Poison Princess

DISCLAIMER:  My posts are intended to be Opinion/Discussion posts mixed in with a bit of a review about books that I have read.  I include a semi-detailed synopsis of the book followed by my own opinions that may include spoilers about the book.  Read at your own discretion.

Title:  Poison Princess
Author:  Kresley Cole

Poison Princess starts with a rather disturbing Prologue.  We are in the mind of what seems to be a serial killer - at least that's what I thought - with a very creepy vibe that has you mentally screaming at the poor girl about to enter his lair, "Turn around and run away!  Run as far as your feet can take you!"  Alas she does not hear your mental screams and she enters anyway.  Meet Evangeline.

Evangeline, known as Evie to her friends, is an average 16 year old with an ordinary life.  School, cheer leading, boyfriend, friends, and visions of the coming apocalypse.  Yup... ordinary.  Having to keep those visions a secret from her friends when the new school year starts puts an extreme amount of pressure on her.  The increased frequency of said visions doesn't help either.

Jackson Deveaux is a boy from the wrong side of the tracks.  He takes what he wants and he doesn't say please.  Jack is drawn to Evie; sensing the mystery embodied within her.  Will he ever figure her out?

After a birthday party gone wild, Evie discovers that her phone and sketchbook are missing - and she knows exactly who has them.  With her bestie, Mel, in tow Evie takes a ride to Jack-ville to get her stuff back.  All hell breaks loose on the way back to Evie-town as Evie's visions, once thought to be hallucinations, come to life right in front of her.

The Flash is what the apocalyptic event is called by the survivors.  Evie survives The Flash but loses friends and, later, family in the process.  The world is now filled with bagmen (zombie-like ceatures) and cannibals (I imagine they are just as horrible as they sound).  Oh and Evie discovers that she can grow plants with her blood.  Remember Jack?  He survives too and meets up with Evie at her place.  Go team go?  They pair up and start on a journey to find Evie's grandmother - who is suspected to know more about what is going on.

Tensions between Jack and Evie rise and fall in a roller coaster of emotions mixed with the need for survival.  Jack wants to know more about Evie - wants to know what she is hiding.  Evie doesn't give him what he wants and that makes him moody and hostile-like towards her.  Along the way they pick up Selena, who also develops a crush on Jack, and Matthew, the one who has been sending Evie all of her visions of The Flash and the Red Witch - a woman creature that Evie is afraid of and has been dreaming about.

Matthew and Evie get captured and caged with another Arcana.  His name is Finn and he is the Magician card.  He has the ability to hide what is there and show what is not there.  Basically, he can confuse and hell out of you.  Jack and Selena come to the rescue and, while the group is trying to escape, Evie grows claws and discovers new powers.  Finn helps the group get to a safe house where they can rest up for a bit.

The Arcana, which is what our main players are called (except for Jack), all know who each other are and agree to keep their "true" identities or what they are a secret from Jack.  Evie has a hard time accepting who or what she is and that lack of information drives her even more to find her Grandmother.

While at their safe house, Jack pours his heart out to Evie but wants her to stop looking for her Grandmother and to go back to Selena's place with him and the rest of the "team" where they can live as happily ever after as they can during an apocalypse.  Evie returns Jack's feelings but refuses to go with him but also doesn't tell him why.  Jack storms out with Evie following shortly wanting to talk to him.  She opens a room door only to find Jack and Selena locking lips.  With that, Evie storms out on her own and on a mission to find her Grandmother.

During the unfolding of this story we revisit serial killer guy and Evie as she is telling the story we are reading to him while he is planning her demise.

Will Evie get away from serial killer guy?  Will Evie and Jack find each other again?

*MY OPINION* [SPOILER ALERT]

I have to be completely honest here.  Evie got on my nerves big time.  Jack kept giving her a hard time about being useless and unable to take care of herself and I agreed with him.  Throughout the entire book I was just waiting for her to be kick-ass.  Even when she stormed out of Selena's mansion ready to continue her journey on her own, I was rooting for her. I wanted her to prove Jack wrong.  I wanted her to find her way.  She didn't.  Instead she humiliated herself by going around in a circle.  Genius.  She did, however, find her strength in a beyond kick-ass way at the end of the book.  She wasn't a delicate little flower anymore... (more on that later)

Selena's character added a good mix because she was everything Evie wasn't.  She was strong and experienced in ways Evie was not.  And she wanted Jack all to herself.  Good competition for little miss Evie.  Don't get me wrong.  I was still cheering for Evie to get the guy.  I mean they are complete opposites!  They belong together... right?

