WARNING: The second half of this review DOES contain SPOILERS** This is my second time reading this book (I wanted to reread it before I started the next one, Endless Knight). The first time I read this book, I zoomed through it. The beginning (though a little confusing) totally had me hooked and the ending was so amazing it definitely left me wanting a lot more. Second time reading this book, still loved the beginning and the end though some of the parts in between (and some of the characters) I could do without. This was the first post-apocalyptic story I'd ever read and it was really good. Finding out about the Arcana cards and the powers these kids have was interesting; it kept me engaged and wanting to know more. Overall I'd give this book 4 out 5 stars.



**SPOILERS**

One thing I think could have changed is the time spent on describing Evie's life before the flash. The story starts off after the flash where Evie is telling Arthur her story, then it goes back to a week before the flash and Evie is talking about her life and everything that happened a week before leading up to the flash. This is a little over 100 pages of her talking about her boyfriend and school and how her mom sent her to a mental hospital. Honestly the before flash parts should have only been maybe 20 pages, AT THE MOST, and could have only gone over what happened 2 days before the flash. All that other stuff wasn't necessary. Also think there should have been more explaining and description of the world right after the flash. The book jumps from the flash happening to 246 days later. What happened those first 240 days? How did they world become what it is now with slavers and bagman and cannibals? Also the very end seemed rushed a little bit.

Another thing, why is it that all the guys in this book are ALWAYS thinking about sex (with the exception of Matthew)? Jackson is constantly trying to sleep with Evie, Finn is trying to sleep with any girl with a pulse, all the militia guys are drooling over Evie, and even Arthur talks about wanting to get her in bed. What does that say about guys? The only thing they can do is think about sex? I mean even when Evie and Matthew are with Finn in the cage and Jackson and Selena come to rescue them, this is what happens with Finn:

"As Jackson freed Matthew and me, Finneas gawked at Selena-probably from witnessing her tableau, possibly because she was so freaking gorgeous anyway. 'Another chick? Hellooo, hotness.' Though we were surrounded by a melee, Finn took his time checking her out. 'Dude. It is raining hot ass today. Screw the toothless daughter-I'm coming with you guys."

Really? In the middle of a rescue mission all he can think about is how hot Selena is and sleeping with her? Jackson's character, when not trying to sleep with Evie, is aggressive, volatile, and abusive. I really hope he leaves the story soon or he at least softens up a bit. Evie's character seemed weak in the beginning, not necessarily just physically (though she can't fight and Jackson does have to save her) but the fact that she let others tell her what she should do and lets her boyfriend pressure her into sleeping with him. However, by the end Evie doesn't let anyone push her around and she finally fights back. When we find out that Evie was pretending to be drugged and that she planned to kill Arthur and she began to reveal to him her power, it was an awesome moment. The first time I read this book I was worried about Arthur doing something terrible to Evie, then when the tables turned and she started attacking him, it was an amazing surprise twist that made the ending so great.

Arthur, though he was a crazy psychopath, was an interesting character. He played the villain really well. He was so creepy and weird, which worked. I think he's one of my favorite villains. ( )

Poison Princess is one of those books that takes you by surprise, pulls you in and won't let you go until you finish it.

I actually found this book (originally) via Gena Showalter. She was always talking about her author friend Kresley Cole on Twitter, so I decided to pick this book up. They seemed to get along so well, so why not pick up her book? I doubt author friends who hated each other's works would talk so great about each other. And to no one's surprise, Gena's suggestion was on point. (Keep in mind I love Gena Showalter. I'm quite sad I haven't been able to read any of her books recently, due to my busy schedule).

This is a dystopian, apocalypse novel is for sure a YA novel - but that doesn't mean adults can't enjoy it. It's not R rated, if anything it's more of a PG/PG-13-esque novel. It's an easy read, and it's totally addicting. There are some cringy YA moments (silly romances, ironic comments, and all the joys that come with being a teenager) but it's still an enjoyable book. If you keep in mind it's a YA novel made for a YA audience, it's not to heart breaking when silly teenage plot lines go on. It's like a soap opera - if you understand that some extraordinary things happen that are out of the line of reality, then you can thoroughly enjoy it.

Keeping in mind that I have read the next novel - the character development in this book works. You begin to fall in love with these sassy characters and they do grow! Their story is continually built on into the next book, and to me it's a worthy read worth a recommendation. It's probably one of the better YA novels I've read - and one that I've been able to come back to and enjoy.

Overall, Kresley Cole is an amazing story teller. She's great at her adult series and her YA series, and it's a worthy read for those looking for some YA or dystopian drama in their lives.

Five out of five stars. ( )

CW: Girl kills herself rather than be taken captive. Women are prized, owned and treated as slaves for sex and breeding. Smexy scenes. Possessive male character. Mother dies of illness. Pretty much everyone dies in the apocalypse. Excessive drinking.

Well this is a tricky book to review. I absolutely loved the human tarot card premise. However, I wish things were a bit more clearly laid out in terms of who the ultimate war will be between i.e. Team Poison Princess and her friends vs Team Death and...? 'Death' also mentioned previous battles and maybe I missed it, but I wish this idea was a bit more explained. I found the smexy romance scenes to be quite intense and Readers should be aware that Jackson is quite a possessive, aggressive and domineering male. Let's just say he 'claimed her lips' whenever he wanted and was also a bit emotionally manipulative. Hear me out when I say it all seemed to work together in the context of this story. He was a rough kind of guy living a rough kind of life which doesn't excuse his behaviour but maybe explains it a little? I also sense his obsession with Evie will some how make more sense further in the series *crosses fingers*. Now let's get onto Evie herself. I am coming to the logical conclusion that she was a bit of a wet flannel throughout most of this book as a) she thought she was a nutter, b) she was scared of her visions and abilities c) she was trying to survive the apocalypse. Therefore, one would also logically conclude that, given the final scene, she is going to be a total badarse/badass (the debate is real) in the next book. Again *crosses fingers*. Overall an enjoyable book. ( )

There's something wild about a hack tarot card person like myself realizing this book is a fifty car pile up of mistakes in a cursory reading. I'm not above saying a lot of my tarot card experience comes from learning it via JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and a few books I picked up at Five Below because I was curious about drawing characters with those cards. I've only experienced maybe a year or two of tarot cards and I already know more than this book and somehow I can do a quick Google research and find out even more than I knew before and still know 10 times more than this book.

