Book Review | SHADOW STUDY by Maria V. Snyder

  

Mira, February 24, 2015

Once, only her own life hung in the balance.

Oddly enough, when Yelena was a poison taster, her life was simpler. But she'd survived to become a vital part of the balance of power between rival countries Ixia and Sitia. Now she uses her magic to keep the peace in both lands and protect her relationship with Valek. 

Suddenly, though, they are beset on all sides by those vying for power through politics and intrigue. Valek's job - and his life - are in danger. As Yelena tries to uncover the scope of these plots, she faces a new challenge: her magic is blocked. She must keep that a secret - or her enemies will discover just how vulnerable she really is - while searching for who or what is responsible for neutralizing her powers. 

Yes, the days of tasting poisons were much simpler. And certainly not as dangerous.

A week ago, I browsed through Netgalley and found this available for early viewing. I dropped everything I was reading and immediately started on this. I was that excited. I read the three previous books from the Study series, including the three novellas.  To find out that Maria V. Snyder wrote three more books to add to Yelena’s stories is beyond happy for me.

This installment is alternately from Yelena, Valek, and Janco’s point of view. A lot has happened since the third book, but Ms. Snyder still managed to draw her readers back into the magical world of Ixia and Sitia that she created since Poison Study through a seamless plot. In spite of the long gap, she’s still able to keep the fast-moving narrative, romance, and action. It is wonderful reading previous characters are back, along with some very interesting new ones.

Huge twists are being maneuvered for these next three books. I am sure that readers will be kept guessing for what will happen next. The cliffhanger at the end of this installment is a great indication of that.

I highly recommend SHADOW STUDY. If you haven’t started on this series yet, you still have ample days to pick up the last three books before this comes out on February 24.

Book details:

Title:  Shadow Study
Series:  Study Series #4

Author:  Maria V. Snyder

Publication:  Mira, February 24, 2015

Genre:  Fiction, Fantasy

Rating:  ★★★★★

* The same review appears on Goodreads, Shelfari, and Tumblr.

Thank you, Mira and Netgalley for lending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.