Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

Publication Date: December 1, 2008

Source: Local Bookstore

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★★

Summary (from Goodreads): You know your life is bad when you miss your days as a poison taster...

With her greatest enemy dead, and on her way to be reunited with the family she'd been stolen from long ago, Yelena should be pleased. But though she has gained her freedom, she can't help feeling isolated in Sitia. Her Ixian background has changed her in many ways—and her newfound friends and relatives don't think it's for the better...

Despite the turmoil, she's eager to start her magic training—especially as she's been given one year to harness her power or be put to death. But her plans take a radical turn when she becomes involved with a plot to reclaim Ixia's throne for a lost prince—and gets entangled in powerful rivalries with her fellow magicians.

If that wasn't bad enough, it appears her brother would love to see her dead. Luckily, Yelena has some old friends to help her with all her new enemies...

Favorite Quote: “’Living is a risk,’ I snapped at him. ‘Every decision, every interaction, every step, every time you get out of bed in the morning, you take a risk. To survive is to know you’re taking that risk and to not get out of bed clutching illusions of safety.’”

What I Liked: This is my second re-through of the Study series and I’m enjoying them a lot more than I remember! I loved Ixia in Poison Study and now Sitia holds a place in my heart right beside it. Maria V. Snyder is so skilled at creating worlds and cultures that you forget that these places don’t really exist. The difference between governments and leadership in the two countries is fascinating. Both have their flaws and both have ways that they are better than the other.

She’s as sneaky as an assassin when it comes to placing villains into her work. Is this annoying person just someone that gets on Yelena’s nerves or will they turn out to be a great evil? Mogkan, from the first novel, started as a guard and died as so much more. Is Roze just hard on new, powerful students or is she a manipulative, evil bitch? Keep reading to find out!

Speaking of assassins, how about that Valek? I noticed, while reading other reviews that people were disappointed that Yelena tended to just use him for sex… But I think that it’s a very important matter. In Poison Study, Yelena is afraid of her body and what she can do with it, what has been done to it and how she’ll find her soul again. Now that she’s gained her confidence back, she knows she needs to let her sexual prowess shine after all the rape and pillage she’s been through in her life. Snyder tends to make the men she writes into sexual deviants, but she also makes Yelena’s sexuality known and mentions how important it is.

This novel is about finding yourself. Tying loose ends. Weaving your story (with the help of indigo painted men). It’s chock full of feminist ideals, intense imagery and really cool horses. What’s not to like?

What I didn’t Like: There are certain points in Snyder’s writing that she repeats words or phrases a little too much and it kind of breaks the suspension of disbelief just out of pure annoyance. Of course, this is her writing style and I have no quarrels with it… It just irks me for a bit but then I get right back to the story being told. Another thing I disliked was that Valek is only in the last half of the novel… Other than that the book was lovely, just as expected!

Why You Should Read It: This book is the perfect second installment to the wonderful Study series. If you like magic, horses, sword fights and really hot assassins, I suggest you pick this one up and give it a go.

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Rating ★★★★★

A Brief Summary: 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...

Favorite Quote: “An execution order hasn’t kept us apart before. There are ways to get around it. We will be together.”

“Is that an order?”

“No, a promise.” 

Why You Should Read It: I could spend days going on and on about why you should pick up this series and read it, but I will start with only one; to experience the wonder that is Valek. He’s sultry, he’s sneaky, he’s conniving and demanding and he’s pretty much the love of my life. Sure, there have been other YA stories where I’ve fallen in love with one of the characters but Maria V. Snyder writes her characters in such a way that you don’t realize how much you care for them until it’s 3 in the morning and you’ve powered through an entire book just to see what happens. Even the way she wrote Valek was like an assassin. She snuck him in, sprinkled him with some apprehension and a bit of a sharp wit. He’s as addictive as Criollo.

Don’t even get me started on Ari and Janco… This was my second read-through of this book and I was absolutely disgusted with myself when I rediscovered the Power Twins because I had forgotten about them in the first place! But I’ll save the gushing about them for another time, now I must move onto the story.

Snyder lays a map of Ixia in front of our eyes from the beginning, trapping you in her world. She moves effortlessly between paragraphs, months passing from sentence to sentence. That’s one of the things I like most about her writing; it doesn’t drag on and on with the unimportant details of the love interests eye color and smell. She mentions his blue eyes and his smell and you remember it because she’s just that dang good. I felt as if I was swept away in Yelena’s adventure because of the quick passage of time instead of festering in angst like in other YA novels.

This is just the first book and it’s full of twists and turns and surprises that you’ll never guess… Even if you’re reading it a second time. I can’t wait to pick up Magic Study again and power through it with the intensity I felt with Poison Study. Hey, it’s a long weekend because of the holiday. Who says I can’t finish the entire series? I’d bet a month’s wages! (RIP Rand :’( )