Magic Study

I'm conflicted... On one hand, I liked it. On the other hand... It annoyed me. There was one big character inconsistency that drove me nuts: Valek. I don't know if it was just me, but he seemed so much more... Immature. Reckless. Annoying. His actions and dialog seemed out of character for the man that I got to know in Poison Study.

*******SPOILERS for Poison Study*******

I swear to god, every single sentence spoken by Valek to Yelena ended with him calling her "love." Every single one. I get it, he loves her... But it just seemed weird to me! "Pass the potatoes, love." "I don't think we're going to make it, love." "Well hello there, love." It made him seem like some cheesy wannabe. Valek is supposed to be hard, confident, efficient, professional, but also a little soft for the woman he loves. I'm sorry, calling her "love" after every.single.sentence. is more than just a little soft.. It's downright squishy.

*******END OF SPOILERS for Poison Study*******

Despite my issues with Valek, it was still a fun read... For the most part. Pretty predictable... Problem crops up, Yelana defies authority, she's probably caught and tortured, magic saves her, rinse and repeat. Pretty much the same as Poison Study, but this time Yelana thinks she's the end all be all, best there is out there, despite having approximately a week of training compared to five years that normal students get.

I'm making this sound worse than it is. It's really not that bad, I still rated it three stars, and I'd still recommend giving it a go if you liked Poison Study. Just saying... It's not perfect, so don't expect perfection. It's predictable, semi-repetitive, and yet somehow still enjoyable. I'll still read the third book, Fire Study, but I need a break before starting it. ( )

This is the second book in Yelena's story, and events follow almost straight on from the end of Poison Study (so I'm trying to write this review without spoilers for the first book). Yelena is taken, along with the survivors from her 'orphanage', to find her family and - since she must learn to control her magic before it kills her - to study with Master Magician Irys. She finds herself in an unfamiliar situation with people who are not sure of her motives.

Yelena not only studies magic at the Magicians' Keep - it would have been nice to see more of her life there - but learns about different types of magic practices in different parts of Sitia. She discovers that she is strong in a magic that has not been seen in a long time, which makes people more suspicious of her. She also meets the last member of the royal family of Ixia who, having escaped the assassination of his family, wants to use Yelena to help him get his throne back.

While she is at the Keep, she is asked to try and help a girl who has been horrifically treated, and is the only surviving victim of an unknown killer. Yelena, and the magicians, then do everything they can to save the girl and catch the killer before he strikes again.

I thought this was a stronger book than the first one, though the plot was more straightforward and not quite as interesting. The world-building is quite solid.

Although I picked this up from the YA section of the library, I should warn you that, once again, the evil magician gets his powers through torture and rape. Though we are not given gruesome details, we do get told about some of the devices and the torturers' intents.

This was fun to read, and was more detailed than Poison Study. I liked meeting Yelena's family, although her mother did have an annoying habit of disappearing up the nearest tree when stressed. This series is not a 'must read' for me, but rather 'if I see it on the library shelves, I'll pick it up'.

Three and a half stars.
( )

Good story. A little less "young adult" and more "adult" feel to the writing. I will be waiting impatiently for the third book to become available. ( )

Everything I said in comment about Poison Study holds true here. This is my favorite adventure to date. I liked Poison Study better but that by no means is a negative comment on Magic Study. I'm very much looking forward to Fire Study - already on order at B&N. I should have it this week. ( )

Everything I said in comment about Poison Study holds true here. This is my favorite adventure to date. I liked Poison Study better but that by no means is a negative comment on Magic Study. I'm very much looking forward to Fire Study - already on order at B&N. I should have it this week. ( )