This is the second book in a series based on Yelena Zaltana, a young woman coming to grips with her lost childhood and her newfound magic abilities. Where the first book, Poison Study, focused more on the characters and the politics of the two lands of Ixia and Sitia , Magic Study has tipped over into what I would call ‘Fantasy-LITE’ territory.

As context, I rated Poison Study 3.5 stars. Magic Study gets a definitive 3 stars from me. No more.

My reasons:
1. The setting. Ixia was a far more original setting than Sitia, which is 'ye olde sword and sorcery' territory, whilst the magic school smacks of a poor-man’s Harry Potter.
2. As a pace-driven, limited word count book, Poison Study walked a fine line between ‘telling’ and ‘showing’. Magic Study takes a quick look at the line and proceeds to leap over into ‘telling’, which often includes stating the obvious. Not only is this condescending for the reader, it also takes the fun out of complementing the text with your own imagination.
3. The dialogue can be extremely corny. Exhibit A: ‘Kill me? You can join the ‘I Want To Kill Yelena Guild’. I hear they have six members in good standing’.
4. Yelena has become audacious. She’s lost the attractive quality of the flawed heroine, because in Magic Study, she takes the world and its villains on by herself, heedless to help or advice of others. It’s like watching a sports team who has had years of dominance in their league – you know they’re going to win so the game becomes boring.
5. The sexual abuse theme. Fine, it worked for character building in the first book. But was it necessary to have more of it in the second? I’m not sure it actually added to the tension or the plot. For me, it just made the book resemble an episode of Law and Order SVU.

Despite all this, I still give it 3 stars. There are some interesting points here and there. I liked the idea of Yelena’s style of magic and her ability to communicate with animals. Her helping the beggar children was also a very positive detail for me. Overall, this book would still appeal to the target audience of young women, though these readers will probably enjoy it because it is Poison Study’s sequel, rather than for the book it is in its own right. ( )

I read Poison Study and Magic Study both a couple of years ago and at the end of '08 to prep for reading Fire Study. I loved them all. They're great fantasy with just a hint of romance. Yelena and her boss, Valek are such interesting and cool characters. Unfortunately, I think Fire Study is the last one, I've heard she's working on a new series that might be vaguely connected. I hope you check them out!

Forgive me for writing the same review for all three books in this series! But they're all awesome. ;-p

Magic Study meets up with Yelena as she reunites with her family and prepares to begin her magical training. Yelena meets resistance - many people fear she is a spy - and acceptance when she accomplishes things other magicians cannot. Still a feisty I'll-figure-it-out-on-my-own character, Yelena fell a little flat this time around. I liked her bumbling attempts to protect herself in 'Poison Study' and felt her a little too confident in this one. Which I guess is good since she has experience, it was just one of those things that drew me in the first book.The high point of the novel was the introduction of the Sandseed clan - a very powerful group with a different sort of magic. I hope book #3 will explore them more. I was also sad to see less of Valek. I think he was one of my favorite parts in book #1 and he gets too little screen time in this one. Also, the chemistry between Yelena and Valek (when it was there) was a little too forced at times? Not quite as natural this time around. So, I'll probably finish the series, but as so often happens - the second didn't live up to the first. *sigh Here's hoping for a promising finish. ( )

WoW! Another great story. Very creative and intriguing. Couldn't put it down. I really like Yelena and Valeck and the rest of the characters. Nothing I disliked about this story. ( )

Absolutely loved Magic Study. In fact, I preferred it to the first book, Poison study! ( )