Poison Princess by Kresley Cole
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I’m not quite sure what to think about POISON PRINCESS. On one hand, it has an interesting premise (people represent Tarot cards and have to battle to the top) and some pretty steamy relationships, but on the other hand, it had so much unrealistic characterization and took so long to get around to the Tarot bit that I had trouble reading. Eventually the title makes sense and the writing is revealed as not being as convoluted as it seemed at first, but man, does it take its time getting there.
Amazingly, the many disparate elements come together at the end (which, of course, is wide open for the sequel): the SUPER spoiled rich girl who name drops at the least opportunity but spent time in an asylum because she hallucinates; the Cajun bad boy from the far, far other side of the tracks with the sexy accent and the continual hard-on; the serial killer; the water-stealing apocalypse; not-hallucinated people with shocking new powers; plants; poison (there it is!); violence; THE FUGITIVE-worthy running; romance; and finally, comeuppance.
The writing isn’t bad, and the story moves along. It just has a LOT of backstory. We’re told that the apocalypse happened, and people now have strange powers to compensate, but the majority of the story seems like what happened just before and just after the “event” instead of getting straight into the Tarot bit. And though plenty of plants are poisonous, it takes a while to realize that our heroine will be able to use her newfound abilities to similar use.
Some people will object to the alpha-male persona of the male lead, and while I’m not fond of guys who can’t keep it in their pants, at least nothing worse than heavy petting happened without consent. The author is well-known for her adult romances, after all, and such alpha personalities are common in that genre. It’s a fine line between steamy and troublesome, and this book may cross it for some people. It seems like most characters in this book are insulting and crass and unlikely to think before they speak, sometimes even approaching bullying. Perhaps that adds to the story’s realism.
The beginning and ending of this book were gripping, and because I’m very intrigued by the Tarot premise, I may look for the next book. But there needs to be much less high-school angst and more magic for me to continue. We’ve only met a fraction of the Tarot, so there is plenty of room for sequels. I hope now that the apocalypse is out of the way and the backstory is told, the story gets good.
Received s a free digital ARC via the publisher’s Pulseit program.
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