'training' given by the chief spy master, Valek, try to survive the wrath of the father of the man she killed and keep her own secrets safe.

This is a great series starter and I'm really looking forward to reading the next one, but equally it's a really enjoyable story in its own right. I'd also say it would serve as quite a good 'on-ramp' for those who are just dipping their toes into the romantasy genre - it's got the magic, the intrigue and a number of the tropes that are very familiar (although no Fae, shadow daddies or wingspans in here - but then these books do predate these fashions), but at the same time it's not overwhelmingly fantastical - you could almost be fooled into thinking you're reading more of a historical fiction novel with a twist.

While it is an easy read, there is a darker undertone to the story and, while not explicitly detailed, there are moments in Yelena's backstory that are deeply disturbing. She is a very well drawn character and, although I would have liked to have seen a bit more depth to her development, she is certainly a character you can get on board with and walk alongside. Similarly, her relationship with Valek is joyfully inevitable given the genre, and while I didn't get much 'feeling' until it was written in black and white, at the same time I didn't really need it - my imagination just filled in the gaps for me!

I was very pleasantly surprised by a layer of representation in here that came completely out of no-where, but it's a wonderful idea and I'm very excited to see how it affects the story moving forward. Not saying what the representation is as I don't want to spoil the surprise, but it gives the book a feeling that it's a little ahead of its time IMO! 

I feel like SJM might have read this book... I get definite ACOTAR vibes in a few places. The 'power twins' who teach our main character to fight with weapons and have a banter between them like no others; a grumpy yet skilled female warrior involved in the training; the man with power over the FMC that compels her back to him at regular intervals... there's even a character called Nix! 

Hoping to meet the author at RARE24 in a couple of weeks, so really want to get through the next couple in the series before then! But with how smooth this was to read, I'm hoping there won't be a problem with that!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

_rowantree_'s review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Rape, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Transphobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Outing

vidotson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, and Sexual harassment

themoodreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ekcd_'s review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I read this in high school (15 years ago) and I have thought about it regularly since then. What a good book it was, how I knew it was the beginning of loving fantasy. 

Decided to read it again and uh. It’s kinda bad? The prose is trash, like truly trash. FMC is a little annoying, a little too situationally perfect. Valek is whatever. Of course the only loveable characters are the hulking loyal body cards Yelena befriends by being ~so smol and fierce~

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jackiepreston's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Deadnaming and Transphobia

spaghettii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I could not put this book down! I had a hard time predicting a lot of the book, which was a nice change.

I knew Rand was going to betray her at some point because of how Valek described him, but wow. I like that despite being portrayed as the bad guy there was still depth to the chatacter.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

on_bries_shelf's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape

booksanna's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The Poison Study was a beautifully written story of a traumatized woman struggling with staying alive in a world that seems to be against her. As she explores the castle and her new role as the doomed food taster, she starts to realize what really matters in her life. 

Firstly, Yelena’s characterization was done very well. Her personality felt unique and realistic, and her humor has made me chuckle multiple times throughout the book. Her trauma and backstory felt very real and emotional, it added a great depth to the story and made me slightly concerned for the main heroine’s mental health. Her search for a friend and understanding amongst this madness made me root for her even more. And I loved how Yelena didn’t settle for a role of a damsel in distress and instead chose to repay the people that helped her.

It made me so happy when she asked Ari and Janco to train. I just loved that it was her first thought to become independent

. 

Secondly, the world building was an interesting concept inspired by a militaristic society with a dictator with unusual traits typically not associated with powerful leaders. I actually enjoyed the backstory of the Commander and how he gained his power. It’s really interesting a country switch from a feudalist system to a totalitarian system.

Now that I am thinking, the killing of the magical babies is loosely inspired by the Bible

. I also felt it was interesting how the Commander retained all the power through respect and loyalty and of course murder which seems to be unavoidable in ya fantasy.   I liked the different districts (which kinda reminded me of Hunger Games), and I thought the festivals were a nice touch to the story that added more intrigue. I also really appreciated the map that provided some guidance on the visual comprehension of the story. Love when books do that! 

Thirdly, although I really enjoyed the story I have some bones to pick with it. The romance between the love interest and the MC seems to have sparked from nowhere. The buildup to the confession didn’t create tension or explain why the characters fell for each other. It seemed to have just happened for the sake of the story rather than the characters own actions. I also thought Valek having every job possible and still interacting with the MC and getting sleep was highly impossible. How is he doing all that ? Otherwise I enjoyes the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, and Torture

Moderate: Bullying, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail