Poison Study - Maria V. Snyder

Poison Study (Study #1)
by: Maria V. Snyder

4.5 of 5 stars

Choose: A quick death…Or slow poison...

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...

First book of the Poison Study! I was very trill to read them, but I do follow my "to-read" list order step by step, or more like book by book. Finally, I have the oportunity to read it.

It was an excellent journey. I still trying to think where Ixia and Sitia could be located in the world. Maybe in the Oriental part, but I still don't know.

Yelena is a young girl, I estimated around 19 years old. She will be executed, because she killed someone and that someone was a General's son, which they are very important in Ixia. The whole territory is divided in two: Ixia and Sitia. This book sets in Ixia. Ixia is divided by 8 Militar Districts (MD), which remind me a little bit of The Hunger Games book, because every MD have something to do, like agriculture, livestrock, military and others. Coming again to Yelena topic, she really have good reasons to kill Reyad. But still, she was improsioned and Reyad's father, the General of MD-5 Bracell, is seeking revenge and in the whole book he is trying to kill her.

Now, before she could be executed, Valek (which is almost the second in command of the "president") must offered her the place of food taster for the Commandanter (aka, the president). She would be tested and she must learn every poison in Ixia to pass these tests. She accepts, obviously. And well, yes, she passed the tests. But that's not the problem of the book. The problem is Bracell and his advicer Mogkan, which are trying to optain power by killing the Commandanter. She is their way, so they need to kill her. What they didn't think was the Valek was there to protect her, plus her mystery protective methods (magic).

Yelek! That's my ship name for Valek and Yelena. Thank God that this book didn't have a love triangle. Valek is very rough, but sweet at the same time. He could be bloody, but romantic in the same way. I still thinking why he have this kind of super power that magic cannot touch him, but oh well. He loves Yelena and she love him back! That's what matter. But magicians are not allowed in Ixia. Their love is ilegal. Could they overcome this problem? We should read the next book to know it!

Very trilling book!
xoxo, sam.