{Review} Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

Poison Princess by Kresley Cole
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

GENRE: YA Dystopian
THEME: Fantasy/Romance
RECEIVED: ALA
AUTHORS BLOG: Kresley Cole's Site

BLURB:

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….

REVIEW:
Absolutely intense and completely original, Poison Princess is a book that everyone is going to remember. Kresley Cole may be known for her fantastic writing in her adult series but she entered the Young Adult world with ease and with a series that will leave readers mesmerized.

Poison Princess follows Evangeline “Evie” Green a southern girl that has grown up wealthy and very pampered. She has the jock boyfriend and the spunky and wild best friend. But her life isn’t as perfect as everyone would think, Evie was committed by her mother after she starts “seeing” strange images of horrible scenes. Little does her mother know was that her daughter was seeing the future and that Evie is anything but normal.

Evie is an incredibly complex character, she’s grown up a rich and “perfect life” until she starts getting strange apocalyptic visions. At the beginning she tries to pretend everything is okay and not let anyone find out she was committed. But once all “hell” breaks loose and the world changes around her. Evie starts to unravel what’s happened and who and what she is becoming. I loved how she grew over time; she was so sweet and innocent and then slowly became a strong, independent, and very determined.

Jack Deveaux is the ultimate bad boy. He constantly frustrates Evie and feels that there is something about her that he can’t put his finger on. He may have that Cajun charm but he doesn’t understand Evie and usually says and does the wrong thing. They both need each others help but neither seem to really say how they feel. Jack is a womanizer who doesn’t know when to shut of his charm and rude attitude. Plus he doesn’t understand the bigger picture of who Evie is because she can’t seem to trust him. I love the chemistry between the two and the intense frustration made me shake my book while I was reading it.

Overall what really made this book come to life was the plot, Cole created a unique idea of using the Major Arcana of a Tarot deck. Characters through out the book are introduced and connected to the Arcana, was cleverly connected to the apocalypse. It took me a bit to remember what the cards represented and even though it confused me at some points the story still kept me hooked.

I highly recommend this new series; it’s a longer book than most, but worth every bit of it. The beginning will pull you in, as it introduces what is yet to come in the book. Such a strong introduction that stops with an intense ending that will leave you speechless.

RECOMMENDED:
This is a young adult book with mature content and a bit of violence that I would recommend for mature readers. Fans of Gena Showalter’s Alice in Zombieland series and Lesley Livingston’s Starling will love Kresley Cole’s Poison Princess.

View all my reviews