18 May 2015

REVIEW: Poison Princess by Kresley Cole


Title: Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles #1)
Author: Kresley Cole
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Post Apocalypse.
Publication Date: October 2nd 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Format: Paperback
Pages: 369
Rating: 4/5




She could save the world—or destroy it.

Sixteen-year-old Evangeline "Evie" Greene leads a charmed life, until she begins experiencing horrifying hallucinations. When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future—and they're still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux.

But she can't do either alone.

With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can't totally depend on Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him?

Who can Evie trust?

As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of twenty-two teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it's not always clear who is on which side.



Poison Princess has been on my radar for a couple of years now but I had absolutely no idea what it was about. I saw a book trailer for it earlier this year (which I can no longer find) and it looked awesome, so I bumped it up on my wishlist. I was lucky enough to find it this past weekend, secondhand for $5 and I couldn’t resist.

I’ve seen very mixed reviews about it – some people I know really liked it and then others didn’t. I wasn’t sure where I was going to sit on that spectrum, even 200 pages I didn’t know what I thought about it. The first part of the book was kind of boring and I probably would have stopped if I hadn’t ahd Michelle sitting across from me and telling me it got better. She was right.

There were still parts I didn’t like. Some of the characters I felt very meh about, and there were others that I wish we’d gotten to see more of. I think one of the most surprising characters was Evie, herself. For ages I hated her, I thought she was weak and pathetic and whiny but the end completely changed my opinion of her. I hope we get to see more of that Evie.

I thought the plot was absolutely great. I love post apocalyptic things anyway but the paranormal twist just made it for me. It was such an interesting world and I can’t wait to see where Kresley Cole is going to go with the rest of the series. I also really liked the French/Cajun element within the book. It’s not very often that you see that done in YA and so it was a nice little addition to the story.

All in all, I would definitely recommend them if you’re interested in post apocalypse or paranormal novels, or if, like me, you really like fictional boys on motorbikes.