REVIEW, Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

  You know your life is complicated when you miss your days as a poison taster...

    Prod dets

Magic Study

Series: Study Trilogy, # 2

Pub: 2006, MIRA

Author: Maria V. Snyder

Cat: fantasy

Format: paperback (mid); 390 pp w/ 35 chapters

Age Range: YA

                Synopsis

With her greatest enemy dead, and on her way to be united with the family she’s been stolen from long ago. Yelena should be pleased. But although she has gained her freedom, she once again finds herself alone – separated from her lover Valek and suspected as a spy for her reluctance to conform to Sitian ways.

Despite the turmoil, she’s eager to start her magic training – especially as she’s been given one year to harness her power or be put to death. But her plans take a radical turn when she becomes embroiled in a plot to reclaim Ixia’s throne for a lost prince – and gets entangled in powerful rivalries with her fellow magicians.

If that wasn’t bad enough, it appears her brother would love to see her dead. Luckily, Yelena has some old friends to help her with all her new enemies...

      Thoughts

We left Yalena with her heading back to meet her family. It’s uneventful, tear felt and a little awkward, as it should be in this type of situation when you hadn’t seen your child since they were young. And that said child doesn’t actually remember you.

Still, we went and then we headed off, only to be kidnapped and brought to the place she was going to stand in front of a woman who stepped into her memories.

This book is all about her learning to control her magic, which is difficult since she can’t even get the basics of fire to work.

She meets new friends, someone that will become enemies. And that’s nothing compared to the problems they country is about to face.

Sorry, I’m actually confusing myself.

You see, even though I have just finished reading this for this posting, I’ve read the books so much that I have them all confused.

The commander comes, bring Valek, which doesn’t end all that smoothly. And the end they find themselves looked out of the school and facing death, all because of what Yalena was born to be.

It’s an exciting, fast paced second book, that is like all of them, a huge lead up to the next. And though it stands on its own, it would be lost without the first book, and your left hanging without the last.

I really do love the series, and being that it’s not something I read, let’s face it, there has to be a more solid twist to love and lust in it right? But these books, though there is sex, and comments leading to it, even the mention of rape, is done softly and in a way that you can miss it half the time. Even when it’s there.

I thought it might be nice to mention that, being as these aren’t the types of books I normally read.

Trilogy

Poison Study, Magic Study & Fire Study