Poison by Bridget Zinn

Disney-Hyerion | March 12, 2013 | 288 pages

Procurement

ARC from publisher by request. Thank you Disney!

My Grade

Plot: 5

Setting: 5

Writing: 5

Originality: 5

Characters: 5

Romance: 5

Overall: 30/30! 100% A+++!!!

Title/Cover Bonus: 5

Overall

An adventurous tale of a master potioner set to save her world with the help of a piglet, Rosie, a traveler, Fred, and his wolf-dog Langley. Full of mystery, laughter and loyalty. A must read by an amazing author.

 Summary

Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she’s the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom’s future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.

But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart . . . misses.

Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king’s army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she’s not alone. She’s armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can’t stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?

Kyra is not your typical murderer, and she’s certainly no damsel-in-distress—she’s the lovable and quick-witted hero of this romantic novel that has all the right ingredients to make teen girls swoon.

Trailer

None at time of review.

First Line

not available at time of review

Most Memorable Scene

When Kyra crosses the river with Rosie.

Plot

Kyra is on a mission. This magical fantasy adventure is full of magic, odd creatures, handsome men, adorable and honorable animals and full of mystery! There’s so much mystery I didn’t see most of it coming at me. I like that I didn’t realize it was a mystery because I am not a fan of knowing elements are missing. I want to be surprised to know that those elements of the story were missing. Does that make sense? I want to be like “OH!” not “Hmm, I wonder what’s going on….?”. There were several “OH!” moments for sure. I can’t name any of them, of course, or I’d spoil all the fun! 🙂

Setting

Beautiful. The hidden cottage in the clearing was one of my favorite scenes. The hay barn was another. I enjoyed the setting very much.

Writing

Brilliant. I was filled with such sadness upon reading the ending to this because I knew that I will never read anything else written by Bridget Zinn. Since she was taken from us at such a young age and full of such talent there’s nothing we can do but be thankful she was able to grace us with this lovely story. Thank you, Bridget, for this beautifully written story.

Originality

I am a huge fan of fun, funny, cute, and action packed epic fantasy. While this book was more along the cute and fun, it was also packed full of action. Kyra can kick some major butt. Her potions were very cool and unique. I loved the unique creatures too: goblins, flying things I can’t remember their names, and an obeeka shape-shifting thing and witches!

Characters

Kyra is smart, extremely talented, strong, and loyal. She is way more than what we meet in the beginning and it was so much fun to walk on this adventure with her and her companions she picked up along the way.

Rosie is Kyra’s person-finding piglet. She’s adorable. I want a piglet.

Fred is a traveler Kyra meets while crossing the river with Rosie. He has a wolfish looking dog named Langley. Fred is handsome, an amazing cook, thoughtful and super nice and funny. He’s hard to shake though when Kyra tries to sneak off to do her sneaky potioner acts.

Romance

There is instant attraction between Kyra and Fred. Their meeting scene is, of course, to blame. Their relationship is sweet, funny and real. I enjoyed their relationship.

Title/Cover Bonus

This cover is amazing. Beautiful and right on for the entire book. The title is fine and fits perfectly as well.

Ending

Beautiful. The ending ends perfectly. Nice and tidy but in a perfect way. I would love to rejoin these characters but, alas, the author is no longer with us and these characters leave with her.

Series

Standalone as far as I know.

Connect with Bridget Zinn

Get a look into how POISON came to be from this awesome blog post by Bridget: What I’m Not Going to Blog About.