Poison: By Bridget Zinn

POISON

SUMMARY

Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she’s the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom’s future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.

But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart…misses.

Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king’s army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she’s not alone. She’s armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can’t stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?

Kyra is not your typical murderer, and she’s certainly no damsel-in-distress—she's the lovable and quick-witted hero of this romantic novel that has all the right ingredients to make teen girls swoon.

REVIEW

Poison is fun, lighthearted, and full of action and comedy.

Unlike many “the world is ending unless mission x is completed” books, Bridget Zinn does a great job of infusing sarcasm, hijinks, and comedy in the book. I think of one my favorite characters is Rosie the pig. First off, just the fact that a book would a tracking pig, demonstrates the nature of the book, second the fact that Rosie would fall in love with a large dog, is further proof of light humor that is scattered throughout the book.

Of course, Poison has more than a Princess that doesn’t want to marry, a tracking pig, and a poisoner who would love a pie right about now, it also has lots of action. Kyra is action packed, besides knowing how to kick some serious butt, (which she’s given ample opportunity to do), she also is equipped with a number of awesome and exciting potions. Everything from a dish washer potion, to a sleep potion, to deadly potions. Coupled with the fact that she’s only missed once (when she went after the princess, her best friend), she’s a force to be reckoned with.

That said something else that really was quite appealing about the book, was the way it was laid out. Kyra tried killing her best friend and the princesses of the realm seemingly out of nowhere, but failed. Now she’s been on the run for three months and is trying to finish the job. As the book progresses readers will be introduced to the reasons behind Kyra’s actions, how she became best friends with the princesses, and even how she became the best potions master in the realm. It was nice to have the action start out right away, having the protagonist already failed once. It felt different, and helped establish the story in a way that swept the reader off in its currents.

All in all I really liked Poison. It’s a fantastic début and would love to read more by this budding new author.

INFO

Publisher: Hyperion Book CH

Published: March 12, 2013

Price: $16.99

Link to Buy: http://www.amazon.com/Poison-Bridget-Zinn/dp/1423139933/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363156527&sr=1-1&keywords=poison