Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles #1)

I say almost because I liked so much about this book, but I didn't love, love it. I still gave it mostly four stars because I enjoyed the read. I was just very underwhelmed by the female lead. Evie is great in so many ways, but there is something about her that just misses the mark for me. She could be stronger. She could be A LOT smarter. She could be a great example to youg readers. She could be, and has the potential to be, so many great things...but she just isn't. I find myself reading this series because of the main male leads, and the extreme creativity of the world Cole has created. (It's refreshingly fantastic! And another reason I gave it four stars.) But, I don't want to read a YA book for the secondary characters and the undoubtedly creative, refreshing world. Those are a great bonus, but I want to read a YA book because the main female is dynamic, strong, and a great example for readers to be inspired by. In the end, I liked this series, in spite of Evie.

Yes it drags on in the beginning, but trust me it picks up in a major way!

4 out of 5 stars.

Poison Princess is the first book in The Arcana Chronicles by Kresley Cole about teenagers with supernatural abilities representing the Major Arcanas in tarot card decks. The book depicts an apocalypse & describes the world both before and after, although focusing more on the latter.

The protagonist, 16-year-old Evie Greene is living life as a rich, popular girl(but not mean, mind you) in Sterling, Louisiana. However, she also have her own dark secrets that she does not want anyone, including her wild child best friend & perfect boyfriend, to know about. On the first day of junior year in high school, she meets this new ‘bad boy’ named Jackson & damn, the sparks literally flew between them! So basically, after the apocalypse, Evie discovered her special abilities & decides to travel to Atlanta in search of her grandmother, who was sent to an old people’s home for informing an eight-year-old Evie that she needs to kill other kids. Along the way, she meets many friends & foes which would ultimately lead to the explosive ending, which I shall not say any more about to prevent spoilers.

All in all, I don’t think Poison Princess was on par with Ms. Cole’s usual standard. I’ve read her adults series, Immortals After Dark, I would know that. The starting of the book was really draggy but maybe Ms. Cole just wanted to show the contrast between pre-apocalypse & post-apocalypse? Anyway, the action picks up around chapter 20 and the amazing ending is definitely worth the boring start.

As for the characters, I do like Evie at the end of the book but found myself quite frustrated at her at some points. She needs to think less & do more really. Oh, and perhaps try to at least be a tiny bit excited over her powers? Because I think anyone would at least find that slightly thrilling. Next, Jack… Ms. Cole did a wonderful job with this swoon-worthy male protagonist. He literally had me guessing what in the world he was thinking throughout the book. Which makes him a very, very realistic guy & not your typical fictional Romeo. I think Evie & Jack’s relationship is a very ‘opposites attract’ sort of thing, what with them being so different both before & after the apocalypse. The side characters in the book was also well developed, everyone of them very obviously have their own background which is something many YA books lack.

In conclusion, I did like Poison Princess but not as much as I would’ve hoped. It needs more action and emotions & I really do hope the next few books in The Arcana Chronicles would be better. The idea of the series is definitely fresh as I’ve not seen any other YA books about tarot cards. Fans of paranormal topics & dark, brooding male protagonists would most probably like this book. I’m looking forward to seeing this series progress & do look forward to the next book!

Anyway, this review & more are available on my book reviews blog, http://apageofheaven.wordpress.com too!