Title: Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles #1)
Author: Kresley Cole
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books
Pages: 384
Rating: 4/5 Stars
One of my very good friends was super excited to read this book and did
NOT like it, so I approached it with trepidation. I’m pleased to report that
despite a few minor annoyances, Poison
Princess did not disappoint.
I haven’t read any of Kresley Cole’s other novels, but I went into this
book well aware of her status as a published and popular author and her
experience and skill as a writer was evident from the first page. Cole created
a very vivid and lush world – both before and after the Flash – for her hero
and heroine. Her characters are fully realized and real, with strengths and
weaknesses that help and hinder them along the way.
Evie is an interesting heroine in that she embodies a lot of qualities
– ultra feminine, shallow, materialistic and prejudice – that I wouldn’t
normally gravitate toward, but Cole doesn’t turn her into a caricature. I
understand her prejudices against Jackson and the other Cajuns when they
suddenly transfer to her ultra-posh high school – she’s not looking to hate
them, but they come with violent and scary reputations that they promptly
proceed to live up to.
Evie is aware of how shallow and vain she can be, not to mention the
fact that she thoroughly enjoys the creature comforts of her life at Haven
House, but she’s constantly at war with a feeling that she should be striving
for more. What I might normally find grating or annoying becomes understandable
in light of the fact that she’s just returned from 2-3 months in an insane
asylum, questioning her sanity. At the beginning of the story, Evie is craving
normalcy and I applaud Cole for not making her apologize for that.
After the Flash, as Evie’s psychic/supernatural abilities continue to
flourish, she balks against what she feels is her destiny. This is another
thing that I would normally be annoyed with, but again, the way Cole handles
Evie’s character, everything makes sense. While she’s not interested in joining
in on the battle of the Major Arcana, she’s also driven by a need to know who
and what she is and willingly runs toward the battle in the name of the people
she loves.
Jackson Deveaux is a pretty typical bad boy, although I loved the added
details of the scars on his knuckles from the fights that he’s been in and the
fact that he has earned his
reputation. He’s not some misunderstood hero with a heart of gold who gained
his reputation by fighting for the underdog. He’s got a temper, he’s violent,
he’s rude and crass, and as much as he’s drawn to Evie – and vice versa – he
really doesn’t like her much. That mutual antagonism provided the perfect
breeding ground for a slow-building, passionate romance.
After the Flash, Jackson rises to the occasion and the survival
instincts that got him into trouble in civilized Louisiana society serve him
and Evie well. Poison Princess is
about so much more than the romance between this good girl/bad boy duo, but it
progresses steadily throughout the novel so that by the end I could tell that
while they still drive each other – and me – a little crazy, they’re no longer
denying the connection they share.
The one problem that I have with Jackson Deveaux – other than his love
of Ducati’s – is that Cole writes his dialogue almost phonetically. It’s really
annoying and pulled me out of the story a lot. I finally just stopped paying
attention to the bad grammar, ‘doan’s’ instead of don’t, and the oddly placed
‘me’s’ and you’s’. I assume Cole chose to write him this way to add color to
her narrative and while I enjoyed the French Cajun that got thrown in from time
to time, I could have done without the phonetically written speech patterns.
It’s just not necessary and comes across as pretentious. I get that Jackson is
‘other’, but Cole could have made the same point strictly by utilizing the
French Cajun. Aside from a California surfer boy – who’s biggest offense is
uttering ‘dude’ too many times – who shows up toward the end of the book,
Jackson was the only character who didn’t speak perfect English. This served to
set him exaggerate how unlike the other characters he is – and not in a good
way. Evie’s reluctance to share who and what she’s starting to think she is
already puts Jackson squarely in the ‘outsider’ column. Cole’s choice to have
him speak the way he does just made it worse.
Poison Princess begins nine
months after the Flash and puts Evie in an immediately dangerous position.
Whenever the story lagged – and as much as I enjoyed it overall, the
post-Flash/pre-Jackson period dragged on too long – the promise of finding out
how Evie ends up in danger kept me turning pages.
Cole doles out her information about Evie’s destiny judiciously and
hits that sweet spot where just when the questions were about to drive me crazy,
she put a few puzzle pieces in to keep my curiosity sated.
Poison Princess is very
definitely the first in a series. While Cole gives us answers, the book does
not end in a place of peace and calm – everyone’s fate is in question as well
as Evie and Jackson’s relationship. Overall, the story had a rich plot, fully
fleshed out characters, a marvelous and horrifying dystopic world and enough
intrigue to reel me in and leave me excited for the next installment.
