The Arcana Chronicles #1: Poison Princess Review

Title: The Arcana Chronicles #1: Poison Princess

Author: Kresley Cole

Date of Publication: October 2, 2012

Formats Available: Hardcover, E-Book

Synopsis: Evie Greene has a perfect life, with a gorgeous boyfriend and supportive best friend Evie is ready to put the horrible hallucinations and nightmares she's been having behind her. However when her apocalyptic visions start coming true she realizes that her visions have been telling the future and now the only person willing to help her is Jack Deveaux. Jack is the stereotypical bad boy from the wrong side of town, but now that Evie has no one else to trust she must rely on Jack to help her find the source of her visions. As the two of them travel Evie discovers that she's not the only one with powers and visions of the apocalypse, twenty-two other teens have been chosen to play out an ancient prophecy that only one of them can hope to survive.

My Review:

With a fascinating plot full of action, romance, and excitement I was expecting to like this novel much more than I did. While the plot was extremely interesting and I loved the references to Tarot cards I just couldn't get over how much the characters never ceased to annoy me. This novel held so much promise but unfortunately the characters made this book into an irritating read.

Even though the beginning starts off a little slow this novel is definitely a fast read, full of constant action as Evie and Jack struggle for survival. I absolutely loved the premise and the idea that each of the twenty-two teens related to one of the Tarot cards. Told as a story within a story the creepiness of Arthur, the man who Evie finds and tells her story to, and what he plans to do definitely add to the intrigue of the novel.

Both Evie and Jack were interesting enough characters; I didn't love or hate either of them. Being a huge fan of foreign languages I loved Jack's Cajun French and I even learned a bit of it along the way. Evie was a bit of a stuck-up snob but in the end she started to grow on me as she evolved into a stronger character and gained self-confidence. Although I didn't mind either Jack or Evie their constant arguing started to really grate on my nerves and made Poison Princess into a bit of an unpleasant read.

In fact, by the end of Poison Princess I was so frustrated with both Evie and Jack I didn't know what to do with myself. Even though I liked both of their characters well enough their constant arguing drove me insane. The moment I thought they had finally taken some steps forward they would move backwards again, a never ending circle of arguing, then some romance, followed by even more arguing. Sometimes it even seemed that they were going out of their way to be as mean to each other as possible, frustrating me even more.

Even though this book was hugely frustrating I still find myself eager to read the sequel after the horrible cliff-hanger ending. While I found myself a bit annoyed with this novel I can understand why it would appeal to older fans of YA paranormal romance. For those who want to read it my words of advice would include: wait for the sequel and be warned of all the arguing!

3/5