Fire Study: Study Book 3 Review

Title: Fire Study
Series: Study Book 3

Author: Maria V. Snyder

Pages: 448
 Publisher: Mira

Publication Date: March 1, 2008

My Edition: Paperback

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy

Borrowed from: the Library

Summary from Amazon:

The apprenticeship is over— now the real test has begun. When word that Yelena is a Soulfinder—able to capture and release souls—spreads like wildfire, people grow uneasy. Already Yelena's unusual abilities and past have set her apart. As the Council debates Yelena's fate, she receives a disturbing message: a plot is rising against her homeland, led by a murderous sorcerer she has defeated before.…

vHonor sets Yelena on a path that will test the limits of her skills, and the hope of reuniting with her beloved spurs her onward. Her journey is fraught with allies, enemies, lovers and would-be assassins, each of questionable loyalty. Yelena will have but one chance to prove herself—and save the land she holds dear.


Review:

Fire Study was a bittersweet end to the great Study series. At first it started off a little slow, but thankfully it speed back up to the awesome action plot with kick-butt Yelena starting some more trouble. Yelena finally discovers she is a soulfinder and starts to develop more magical power which causes lots of disruption in Sitia and eventually Ixia. She faces lots of people wanting her dead causing tons of action scenes. The fantasy and magical elements in Fire Study were really interesting and fun to read about. The last 200 pages were very hard to stop reading and were filled with new and old characters.


I really like how well-written the books are and adore the characters even more! I absolutely love Valek and Yelena. They are a fun couple to read about, but so much trouble seems to follow them. The first book in the series was amazing, but the second two in the series weren't as great. They both were really good, but weren't as powerful as Poison Study. I'm actually very sad now that the series is over, but I look forward to reading the next series based off a minor character in the Study series!

Rating:

Magic Study: Study Book 2 Review!

Title: Magic Study (Study Book 2) 
Author: Maria V. Snyder 
Publisher: Luna 
Publication Date: October 1, 2006
Pages: 392 
My Edition: Hardback 
Reading Level: Young Adult 
Where I got it: the Library 

Summary from Maria's website:

Yelena's new role as Soulfinder has made the Sitian Council uneasy. Worried that her new powers will corrupt her, the Council debates her fate. Yelena, though is trying to keep Sitia and Ixia from going to war. In the middle of political wrangling, Yelena receives a disturbing message: a plot is rising against her homeland, led by Ferde, the Soulstealer who murdered eleven girls and has escaped from prison with Cahil Ixia’s help. Cahil believes if he joins with the new Daviian Clan, he will have enough support to regain the Ixian throne. Testing the limit of her skills, Yelena becomes embroiled in the desperate fight to stop Ferde and the Daviian Clan from siphoning enough power to unleash a Fire Warper on the world. That would be worst than war between the northern and southern lands. Especially since, of all the powers Yelena possesses, she couldn't set fire to a candle wick if her life depended on it. And there is more at stake than just her life. 

Review:

Magic Study was a great sequel to Poison Study which by the way was amazing! It was a little slow at times, but at the end I couldn't stop reading. I kept flipping page after page to find out what action or trouble was going to happen next. I loved that my favorite Ixian characters (Ari, Janco, and Valek) were in the book even though Yelena wasn't in Ixia with them. The characters are so well written and described, it just makes me fall in love with the story. Yelena and Valek are a perfect together, and I really like reading about their troubles and their sweet & loving relationship. 

The books have the perfect amount of action, fantasy, adventure, mystery, and romance. The plot was very intriguing and surprising. I didn't expect much of what happened in the book, so it was very awesome to learn & read about Yelena's magic and finally read about her long-lost family. I now can not wait to get my hands on the next and I think final book of the series! I hope Fire Study will be as good as the first two and end nicely. On my next trip to the library, I definitely will be getting it!
 

Rating:

Poison Study: Study Book 1 Review!

Title: Poison Study (Study Book 1) 

Author: Maria V. Snyder 

Publisher: Mira 

Pages: 416

 Publication Date: March 1, 2007 

My Edition: Paperback 

Reading Level: Young Adult 

Where I got it: Harlequin Teen Panel 

Summary from Maria's website:

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered a 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 dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and she develops magical powers she can't control. Her life’s at stake again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren’t so clear! 

Review: 
Wow, this book is so amazingly great. I love it so much! The story is very original and has a fantastic, intriguing plot. It is so well-written, exciting, adventurous, and such a great read. I fell in love with the characters especially Yelena, Valek, Ari, and Janco who all have such strong qualities and are very likable. I couldn't put the book down once getting really into it, and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. Poison Study always kept me hanging and made me never know what was going to happen...if Yelena would survive the many death threats and the attempts of murder or escape from her poison and being the food taster. 

I felt so bad for all of torture and even rape she experienced with her old master and his son, and it was terrible that she was going to be hanged for just defending herself to stop the "experiments" from the master's son. You will not regret reading this fantastic book, so I definitely recommend it to everyone! Also, the cover is very pretty and fits with the story very well. The ending left off very nicely and now I can't wait to read two other books in the series and even her other series and standalone books. I really need to read Magic Study now, and I really hope Yelena and Valek are together in the end.
 

Rating:

Friday Firsts (5)

The first line can make or break a reader’s interest. Just how well did the author pull you in to the story with their first sentence? To participate in this weekly book meme is extremely easy.

• Grab the book you are currently reading and open to the first page.
• Write down the first sentence in the first paragraph.
• Create a blog post with this information. (Make sure to include the title and the author of the book you are using. Even an ISBN helps!)
• Did this first sentence help draw you into the story? Why or why not?

The book I'm currently reading is the Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. I just started reading it last night, so I'm not very far into it yet. This is the first sentence:

"Locked in darkness that surrounded me like a coffin, there was nothing to distract me from my memories."

 

This is a really great first sentence! It makes what to keep reading to find out what's going to happen. The back summary makes the book sound so amazing, so I can't wait read more. I couldn't imagine being put in a jail cell awaiting my death. It would be so horrible and like the first sentence says, I wouldn't be able to stop thinking back on all my memories. I'm really surprised I read and reviewed 3 (4 soon) books this week. Usually, I only read and review one book a week, so this week was pretty good : D

What's your current book's first sentence?

IMMB (6)

In My Mailbox is where I post the books I bought, borrow, won, or received this week. IMMB was started by Kristi of The Story Siren and inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie.

This week I received a book from Harlequin Teen Panel and something not book related but whatever...a case, screen protector, and car charger that I ordered from Amazon for my purple Motorola Rival for $10! Summary is from Amazon.

Poison Study

By: Maria V. Snyder

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered a 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 dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and she develops magical powers she can't control. Her life’s at stake again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren’t so clear!

 Isn't that an amazing deal for ten bucks including shipping?! The case is so awesome and it matches perfectly with my purple Rival.