Book 1:
Poison Princess: Evangeline “Evie” Greene and Jackson Deveaux
Purchase this book on Amazon: Kresley Cole - Poison Princess (Arcana Chronicles)
Summary:
From Goodreads.com
She could save the world—or destroy it.
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.
But she can’t do either alone.
With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can’t totally depend on Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him?
Who can Evie trust?
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….
Review:
Ok so I am kind of struggling with this review. I don’t read much YA so I don’t really know how to go about reviewing for it. Lol… So on one hand I want to review it as an adult novel for adults, then on the other hand I think should I try to put myself in the shoes of an actual YA and think if I was an YA how would I feel about this book? And then a small part of me thinks should I think of this from an adult stand point on how I would feel if I had a teenager and they read this book? I’m all discombobulated and making it too complicated I know. HAHA So, I guess since pretty much all my reviews are for adults, I’ll go with as an adult for an adult reading this novel.
I have to admit when I had heard that my beloved Kresley Cole was writing a YA book I was not pleased. I knew this YA title would take away from the Immortal’s After Dark series. If she was writing YA she couldn’t be writing a new IAD title and that did not sit well for me because it is my favorite series! However, since I am a dedicated Kresley Cole fan, I decided to try out this YA adult title, I mean how bad could it possibly be, it’s still a Kresley Cole title YA or not…
I am so glad that I gave this title a try, it sucked me in from the beginning and would not let me go until it was finished. I had to force myself to put the book down at after 2 am and then as soon as I could the next day it was right back open and I did not put it back down to the last page. I was even looking at my progress with dread because I knew the book was coming to an end and I didn’t want it to!
This tale as a whole is dark, I mean come on its dealing with a freak’n apocalypse. It’s definitely not going to be sunshine and rainbows. So it has a darker edgier feel to it, which as an adult I had absolutely no problem with. The book is not quite as funny as a lot of the IAD titles but Cole does manage to get some humor and wise cracks into the dialogue.
The quality of writing is on par with anything you would come to expect from Kresley Cole, Kresley Cole is on point with everything. She pays attention to details and gets it right EVERY time. Poison Princess is no exception, if there was a lingering question from the beginning if it was meant to get answered in this installment it gets answered.
Ok on to the characters. Evie at first glance is sunshine and rainbows. From the outside looking in she is a shining example of genteel southern belle. She wears the correct clothes, she’s beautiful, smart, rich, is a cheerleader and her boyfriend is the perfect southern gentleman. When you look below the surface is where you see the true Evie. She has deep dark hallucinations which are getting harder and harder to cover up and she hears all these voices in her head. When Jackson a Cajun boy from the other side of the tracks starts at her school she spirals further down the rabbit hole. Her reaction to him is almost as confusing to her as the hallucinations. School is becoming more and more difficult for Evie and she starts worrying she is going to be thrown in the nuthouse again. Annnnd then the apocalypse happens and suddenly she’s not so crazy as she saw all those events before they actually happened. When Jackson shows up at her farm it is both a blessing and curse. Jackson forces Evie to face her new life post apocalypse and quite frankly she is not very good at facing or surviving necessarily. I kept hoping that she would man up and learn some survival skills, she did learn some but Jackson was definitely carrying this team. I also wanted her to embrace what she is, but if she did right away we wouldn’t have her inner conflict. Of which she had plenty. Evie kind of reminds me of a young Macayla Lane from the Karen Marie Moning Fever Series. You love her and are rooting for her but at the same time she can frustrate the hell out of you.
Now Jackson Deveaux is a character all onto himself. I quite liked him. I loved the Cajun charm and adored how Kresley Cole through in the Cajun dialect and the Cajun French, it is one of the many things I enjoyed with this book. I could imagine his rumbly voice speaking in French; it’s quite the panty dropper. Not that any panties were actually dropped in this book. The sexual tension between Evie and Jackson is palpable and the sparks fly! Now, I can see how some people might have a problem with Jackson as a character, he is constantly drinking (although never actually drunk). I say it’s the damn apocalypse drink as much as you want! You never know if you’re going to make it into the next day. He’s also a rake, well he was before the apocalypse, but with the shortage of females and all…. And he has his eye on our favorite gal. But at the heart of Jackson he is a good guy, he is loyal and protective, very intelligent and sure he makes some mistakes along the way but who doesn’t? He felt like a real person to me. Plus he saves Evie’s butt time and time again, she couldn’t be in safer hands. Now Jackson kind of reminds me of the IAD’s Cadeon the Kingmaker, only a bit darker, not quite as charming.
Would I recommend this book to other adults and AID fans? ABSO “f’n” LUTLY!! Infact I was utterly absorbed, I think I actually finished the book faster then it took me to write this damn review. LOL I think adults will enjoy this book, it’s not too teenagerish. The kids have to grow up fast. There is plenty that goes on to keep an adults attention, there are cannibals, zombies, superpowers, visions, and survival of the fittest. For the IAD fans, I would recommend that you completely banish IAD from your mind while reading this book, this is not IAD, it is not even close. There are very few similarities between the two so to compare the two wouldn’t be far to either series. What I did kind of miss was in the IAD series KC switches POV’s between the hero and heroine so we know what each is thinking. In this book it is strictly from Evie’s POV so we don’t get into Jackson’s head, and I would like to spend some time there.
Ok, so I know this is a hecka long review, but I just had so much to say! I just have to mention one other thing… The ending… It is one hell of a WTF, it’s just ending there?!?! So if you abso HATE cliffhangers… You might want to wait a bit closer to whenever book 2 is going to release. But do pick it up!
OK, I’m done now! I promise.
Rating:
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