Poison Study, Magic Study and Fire Study by Maria V Snyder

I picked up the first in the series (Poison Study) based on my husband's suggestion while at a book sale. He said people rave about the books in this series and after walking around the sale this was not a book on my radar. The cover just didn't seem appealing but I went back and read the book jacket after his suggestion and it sounded worthwhile. Now less than a month later i've finished the first 3 books; Poison Study, Magic Study and Fire Study.

These books follow a girl named Yelena who is given a choice between being executed for her crime of murder or becoming the new food taster. Obviously she chose to become the food taster, which is a position fraught with danger from people who might want to poison the commander. Yelena is hated by a lot of people due to the person she murdered so she has quite a rough time of things and she needs to learn to defend herself. The first book is full of poisonings, intentional as part of her training and from attempts on the commanders life. It is also full of attempts by Yelena's enemies to take her life. And what good book wouldn't also be full of magic and romance right? Well Poison Study  has it all and it has been artfully woven into a book you won't want to put down.

Magic Study follows Yelena's new life in a new country and her attempts at learning to control her magic and see what her abilities are. Of course danger follows her everywhere and she still manages to make many enemies since her new country thinks she is a spy. Now Yelena must prove that she is not a spy and help stop a cult that kidnaps children and uses blood magic to help increase their powers. Only this time she does not have all of her friends from Ixia that she made in the first book. This book, just like the first, is full of danger and excitement, along with romance and even more magic than the first. I think my favorite part of this book is that Yelena learns that with her magic she can talk to horses and the conversations between her and her horse Kiki add a level of humor to the book.

Fire Study continues to follow Yelena and her quest to stop the cult from taking over. She learns more about her magic and what it means to be a soulfinder. In the previous books she has acted rashly and with disregard. In this book she just acts pigheaded and stubborn. She feels her actions will protect those she cares for but really if she would just stop to think about things and take advice from others her predicament would get better much faster. I think Yelena learns a big lesson in this book about working with others and sharing ideas instead of running off and doing what she thinks is the best without consulting anyone else. This book was a real nail biter at times because you didn't know who was a mole, the author did a great job of misdirecting you and making you think you really knew what was going on when in fact you didn't have a clue.

Overall, these 3 books make for the beginnings of a great series. I would have to say Poison study was my favorite of the three but the second two do not disappoint either. My biggest complaint would have to be the price. For the past few years i've mainly been reading self-published things or things I can read for free from kindle unlimited, this is the first real traditionally published book i've paid for in a while, but the author deserves their cut and they sucked me in to this new world so I guess I gotta pay up.