Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Audio Review: Poison Princess by Kresley Cole


Poison Princess
(The Arcana Chronicles #1)
by Kresley Cole
Narrated By Emma Galvin, Keith Nobbs

22 Arcana cards. 22 young assassins. May the best hand live.

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 not a huge fan of Young Adult books but I do enjoy one every once in a while and since I enjoy Cole's adult series (Immortals After Dark) I wanted to give Poison Princess a try. HOLY FECKING COW am I glad I did. It totally blows away her adult series.

Cole knows how to write a post apocalyptic book and the YA elements didn't really take away from the awesomeness of the world. Sure it starts out with kids in high school but once the Flash takes place the game changes. WTF is the Flash? It's the event that changes the world. Driving the servers to live in a dessert land with little food researches.

Poison Princess starts out like many YA books with a pretty girl on her way to a love triangle. Evie is feeling pressured to give up her V-card to her football boyfriend and wanting the new transfer student, Jackson. And of course Jackson is from the "wrong side of the tracks".

But all the teen cliche end once the Flash takes place and shit starts getting real!

One of the things that really sucked me into the story is how Cole write it, Poison Princess switches between Evie's POV and that of Arthur; a boy that Evie meets and tells her story to. So we start near the end and learn about Evie's life as she tells Arthur. And Arthur is a real piece of work but I won't say more so that I don't spoil you.

Besides Evie, Arthur and Jackson there is a set of entertaining and complex characters and the cast will only grow as more of the Arcana kids come to light.


Cole just blew me away with this one, I've not thought about a book for days no weeks after reading for a while. Evie and her world has stuck with me and I cannot wait for the next book, Endless Knight.

If you're looking for a book that has the feel of Hunger Games, The Walking Dead and Revolution (NBC) all round up into one fantastic story, then you MUST pick up a copy of Poison Princess and I strongly encourage you to experience the ride on audio.


Narration Note: I was very excited knowing that there would be dual narration but then I was a little let down that the male narrator was not the voice of Jackson, the love interest. But with the duel POV the narration was perfect with the male narrator being the voice of Arthur. With Arthur having his own voice it added to the richness of the character. Emma Galvin's voice really brought Evie to life for me. She has a raspy voice that lends itself to the darker feel of the book.







2 comments:

  1. Yay!! I so glad you liked it, this one one my favorites listens for last year (award worthy ;) )

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  2. BTW! Great Review! I agree about the narrators, it would have been nice, but still worked.

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