Week 16 Review: The Study of Poisons

From Goodreads:

Fierce, determined, dangerous. No wonder her soul called to his.

As Chief of Security of Ixia, Valek has spent the last fifteen years keeping Commander Ambrose and his citizens safe. With his complex network of spies, informers, and soldiers, it's his job to hunt down and capture criminals, including the intriguing Yelena.

Sensing there is more to the story of why she killed a general's son, Valek arranges for Yelena to become the Commander's new food taster, training her in the delicate art of detecting poisons. As mysteries and a devious plot to harm the Commander unravel, Yelena's presence becomes crucial. Will her intelligence, stubbornness, and survivor instincts be a help to Valek's investigation, or a hindrance?

A companion novel to Poison Study, The Study of Poisons reveals Valek's side of the story. Return to the world of Ixia and discover just how the lovely Yelena got Valek's cold heart pumping!

My Review:
Oh man, this book! Poison Study is one of my top favourite books of all time, so the fact that we got the story from Valek's perspective, well, I picked it up immediately, I just had to! I loved seeing these events from his perspective, and a few things that we didn't know about!

This story is near and dear to my heart, seeing some of these familiar story beats from his perspective, and seeing things like his corps, there was this whole plotline with the black market operation going on that I'm pretty sure wasn't in Poison Study. So there was a good mix of new and nostalgia! 

The fact that Valek wanted to make Yelena a part of the team, well, it makes things make more sense. Like that she was given the investigation into the criollo. And it's funny how we know that she has magic, but at one point he thinks she failed at the potential magic she could've had, so I enjoyed that.  

The fact that we got to see the moment when he realized that he'd fallen in love with her, yeah, that makes all the rest of this book worth it, just to exist, even more so then just because it does. We also learned who was the original successor to the Commander, and I loved it! Or what the Commander intended at the end with Yelena's magician execution order. They were such great things to learn! 

Loved reading this book, and I hope it gets enough support that we get the rest of the original trilogy! 

Author: Maria V. Snyder 
Series: The Chronicles of Ixia 
Read: April 15th, 2023
Source: Bought 
Reason Why: Love her writing and this series so much, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2023 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Maria V. Snyder 
Published: April 15th 2023

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars