Review: Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

Title: Poison Princess
Author: Kresley Cole
Series: The Aracana Chronicles #1
Publication: October 2nd 2012 by Simon & Schuster
Genre: Young Adult ~ Paranormal ~ Post Apocalyptic
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Kobo
Cover Rating: 5/5
Overall Rating: 3/5

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.

I have so much to say about Poison Princess but I'll try keeping it short. This was another random decision to read. I've had this book on my shelf since it came out so I figured it was time. I don't regret reading it but on the other hand I had expected different things from it. This book wasn't totally bad, though. It had a lot good aspects.

Starting Poison Princess I was really excited because that first chapter was pretty good. It was weird because I had no idea what the hell was going on but I liked it. Then it decended into a spiral of teenage high school drama and one whiny and lame main character. She was just so spoiled and annoying and stereotypical. Yes, I disliked Evie a lot. A LOT. But the good thing was that I actually really liked bad boy Jackson. All of this changed toward the end of the book, believe it or not. I ended up liking Evie more and more, as the book went on. She actually grew as a character and found out who she was. But I ended up loathing Jackson. Sure, I love bad boys but the things he said and did were all kinds of questionable and I can only handle so much before drawing a line and saying, no go away! So we can say that this book took such a turn for me in the sense of liking and disliking certain characters, which was very surprising. And don't even get me started about the minor characters. Some of them *cough* Selena *cough* I wanted to seriously hurt. I did like Matthew and Finn, though!

Characters aside, Poison Princess did have a very good concept with the major arcana stuff. At first it was rather confusing but the more the pieces started fitting the puzzle the more into it I got. The writing was also really good in my opnion. I sometimes even got honest to god chills. There are some pretty creepy scenes. And I do love creepy stuff in books. 

So basically some of the lame characters, their conversations, their egos and their selfishness got in the way for me to truly love this book. The concept and writing were all pretty good for me though and the end was really interesting so that's what ultimately saved this book from failing completely. I also must say that I'm pretty excited to see how it will continue from here on out. So I'll be definitely reading the second book!

About the Author:

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Kresley Cole is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the electrifying Immortals After Dark paranormal series and the young adult Arcana Chronicles. She has also written five award-winning historical romances.

Since her first novel was released in 2003, Kresley has published twenty-two books with Simon & Schuster and has seen her releases translated into more than eighteen foreign languages. She has traveled over much of the world and draws from those experiences to create her memorable characters and settings. Two of her favorite places to visit include the rain forests of Central America and the Queensland area of Australia.

Cole’s trademark action, sensuality, and humor are exemplified in her popular Immortals After Dark Series, which revolves around the Lore, a secret stratum of hundreds of immortal creatures--ranging from Vampires to Lykae, Furies to Shifters, and Fey to Valkyrie--that each have their strengths, weaknesses, and age old prejudices against the others. Though they secretly live among humans, they constantly war among themselves, which gives her a lot of material.

In 2007, Kresley won the prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA award for best paranormal for her novel A Hunger Like No Other, and in January 2009, she became a #1 New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller with her sixth IAD installment, Kiss of a Demon King. In 2010, Kiss of a Demon King earned Kresley her second RITA award. 2011 brought Cole her second #1 NYT bestseller with Dreams of a Dark Warrior. In 2013, Kresley won a third RITA for Shadow's Claim and was inducted as only the 14th member of the RWA Hall of Fame.

She lives in Florida with her husband and far too many animals. She spends any free time traveling and enjoys all things related to boats and water.