Poison study – Maria V. Snyder

So, I read this book. Again. And it’s still as good as I remember.
I read this book countless times, and also listened to the audiobooks several times. I like the feeling of the world Maria V. Snyder created. So each time I’m a little at a loss for which book I should read, this book (and also the complete series) springs to mind. Even though I know almost everything that’s going to happen, it doesn’t make me any less excited. When I start reading this book, my mind wanders constantly to the characters and their lives. It’s weird to think that this world doesn’t exist for real, since it’s written so detailed and realistically. There are a lot of books where the map isn’t clear to me (it is when there’s a literal map in the front, but I’m talking about books without a map ofcourse). But here the layout is completely clear, which makes it effortless to keep up with the story and where everything is (again, also in the rest of the series).

Synopsis:
The story is set in a world with two main countries: Ixia and Sitia. The first book starts in Ixia, where there used to be a monarchy, but about 15 years ago there was a take-over and now Ixia is ruled by the Commander with an (honest and fair) iron fist. The Commander rules the country with the help of Valek, an expert assassin who helped the Commander come to power. Yelena has spent the last year in jail (for reasons I can’t tell for obvious plot-spoiler reasons). When she is brought before Valek, she has accepted her faith at the gallows. Imagine her surprise when she is offered a job as the Commander’s foodtaster. Jumping at the chance for survival (even though it brings the risk of being poisoned every day, kind of like a ‘poisoned gift’. See what I did there?), she accepts the job. As the story develops, you learn that there’s more to the story than Yelena being a plain old criminal. Her past, combined with a steady development of magical powers (which are, as it happens, forbidden in Ixia), makes an interesting story that I can keep reading over and over again without getting bored.
The journey Yelena makes and her sober way of seeing things makes me like her a lot. She’s in the top of my favorite female main characters (amongst others such as Vin from the Mistborn trilogy).

Yelena’s need of learning survival skills even made me start running (for at least a week, a personal record). There aren’t many books (or humans, programs, articles or anything else for that matter) that can make me start doing physical exercise.
Also, very important to me: there is a love story in it that isn’t sappy and emotional. Lovestories in books tend to be too.. you know? I don’t really have a word for it, but I don’t like it (be it in books or in real life) when a relationships changes a person and take control of who they are. In this book, they fit so well together, but they don’t betray who they are. They accept each other the way they are and they don’t have to see each other every day to be sure that they love each other.
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Conclusion!
If you like action packed stories with an interesting plot and also a subtle love story woven into it, this is it. I love this series so much, and I can’t imagine a time when I didn’t know about them.
A great story, good and surprising plot and a nice setting.