Guest Review: Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

 This Guest Review is brought to you by Lj from Cause I Say So

Publish Date: October 2, 2012

She could save the world—or destroy it. Sixteen year old Evangeline “Evie” Greene leads a charmed life, until she begins experiencing horrifying hallucinations. When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future—and they’re still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux. But she can’t do either alone. With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can’t totally depend on Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him? Who can Evie trust? As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of twenty-two teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it’s not always clear who is on which side….

This particular book cover, while it isn't the worst book cover around, is certainly not the best. I love the fiery back ground and the dark clouds above but the two models are too modely. And why is the model posing as Evie in a dress? In the book she's dirty and wearing jeans ALL the time which proves this book cover isn't consistent with the plot. Lastly, the two on this cover look awfully narrowed checked. I'm suspecting someone went to town with the airbrush tool on their editing program. Just saying!

Now the book itself, well that's a different story. Definitely one of the better books recently released. Plus it's from Kresley Cole, who is one of my favorite big girl (romance with smexy scenes) authors. I really wasn't surprised that she pulled off a fabulous job with this book since I've yet to read a horrible book from her. I was worried that perhaps the YA genre would be a tad bit too vanilla for Cole, and yes in certain spots it seemed a bit more mature than average. It was almost as if Cole was just a teeny, tiny bit shy of crossing that line back into big girl territory. Still, I didn't mind at all because either way I was going to read this book!

As for the plot, Cole did a fabulous job cooking this one. I've yet to come across anything quite like it. YA, Dystopian, and Paranormal? Hell yes! This is why I LOVE Kresely Cole books. She pulls out all the right flavors before mixing a perfect blend of reading material.

And don't even get me started....Yes, yes, get me started on her characters! I L.O.V.E.D. them! Seriously, if I wasn't already married to my own tough Cajun man, I'd have stolen Jack and hidden him away in my family camp forever (insert girlish giggle here) I am quite smitten with him. Cole must have done some good ole' creole research because I was loving some of his accent (not all because some of the wording was deep bayou and OLD, old Cajun heritage). Jack, though a bad boy, was also a good boy. He protected the heroine, Evie, but also tried to teach her in his own rough loving way. And Evie, I don't think most would have appreciate her uselessness but I did. I say this only because, Evie started off as a damsel in distress and throughout the book she knew it too. BUT, she wanted to be useful. She tried and when it was something she couldn't do, she accepted it. That was a pleasant change. AS for the rest of the characters. Cole had me on pins and needles, deciding if I liked them. Jury is still out on most of them but I will admit they were all colorful and unique. You will find no fake, fill in the blank stereotypes in this book.

Overall, Poison Princess was a phenomenal read and I'm super excited and way past impatient to read the next book in this titillating series. I was a fan of Cole before but this book only fermented the hold this author had over my loyalty. I highly suggest everyone read this book!

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A Little Bit More About

Kresely Cole

Kresley Cole is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the electrifying Immortals After Dark paranormal series and the young adult Arcana Chronicles. She has also written five award-winning historical romances.

Since her first novel was released in 2003, Kresley has published nineteen books with Simon & Schuster and has seen her releases translated into more than eighteen foreign languages. She has traveled over much of the world and draws from those experiences to create her memorable characters and settings. Two of her favorite places to visit include the rain forests of Central America and the Queensland area of Australia.

Cole’s trademark action, sensuality, and humor are exemplified in her popular Immortals After Dark Series, which revolves around the Lore, a secret stratum of hundreds of immortal creatures--ranging from Vampires to Lykae, Furies to Shifters, and Fey to Valkyrie--that each have their strengths, weaknesses, and age old prejudices against the others. Though they secretly live among humans, they constantly war among themselves, which gives her a lot of material.

In 2007, Kresley won the prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA award for best paranormal for her novel A Hunger Like No Other, and in January 2009, she became a #1 New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller with her sixth IAD installment, Kiss of a Demon King. In 2010, Kiss of a Demon King earned Kresley her second RITA award. 2011 brought Cole her second #1 NYT bestseller with Dreams of a Dark Warrior.

She lives in Florida with her husband and far too many animals. She spends any free time traveling and enjoys all things related to boats and water. You can learn more about Kresley at www.kresleycole.com.