A review by wyemu
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

4.0

When creating a new series, worldbuilding is an integral part which can cause the series to sink or swim. Snyder has created, set-up, and explained with out overdoing it, how the world of her Study series functions. From the hierarchies and political dealings between the rulers of each house, to the way in which magic is viewed and dealt with, everything needs to be set up carefully and well if a series is to be born. Yelena makes a good character to explore, there's clearly a lot going on with her, however, some of it is a bit typical in the sense of the difficult past and then the discovery on previously unknown powers which will push her into the centre of the action. Not to mention the issues of who she can trust, who she falls in love with etc. Some parts of it were a little cliched with respect to those things, but Snyder handled it well and prevented it from becoming too much of an eye-rolling experience. Could be tempting to read more, and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the type of fantasy world Snyder has created, but it's not something I want to invest my time into.