I think I could have ignored it all if the card known as death was not just evil in this series. Death represents letting go of bad things and understanding that changes have to happen, death is a very good card, but in this book series Death is evil as to be expected from anybody who has never experienced tarot cards.

I've lost steam on ranting about this I'm sure somebody with more experience can break this down or even reply to me and help me build my complaint about the tarot card abuse, because I got distracted more and more by how virginity was talked about and virginity is a social construct in a social idea not a real thing. People are virgins in all sorts of fields and areas, I for example I'm a skydiving virgin I have never had that cherry popped, I am a virgin in some way or form. I'm also a married man who cannot stomach this message shoved at kids.

I know it's part of a series, and I'm never going to read the next book so I'm only going to know things from listening to other people who read those books, but I think if you can't get through one book to get through the second you really should consider all of the criticism that is being put here and look through it and think, maybe there could have been some improvements or creative edit. I really think that the author should have reached out to some people with tarot card experience gotten the full lowdown and built from there instead of probably looking at one website with one random deck.

Tarot cards come in a variety of decks and sometimes they say things that don't even make sense like for example the empress is not actually her card but they call her the empress the entire time? Is that supposed to be a red herring or is that supposed to be everybody is stupid and doesn't know what her card is? But then they do this with other characters where they call them the wrong card when they're real card is something else, one character's card is literary the hermit but they never call him the hermit. I don't get what this book was trying to do.

Then there's the main character, very Mary Sue like, and I can handle a lot of Mary Sue I handled Bella swan and really just wanted to eat that character into the void but this character feels Mary Sue in the wrong way, in that sugary stupid way. I actually cannot remember a single character trait about her that isn't she's annoying and I don't like reading about her. Usually I can say something about a character even if they disappoint me, Bella Swan is a romantic in some way, shape, or form; Anastasia steel wants to see the good in everyone she meets to the point she's blinding herself, I can't say anything about the main character in this book.

1 star, get your references right, author, do some research! ( )

Poison Princess
By Kresley Cole
Arcana Chronicles #2

This is the most deliciously addictive series that I have read in a very long time. I have had this book for years but have never gotten around to reading it, probably because I read that is it for Young Adults and I thought that meant, at the very worst, Nickolodean or Disney Channel or, at the very best, high school girls worried about their popularity and vying to be top cheerleader. Boy, was I wrong. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb and say this is really stretching the YA genre. That is not a criticism by far because I would have put the book down if it had been too teenagery. It was not at all. In fact, it was dark yet still had Kresley Cole’s signature sarcastic humor in it. I could not put the book down. I read it until I saw light coming through my curtains and only stopped reading because of exhaustion.

The cast does consist of teenagers but these kids have way more important things to worry about than who gets to be popular or not.

Evangeline or Evie has been having visions and nightmares. She also hears voices speaking to her. Her mom sent her to a psychiatric hospital during the summer because of it but Evie is now back home and ready to go back to school. None of her friends know where she was for the summer, not even her boyfriend Brandon. Nobody really questioned her because all of her friends went away for the summer as all rich kids do during the summer.

She is still having visions, nightmares and hearing voices but she thinks she can just ignore them and hold on for two more years until she finishes school and keep her mom from throwing her into the mental hospital again. She loves school and everyone there loves her so everything should go smooth for her. She is wrong.

There are new kids from the swamps starting at her school…Cajuns. One of them, Jackson Deveaux, keeps staring at her like he hates her but also wants to eat her up at the same time. She is unnerved by it because she is strangely attracted to him even though she has the perfect boyfriend.
Meanwhile, her visions and nightmares are getting worse. Weird things are happening to her and she cannot tell a soul so she draws it all in her secret journal.

There are some spoilers below.

When disaster strikes, she turns to Jackson to help her on her journey to discover what is going on with her.

I liked Jackson even though I felt like a pervert for thinking he was so hot and his Cajun accent was so sexy. I liked how he pushed Evie’s buttons because she needed to be pushed a little because she had been way too pampered in her life. The tension between them was palpable.

When I finally figured out what was happening in the book, I got really excited. I love the premise and plotline. Evie has been thrown into a post-apocalyptic world where she is pitted against 21 other teenagers or young adults. The players are all characters from the trump cards of a Tarot deck and only one will be standing at the end. They have to kill each other. Her greatest enemy is the Death Card who is gunning for her more than anyone else. She has to make alliances in order to survive.

She decides to travel from Louisiana to North Carolina to find her grandmother, if she is alive, who knows everything about this sick game but there are more than just the other players as obstacles. There is very little water or plant life left in the world and there now humans who have been transformed into bloodsucking mutants who crave water and blood but never quench their thirst. There are also militant groups taking over everything and they are abducting any female out there because not many females survived the Flash (A flash of light like a solar flare that turned anyone who was outdoors into ash). She has a long road ahead of her.

I have already started the second book and I’m loving it.

www.paranormalromanceslut.com
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