On the Back
of the Book
Choose:
A quick death
Or slow poison...
Yelena has a choice – be
executed for murder, or become food taster to the Commander of Ixia. She leaps
at the chance for survival, but her relief may be short-lived.
Life in the palace is full
of hazards and secrets. Wily and smart, Yelena must learn to identify poisons
before they kill her, recognise whom she can trust and how to spy on those she
can’t. And who is the mysterious Southern sorceress who can reach into her
head?
When Yelena realises she has
extraordinary powers of her own, she faces a whole new problem, for using magic
in Ixia is punishable by death...
Pre Read
Thoughts
I’ve
been interested in this series for a long time so when I saw the whole trilogy
available as part of the 3 for £5 offer at The Works, I snapped them up. I mean it’s a whole series, brand new, for a
fiver! Okay, now I’ve got all over excited about the price tag I should
probably move on to other stuff. I absolutely adore the font on the cover. I
think I want to own it. The rest of the cover isn’t too shabby either; I love
the castle and the poisons. I’m not too sure about the girl though, she looks a
bit Photoshopped. On top of that, she doesn’t really remind me of Yelena. The
synopsis excites me though, it doesn’t sound like other books I read.
Post Read
Thoughts
I
really liked the book and feel that it’s a good opening to the trilogy. The
time just flew away as I read and I finished the book in a matter of hours. I guess
this is me trying to say that the author captured my attention and refused to
let me go. I wasn’t quite sure of the consistency of the technology in Ixia.
Some of the stuff didn’t match up with other stuff but I’m going to put that
down to Ixia having developed technology in a different order to Earth. I also
thought the story was incredibly obvious in places but in others I was
surprised so it may just have been that I related with certain events and
understood how they tended to end.
Yelena – She’s the main character in
the book and as leading ladies go, she’s pretty darn good. I found I could
really relate to her and could understand her actions in the past that had brought
her to her present situation. I also liked how she didn’t take things lying
down. The strength she showed to fight back is incredible and I admired that
about her.
Valek – He’s the guy who gives Yelena
a second chance at life. He’s another truly likeable character, even though he
shouldn’t be. I can see what Yelena sees in him, and I quite like it myself. He’s
the kind of guy that most YA authors try to create but fail miserably. He’s
amazing, caring and protective yet doesn’t smother Yelena and ask her to love
him after a bout half a paragraph. I cannot wait to see what happens between
them in Magic Study.
Ari &
Janco – I refuse
to write about one without the other. They’re a pair and they wouldn’t be right
on their own. I adore them; they’re loyal and full of courage. They’re also
filled with hidden depths that they keep hidden from most people. I wouldn’t
want to get on the wrong side of them, they’d annihilate me.
Overall,
I really did love this book. I found it to be enjoyable and entertaining. The strength
of Yelena and the sense of danger throughout the book are enough to make me
want to jump into book two and see what’s next for her and Valek. I think this
is a well written book that, if I didn’t
have so many other books to read, I’d want to read again and again.
My Rating
4 stars – I thoroughly recommend this
to lovers of YA fantasy. The only things that stopped me from giving this five
stars are the fact that I found some of the plot to be predictable and the
inconsistencies of the language and technology in Ixia. Other than that, this
is definitely worth a read.
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