Written Review: Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Overall: 3.5
Spoiler Alert: Heavy
Summary from Goodreads :   

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…

  
My Review
This could have been the perfect romantic fantasy book. And until about the end I did absolutely love it. I had planned on giving it a 4.5 or 5 rating and adding it to my favorites. But things really started to bug me in the end. It just didn't feel the same as the rest of the novel. The tone and story was perfect until the end.  I guess, rushed, is the best way to describe it.


I'll start with the writing. The writing style reminds me a bit of J.K. Rowling's style. This can be good or bad depending on if you like that style. I however do not. The flowery and overworded detail about the stupidest shit really gets to you after a while. Much like with the some of the Harry Potter books, I found myself skimming parts and skipping paragraphs at a time. But unlike JKR, Snyder skips over important parts of the story that should be detailed. Spoiler (Two examples come to mind: Rand's death and when Yelena told Valek what Reyad did to her. Rand's death was over so quickly and then Yelana just forgets about him. The curtains and hallway can get a page but Rand dying gets a few short paragraphs. What? And then when Yelena can finally tell Valek what happened to her, it's over in half a paragraph. We don't get to see what exactly she said either, it goes something like this "then I told Valek about my past.") Really bitch, really? That's all I get? Thank you for all that suspense. 
 
Spoiler (Another thing that bugged me was how the Commander was actually born in a woman's body. It reads like it was just an after thought.) Maybe with the other books it develops more in the other books and has a greater purpose. But for this book it just didn't seem to belong.


Next the story was great. But Yelena is such a Mary Sue, except she kills people (they do deserve it though). Spoilers ahead. Spoiler (In one part the more expericed magician couldn't help the Commander out of a mind controlled state. But somehow Yelena could, "Oh I've never used purposely used magic before let me do it better than you woman who has done it her whole life." And EVERYTHING just comes so easily for her. The ghost of Reyad haunts her and she can't get rid of him. Until she literally says "Be gone" at the end of the story.) You have to be shitting me! But I do like her. She's very strong willed, a survivor, and totally kicks ass. 


Besides that stuff, I still enjoyed it and still really like it. I give it a 4 because it is totally buy worthy. There is no love triangle or a insta-love aspect. The relationship between Valek and develops more slowly. We see them meet, flirt, simmer down, heat up, fight, and watch as they fall for each other. And Yelena struggles with her feelings for him. After all the man she was previously "with" was a total sadistic dick wad. Oh and Valek. Swoon. He's strong, smart, silent, and carves beautiful little statues. 


I liked the adventure and action in this fantasy world. (Although it is a bit repetitive.) There was always something going on. Whether it was the multiple assignation attempts on her life, the fugitive exercise, the many training meetings, or the plans and attacks of General Brazell attempted take over. 


Finally I liked how the author showed us flashbacks of Yelena's past. It wasn't too much or too gruesome. She allowed your mind to decipher exactly what happened to Yelena without giving too much or too little. 



But after reading the reviews of the rest of the series I think I'm going to skip the other two. I like the way this ended. There's no huge cliffhanger and I can accept this a stand alone book. Previously I have ignored advice to drop a series and have regretted it. This time I'm going to save myself the disappointment and finish it with Yelena in Valek's arms. *Happy love sigh.

TL;DR
I would totally recommend this first novel. It's a great read. The writing is wordy and the book needs a little polishing. And it had a great plot and characters. I was hooked right away. And until the not as spectacular ending, I adored it. 

Written Review: Hater by David Moody

2.5 Stars (With spoilers)
I guess I'll start by saying that it took me 2 months to read this book. Considering it's only 288 pages long that should tell you something. I really liked the idea behind it. A pseudo-zombie book that promised action. How could it not be exciting when the world is going nuts and there are attacks by seemingly normal people who all of a sudden snap with rage? How can a book where "a world infected with fear, violence, and HATE" be so boring? I still don't know. What I do know is that for the first 150 or so nothing gets the blood pumping.    

Throughout the book there are flashes of other people changing into a Hater and attacking whoever is around them. But the action and excitement is still lack luster.  Until about 150 I was not an engaged reader. I was forcing myself to continue on by reading this during my breaks at school.

It slowly started to pick up and I found myself enjoying the story. I really liked the <spoiler>Holocaust analogy of the Haters being rounded up to be slaughtered. The battle that happens at the end is pretty much the</spoiler> only blood pumping, shaking eyes reading, thrill that I had. If not for the end I wouldn't have  rated it so high. There are two more books to read. I however have no inclination to keep going. From the reviews I've read, it doesn't get better. So  I can live with where it ended  and watch the movie to catch the rest. Maybe.

Written Review: The City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

So I can't finish the book. Usually I do a lot of research when picking a book to read. This time I picked it up at the library because I remember a few years ago my friend Katie read it and like it and told me to pick it up. If I had read it then, when I was in high school, I might have finished it and possibly liked it. But it's not 2009ish and I am no longer 16.

Now for why I can't finish it.

It's so obvious what is going to happen.  Spoiler: Jace and Clary (the author named the character  after herself!) are related and Valentine (the bad guy) is the father.  Plus I really don't care what happens to the characters. And I don't want to waste my time reading a book that is almost 500 pages when I already know the ending. 16 year old Miranda would finish it. 20 year old Miranda has better shit to do and far better books to hopefully read. With my to read books piling up, and not a lot of time (thank you college)I better end it now and read the next book on my list. With that being said up until about page 100, it was enjoyable and fun. Reminds me of Twilight.  A nice, light (yes it's 500 pages, but it's not exactly 500 pages of philosophical exploration of life or anything particularly thought provoking) young adult read that many people will wet their panties over. Suffice it to say I will not be continuing on with the series.