Reviews with content warning for Rape - Poison Study

I zoomed through this story. The characters were likable, the concept and the world were well thought out, and the plot was intriguing. For a YA book, this was a delightful palate cleanser from all the smut I usually read. I’ve already requested the second book in the series from the library because I have to know what happens!

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malima's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Poison study starts with Yelena, a girl that has been in prison for a year because she killed the son of a powerful man, both of which had tortured her, being selected to become the food taster of the Commander, Ixia's ruler, after the previous one had died.
She learns to recognise poisons and to defend herself, she makes some friends, falls in love, finds out she has magic, and gets involved in the country's politics.
Mostly, this book is okay. It's exactly what you'd expect from a YA Fantasy book, nothing less, nothing more. Nothing bad about it, but also nothing special about it.
All the relationships - both platonic and romantic - somewhat lack chemistry, but not to a degree that makes them unbelievable either.
I kept reading because it was an enjoyable enough read and I had no reason to stop, but planned not to continue with the sequel. Luckily, the end does pick up, and once we get to know more about the political plot brewing inside Ixia and Yelena gets involved in it, the plot did catch my interest.
The relationships didn't become any more interesting, though, but the dimension of their political allyship between Yelena and her love interest made me willing to overlook their lack of chemistry towards the end.
There is no way this series will become one of my favourites, but the glimpse we got into the magical and political landscape in Ixia and its neighbour Sitia towards the end, makes me think the series will probably turn out to be in overall an enjoyable, if mediocre, read after all.

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stephaniemcuervo's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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mango5564's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? No

4.5

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msstearns13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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inkdrinkermal's review

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.5

The plot was entertaining and Yelena and Valek were very fun characters.

The writing was occasionally graphic and occasionally juvenile, which left me with a feeling of whiplash.

I had a hard time keeping many of the side characters straight. It suffered the weakness that many YA novels do of trying to do too much that ends up not being related to main plotline.

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