Poison Study, Maria V. Snyder.

Title: First Study
Author: Maria V. Snyder.


When word that Yelena is a Soulfinder - able to capture and release souls - spread like wildfire, people grow uneasy. Already Yelena's unusual abilities and past have set her apart. As the Council debates Yelena's fate, she receives a disturbing message: a plot is rising against her homeland, led by a murderous sorcerer she has defeated before....

Honour sets Yelena on a path that will test the limits of her skills, and the hope of reunited with her beloved spurs her onward. Her journey is fraught with allies, enemies, lovers and would-be assassins, each of questionable loyalty. Yelena will have but one chance to prove herself - and save the land she holds dear 




Yes, the contents of this book really are as cheesy as the blurb. I'm not against a little cheese, honestly, in fact I really love a few good slices of cheddar on a bit of toast (I'm half Welsh, it's in the blood) but this was really disappointing to me. Poison Study is the third in a series of books, The Study Series, that I started reading back when I was visiting Washington DC; I picked up the first quite by chance in a library in Tacoma Park and I enjoyed reading it so much I went back and found the second book later that week.


These are not particularly challenging books; they're easy reads but they are definitely good fun, which might be obvious considering how quickly I tore my way through the first two. Sadly, what I liked about the first two, the entertainment, was gone in this the third book. To me it seemed a bit convenient, I didn't like the resolution to the plot, it was far too rushed and predictable. It really is a shame because I think Snyder actually created an interesting fantasy world here, I enjoyed characters like Valek and Leif so much but they seemed to become more absent as the series went on and I found myself missing them hugely. In a way this novel leaves me wanting more, more from Yelena, more from the secondary characters I enjoyed so much in the first book, and knowing that it is the end of the trilogy made me sad when I closed the book because I knew I wouldn't be getting more of what I wanted.  I think Snyder was let down by her own prose a little bit, especially in the third instalment. All that said I would recommend this series, particularly the début novel, Poison Study. It's that is a nice, comfortable read and while walking a dangerously thin line between awesome and Mary Sue, Yelena is still likeable and compelling. If you like fantasy check it out, if not you might not be able to put up with some of the plots and twists Snyder pulls, so maybe give it a miss. 

None of the above stopped me from snatching up Snyder's second series, however, the Opal Cowan books, check out my reviews of them and let me know what you think if you read them too.