Om Nom: Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

I enjoyed this book beyond propriety. Even now, two weeks after reading it, I'm shocked by how high I graded Poison Study. 

I picked up this book after remembering a few booktubers commenting on how much they enjoyed it and how it was underappreciated. They were right. What sets Poison Study apart from similar books is its strong sense of story. All the components of the novel flowed into each other. Yelena's voice was authentic and incredibly ordinary for someone in a position like hers. It was refreshing to experience her narration because it didn't feel overly formal or like a protagonist trying too hard to take in everything around them. No, it felt like something that I could hear myself narrating.

The characters glued this book together. Poison Study ultimately suffers from overzealous attempts to raise the stakes and incorporate all sorts of plot avenues into a story that is already bursting at the seams. The plot feels like a delivery person taking thirty flights of stairs to their customer instead of the elevator. The destination is the same, but the labor and confusion is drastically different between the two scenarios. Pacing of the plot was an issue, especially towards the end. 

Overall, I would recommend Poison Study to anyone who enjoys strong female protagonists, hints of fantasy, and humor and heart in the most unexpected places. 

The novel starts right away. Yelena's nightmare was a confusing start for me. Jumping back and forth between her past and her present, I felt like I'd just groggily woken up from my own slumber. I wonder if Snyder had a different beginning planned for the novel, since it seems like the reader is thrown right into the thick of the action without knowing anything. Being introduced to Yelena, the protagonist, is one thing, but getting to know Valek seems like a second chapter type of situation. 

Or perhaps Snyder knew that she couldn't afford to cut the drama because the stakes just keep rising. First chapter: Yelena is dragged from prison. Second chapter: Yelena is poisoned. Third chapter: Yelena nearly dies. Fourth chapter: Yelena nearly dies (again). Every chapter in the first third of the book is more dramatic than the last, the reader constantly kept on the edge of their seats. 

But the plot's faults also reveal themselves in the first third of the novel. For one, the threat of Brazell coming after Yelena is constantly perfuming the castle air. That, coupled with Yelena's new post as food taster, is somewhat exhausting for readers to keep up with. 

Ah, and of course: the magic threat. The part of the story I was the most unhappy with, by far, was the magic subplot (or main plot?). I know the rest of the series is magic-heavy, but it didn't make sense for this particular book in my opinion. Ixia is billed as a place free of magic, and it seems like magic is a threat taken seriously. But the attack on Yelena at the Fire Festival seemed to come out of nowhere, especially after Valek fought the magicians off without breaking a sweat. 

Yelena being put into the field to test Valek's plan of attack is another example of my being confused during the story. Why is Yelena in the field? What is the purpose of this? I imagine the intended outcome was for her to meet Ari and Janco, but it seems like such a circuitous route to reach them. 

But the subplots! So many subplots, wrapped up neatly for the most part but still of doubtful necessity. Margg trying to paint Yelena as a traitor is one. Why meet Captain Star, who appears once in this chapter and once at the end? Why go to such lengths to expose Rand as a traitor? Even Yelena herself realizes what a long-winded game they are playing when she thinks back to how long Valek has spent egging her on. 

The only solid arc to come out of this section is Valek and Yelena's burgeoning relationship. The mentor-turned-paramour relationship is undoubtedly trite, but I never mind reading different iterations of it. Poor Yelena! Trying to figure out Valek's feelings for her only to be pushed away and humiliated. 

I wouldn't say the ending unsatisfied me, but it did leave something to be desired. Mainly in the cohesion of the plot. 

The problem with making magic a hidden subplot (and by that I mean the magic subplot separate from the Sitian magicians who ambushed Yelena) is that it smacks you out of nowhere. Valek mentions that there is a magician in the castle in one chapter, and then all of a sudden the Commander is being brainwashed by Advisor Mogkam. Yes, there is a link, but it's tenuous at best. 

The scene with Valek pardoning a prisoner also perplexed me. Why was it included? There was no need to further endear Valek to the reader. It was a sweet scene, but unnecessary and slow. And there's little connection between the scene and any other subplot, including the magic subplot. 

I think one of the problems with the magic in this world is that it's unclear. The magicians, what do they do? What powers do they have (because it seems like they have all the powers in the world)? None of this is clarified. 

Then, at the very end: Yelena's return to MD-5. It is impossible not to feel for her. Yelena has such good intentions at heart. She doesn't want to kill Reyad to save herself, but to save her sisters from him. She defends Valek from Rand's insults. She tries to save Rand at the end despite his betrayal. She is so unequivocally good. 

When Yelena told Valek of Reyad raping her, I was relieved. Yelena finally has someone that she can confide in. She doesn't have to carry these secrets by herself anymore—Valek is helping her carry them. 

But I have to say: for a book that has been nothing but high and higher stakes each chapter, the ending feels anticlimactic. The plotlines just don't seem to converge cleanly. The criollo mystery is solved. The Commander is freed from his brainwashing. Valek and Yelena confess their feelings for each other. Brazell and Mogkam get what they deserve. 

But the Commander forcing Yelena to leave Ixia? Yelena's newfound magical powers? Her separation from Valek? It all seems rushed, even for the first book in a series. And the ending didn't exactly inspire me to pick up the next book.