Another annoyance I had to deal with was the fact that Evie wouldn't open up to Jack.  I get that she was afraid of what he might think but still.  It just irked me for some reason.  I can't fully explain my reasoning on this one.  I guess I would have been a bit nervous to say, 'Hey.  You know all this horrible stuff going on right now?  Well I had visions of everything and did nothing to stop it because I was believed to be crazy and was sent away.  Oh and my grandmother might be the only one to know what the heck is going on but I haven't seen her in years and I don't really know exactly where she is... oh and I can grow plants with my blood and when I get agitated I grow claws and can't really control that.  I'm pretty much a wild card.  Still wanna be friends?'

My favorite part of the story is the end fight.  It is Evie coming out of her shell and fully realizing what she can do and letting that take over her to not only save her own life but to save the lives of a few other as well.  Evie becomes the woman from her nightmares and fights the Alchemist to the death.  She earns her badge and, without knowing, starts the game.  The first Arcana to defeat another Arcana.  Like I said before.  She's not a delicate little flower anymore - and Jackson saw it all.

Overall I LOVED this book.  I wanted to start the second one right away but didn't because... I don't really remember why.

A question I have is... What happened to Evie's dad?  We learn that he went on some trip and never came back (or something like that) but that's about it.  I would love for that mystery to be solved!  I hope I get the answer in the second book.

*MORE TO MUSE*

Books are great at getting you to think about different scenarios.  With Poison Princess, I found myself wondering what life would be like if our world did experience something like a Flash.  Would I be able to survive the bagmen, cannibals, and militia?  Not to be a Debbie Downer (no offence to anyone who is in fact named Debbie Downer) or anything but I'm not sure I would survive past 6 months.  I mean I might... I know mothers have been able to do amazing things for the sake of keeping their little ones safe.  So I just might survive longer than six months.

Evie lived in a house that was a good distance away from neighbors.  Neighbors who more than likely did not survive The Flash.  My neighborhood is nothing like that.  There are people in close proximity who would more than likely be searching for the same supplies as we would be searching for.  One of two things would happen.  We would all band together and pool what we already had and organize gathering parties made of the strongest and most physically fit to find more supplies OR we would steal or hurt our neighbors to get what we need - survival of the fittest.

One thing is for sure... I would need to hide my cat.  Nobody will be roasting my little Fancy!  Nobody!

*EXTRAS*

In the context of Poison Princess the word Arcana is defined as either of the two groups of cards in a tarot pack.  However, Arcana can also mean secrets or mysteries.  (Google)

I like to listen to music while I read and one day I was in the mood to the sounds of Evanescence.  Not wanting to search through my CD collection, I decided to search for an Evanescence playlist on YouTube.  I was excited when I found one that contained the songs of one of their earliest works - Origin - and immediately put it on.  I used to have the Origin CD but lost it a long time ago [insert sad face].  Anyway, as I was listening and reading the song "Lies" came on and I was instantly hit with a moment of 'this song is perfect for this book' excitement.  And... so that you don't have to go to YouTube and search for the song, I have embedded it below.  You're welcome.



If for some reason you want to pay $50 for the Origins CD, I found it for sale on Amazon from a third party seller.  Here is a link to results of a search I did for Evanescence.  Enjoy.

*YOUR TURN*

Have you read Poison Princess and have a deep love (or hate) for the book?  Do you think you would be able to survive The Flash?  If you were in Evie's shoes, what would you do differently or the same?  Leave a comment in the appropriate section below!

Remember to be respectful.


★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Next Post:  Delia's Shadow by Jaime Lee Moyer
Just Finished:  Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty
Currently Reading:  Dead of Winter by Kresley Cole
Up Next:  Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay

Happy Reading!