I understand with full clarity why Bee calls Yelena her favourite female character: the girl deserves the title, especially when you find out what her life was like before being a poison taster and what things she had to overcome.Īs for the minor characters, I didn’t know who to trust. It was so refreshing to read about a character that had so much courage in her convictions, who didn’t have to be consoled by everyone around her. I think there’s only one moment in the book where she doubts herself morally. She’s strong in a physical sense, learning to defend herself, but she’s also strong emotionally, too. Her situations demanded that she rebel and stand up for herself. Yelena is not strong just because she has to be, but because she always was.

I loved the moment when Yelena was darting around the castle, and the woods and the festival, beating up horrible men and trying not to die. I couldn’t put the book down!Ĭharacters It would be pretty easy to call Yelena a strong female character, but that just feels like such a generic term. In general, the whole thing was well placed. Magic is illegal, but Yelena discovers that….well. Then, there’s this side plot about magicians in Sitia, south of Ixia. There was a lot of conspiracy in the castle, and people that wanted her dead, especially the evil father of the boy she murdered (for good reason!) No one can trust her, except Valek. For what seemed like a pretty easy job, trying to identify the essence of blackberries was incredibly difficult.īut Yelena also had to deal with a bunch of other stuff, not just her life threatening job. The description of taste and flavour was excellent, as was how the different poisons could kill you. In the first quarter of the book, Yelena has to learn the art of poison tasting, aided by Valek, the Edward Rochester to her Jane Eyre. This could result in sudden death, but it’s much better than being hanged. The blurb does not do it all justice.įirst of all, Yelena is a murderer and due to the Codes of Behaviour, she has to be given the opportunity to be the Commander’s poison taster. I think it helps that I haven’t read much of the high fantasy genre, but after this, I’ve very excited to read more of Bee’s favourite books! Usually, when I’m reading a book, I notice multiple similarities with something else. Boy, was I pleased with the result! ‘Poison Study’ is unlike anything I’ve ever read. So, I thought it was about time that I saw what all the fuss was about. If you watch our videos, you probably know that Bee absolutely adores ‘The Chronicles of Ixia’ series and will happily call Yelena from the ‘Poison Study’ quartet her favourite female character.

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder