Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

When I first got Poison Study at Marshalls for only $6.99 I thought it was a great deal for such a good book. Reading the summary sparked my interest instantly. The summary on the back of the book is:

Murder, mayhem and magic ... 

Locked in a coffin-like darkness, there is nothing to distract me from my memories of killing Reyad. He deserved to die - but according to the law, so do I. Here in Ixia, the punishment for murder is death. And now I wait for the hangman's noose.
But the same law that condemns me may also save. Ixia's food taster - chosen to ensure that the Commander's food is not poisoned - has died. And by law, the next prisoner who is scheduled to be executed - me - must be offered the position. 

What caught my attention was the first 3 words. The alliteration captured my mind and told me to continue on. The whole plot of this story is interesting and unique. Snyder had kept the mystery really well from beginning till the end.

The characters slowly evolved as I read more into the book. 19 year old Yelena, had her mysterious past revealed slowly throughout the book yet her whole story was not revealed. The detail was marvelous with all of the practice scenes and the fighting scenes. Emotions of the main character had been accurately described. The words on the page of the book could make you want to cry or scream from anger. The slow build up of sexual tension between Yelena and her instructor Valek was absolutely frustrating, but it had paid off in the end.

I would rate this book PG-13 (even though I read it when I was 10 years old) because of the fighting scenes in the book. There is no foul language in the book or racy love scenes. The book includes magic, death, action and love. Why wouldn't it be good? 

The genre of Poison Study is fantasy and young adult fiction.

Rate: 5 Stars
The details, how the characters were developed, the dialogue and the unique plot.