Book Review: Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
Release Date: May 16, 2008 (UK)
Publisher: MIRA (UK)
Series: Study #2
Rating: 5 out of 5
Recommended? Yes!
Buy the Book: Amazon US

Yelena is a survivor. Kidnapped as a child, held prisoner as a teen, then released to act as a poison taster, she is now a student of magic. But these magic skills place her in imminent danger, and with an execution order on her head, she has no choice but to escape to Sitia, the land of her birth.

But nothing in Sitia is familiar. As she struggles to understand where she belongs and how to control her powers, a rogue magician emerges—;and Yelena catches his eye. Suddenly she is embroiled in a situation not of her making. And once again her magical abilities will either save her life…or be her downfall.

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 new-found 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. - Goodreads page

Okay, warnings. More heavy gushing (obviously, did you expect anything else?) and spoilers from book 1. If you want to read my spoiler-free review of Poison Study, then go and do so!

Magic Study picks up a few weeks after Poison Study ended, with Irys taking all of the kidnapped children home to Sitia. Yelena is the next one to be reintroduced to her family, and she’s worried. She’s been away for fourteen years – what if they don’t want her? Or, what if she’s not really a Zaltana? Luckily, she is.

Meeting Yelena’s family was, in a word, strange. I had expected them to be like Yelena, but they were nothing of the sort. Although, it is explained how Yelena’s love of walking amongst the treetops came about. Hint: It’s in her blood. Anyway...

After a few major events, and Yelena getting into even more trouble, she makes her way to the Keep, where she studies magic with Irys. She’s not very good, but her mind reading skills are incredible. It’s obvious she has a lot of power stuffed in there. But will she tap into it?

Magic Study was fast paced, emotional and – in some places – very mysterious. It felt very different to Poison Study, but it also felt the same. I’m not making much sense. But I think the whole “feeling different, but feeling the same” thing was intentional, as Sitia is a very different place to Ixia. For one, no one wore uniforms in Sitia. Secondly, there were no beggars in Ixia. Which did I prefer? To be honest, I love Ixia a little bit more, and I’d prefer to live there. As long as the Commander and Valek liked me, of course ;)

Which brings me onto my next point. Valek?! Where were you? Sure, he’s in this book, but not as much as I’d hoped. He shows up over 250 pages in, and we hardly see him! And when we do see him, we don’t see him being the intelligent self he was in PS, we just hear about his ventures. And whenever Yelena and Valek are together, all they seem to be doing is having sex. Sure, this may be realistic, but can’t they do something else? Like go on a proper adventure, or have Valek save Yelena... not that she needed it anymore, because she was badass with her magic skills. But anyway, when he was in a few of the scenes, he was HOT. And the way he showed up was just... *swoons some more* Hilarious!

I did love Magic Study, but just not as much as Poison Study. I can’t wait to read the next book, and I hope Valek, Ari and Janco are in it a lot more! I love them all. Best. Cast. Ever. Oh, and Kiki was the best horse in the world. I want her <3

Book Review: Poison Study by Maria V Snyder

Poison Study by Maria V Snyder
Release Date: September 21st, 2007 (UK)
Publisher: MIRA
Rating: 10 out of 10
Recommended? YES!!!!
Buy the Book: Amazon US

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… - Goodreads Page

Oh. My. God. I’ve read Maria V Snyder’s other series, Inside Out, so I knew her writing and storytelling skills were great, but this was just incredible! Why has no one forced me to pick this up before? *glares* I loved it! So, as you can probably tell, this review is going to be full of gush. And swooning over Valek. Just a warning ;)

Our main protagonist Yelena is about to be executed for killing a General’s son, when she is taken to meet a man who offers her the choice to become the Commander’s poison tester. Yelena, not wanting to die quite yet, accepts, and from there we see her go through her training, tests and getting into lots of trouble.

The characters were, for me, the main draw of this book. There’s Yelena, who is a strong protagonist and looks out for herself really well. Then there’s Valek, the Commander, Janco, Ari, Rand, Brazell and more who are all incredibly well developed characters with more sides than a tetracontagon. I don’t know how Snyder does it, but she always makes me fall in love with (almost) every single character in her stories. Sheer brilliance, ‘tis.

Move over Dimitri Belikov, and create a space on that 1^st place podium you’re currently standing on, for *drum roll* Valek! Oh my goodness. *swoons* How is it possible to hate a character so much in the beginning, only to love him at the end? Okay, I’ll be honest, I saw what Snyder was doing, and I never hated Valek. Yeah, I may have been a bit weary of him and scared, but I could never hate him. He’s badass. He’s incredibly intelligent, he’s a badass fighter, he’s good looking, he’s the Commander’s second in command... I could do this all day. I love him.

Need I say more? I think you get the gist from all of this gushing. This book was fantastic, and has soared to the top spot of my list of favourites. I’ve read the second book as well, which is also brilliant. I highly recommend buying this RIGHT. NOW. and if you have  it sitting on your bookshelf waiting to be read, then what are you waiting for? Bring this to the top of your TBR piles, because this is TOP PRIORITY. *breathes* Yeah, read it ;)