Review: Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

Written By: Kellie - Oct• 21•12

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publish Date: October 2nd, 2012
Source: ARC
Goodreads

Rating: 4/5 Tarot Cards

Synopsis: 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.
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. -Goodreads

Review: It took me at least a third of the book to get into Poison Princess, and I was about ready to give up when all of a sudden it got so, so amazing good. I was almost tempted to give it 5/5 but was forced to acknowledge the slow burn that gets you into the bulk of story. There is definitely a lot of setup and it might not have been entirely necessary, but the rest of the story is easily well worth the wait.

Evie made for an interesting main character. She starts the story by returning to high school after a summer secretly locked away in a mental institution and struggling to appear okay even though she has to admit to herself she still isn’t okay. Evie has horrible visions of a dark, apocalyptic world and an inexplicable connection with the plants around here. Evie spends a lot of time at the beginning of the book trying to reclaim her old life but it’s when she starts to accept her “destiny” while remaining a sixteen year old girl, that she becomes a fantastically interesting character. Another area where Evangeline really stands out is in her chemistry with love interest, Jackson. Yum.

I knew going into this that Kresley Cole is mainly a writer of adult romance books, and after reading this book I can definitely see why. Cajun heartthrob, Jack Deveaux is possibly the sexiest YA love interest I have ever read. He’s not even necessarily my literary “type” as he’s a hardcore bad-boy and kind of an ass sometimes, but wow. I lovvveee him. This boy (well, he’s eighteen, which makes all my swooning more acceptable) will really come alive for you as your reading him and I promise you will not be able to get enough of Jackson.

One thing I will say for the first part of the book (pre-apocalypse) is that the Louisiana setting was fantastic and incredibly well written. Both Evie and Jackson feel so strongly for where they come from and it plays a big part in bringing this world to life. The post-apocalypse, scorched version of America is well painted as well and the bleakness bleeds into every chapter. Water and women are scare and that does some scary things to anyone still standing seven months after the world is destroyed. There are also some weird zombie/vampire combo baddies that don’t really effect the main plot but are definitely creepy, and I loved that Poison Princess brought something new to the table.

The fantastical elements of The Arcana Chronicles center around the tarot deck, which I loved. I always found tarot cards really interest, if not believable and know a bit about each of the different cards, so seeing them come to life as living, breathing people was so much fun, and a refreshing change of pace.

Overall… love, love, love. I cannot waiiitt for the next book. I’m honestly not entirely sure how I’m going to cope with a lack of Jackson in my reading life. The final scene was fantastic and I will be really disappointed if the next book doesn’t jump in right from that point. Read. This. Book.