The Study of Poisons

By: Maria V. Snyder

Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill

Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Fierce, determined, dangerous. No wonder her soul called to his.

As Chief of Security of Ixia, Valek has spent the last 15 years keeping Commander Ambrose and his citizens safe. With his complex network of spies, informers, and soldiers, it’s his job to hunt down and capture criminals, including the intriguing Yelena.

Sensing there is more to the story of why she killed a general’s son, Valek arranges for Yelena to become the Commander’s new food taster, training her in the delicate art of detecting poisons. As mysteries and a devious plot to harm the Commander unravel, Yelena’s presence becomes crucial. Will her intelligence, stubbornness, and survivor instincts be a help to Valek’s investigation, or a hinderance?

A companion novel to Poison Study, The Study of Poisons reveals Valek’s side of the story. Return to the world of Ixia and discover just how the lovely Yelena got Valek’s cold heart pumping!

©2023 Maria V. Snyder (P)2023 Maria V. Snyder

Excellent POV turn for this story

I was certain this would be a five star book all the way...I admire the original series enormously...and it is a really well-crafted book, in a multitude of ways. It's just that some things troubled me as the book went on, and I didn't enjoy some of the action and all of the cruelty. I'm very glad i read it and recommend it highly...just didn't sustain five stars for me. I found myself bothered by the age difference between Valek and Yelena, which is hypocritical of me, the scanty information on her form of magic, and the cruelty of some bothered me too much. But world-building, character development, plotting and dialogue are top-notch. Very talented writer! The narration is fantastic, too.

Absolutely loved it

Years and years and years of waiting, and it was definitely worth it. Now I was more...

A Wonderful Way to Revisit The Chronicles of Ixia

This story has been much anticipated for years. Now that it's here, I'm beyond thrilled. It was such a treat to get to experience it for the first time all over again. I thought the narration of Valek's perspective was very well done. I would have liked to hear Yelena with a more quiet strength, however. She's reticent, not timid. Overall, though, I really enjoyed the experience and hope we get more from Valek's perspective in the future. This fan is very happy.

Valek

Maria V Snyder has done it again. It was so nice to go back to Ixia and hear Valeks side of the story of how and why he chose Yelena as the food taster. I hope she does more Ixia stories in the future!

I could not stop listening!

5⭐️ 0🌶️ 4🎧

I can’t tell you how happy I was reading this book. The Chronicles of Ixia has been my comfort series for years. I have probably read Poison Study at least ten times since it released and to be back in this world was like getting a warm hug from old friends.

I loved seeing things through Valek’s POV. It was so much fun watching him fall in love with Yelena. I also loved his interactions with his corp and the Commander. Who knew the two of them were so funny together?

I can see myself reading Poison Study and The Study of Poisons back to back from now own. I really hope we get additional books from Valek’s POV. I don’t need each book but one or two more would make my heart so happy.

I listened to the audiobook and thought Raphael Corkhill was an amazing Valek. His female voices weren’t my favorite but his swoon worthy voice as Valek more than made up for it.

Another Slam Dunk by Maria V. Snyder

Like with Poison Study I couldnt believe it was over when I reached the end of the book... I guess I'll have to listen to the whole series again 😅

Loved it

So glad to have Valek’s point of view for one of my all-time favorite couples!

It was great !

I really enjoyed this . Valek is awesome and I love his relationship with Yelena Thank you ❤️❤️❤️

A trip down memory lane

4.25 Stars 🌟

I saw this as a New Release and remembered that I had liked the series, but for the life of me, I had a really hard time remembering what exactly the storyline was (it had been a while).

Supposedly, this book didn't really cover too much new material, but it tells the initial story (Poison Study) from Valek's POV. But saying this doesn't really do the story justice. There was a heck of a lot going on that Yelena wasn't aware of. We got to see the softer side of Valek, his real feelings of the new "food taster", the behind the scenes relationship between Valek and the Commander, and we got a better understanding of the politics involved that served as the foundation of "The Chronicles of Ixia".

I also ended up listening to the audio version of this book and the only thing that I wasn't a fan of was the narration. The narrator was Raphael Corkhill and while he wasn't awful, he wasn't great either.

One good thing was that I then discovered another "new to me" release - The Chronicles of Ixia - which is a compilation of all of the short stories and novellas in this series. While I had read a couple of them, there are some new ones that I am looking forward to reading.

I loved the book, but the narration...

Another fun book from Maria V. Snyder. I've loved the Study series since it's premiere and have followed every release and was happy to have this unique look back on the first book. My only complaint is the narrator, it took a while to get used to him and I feel like the voices used for the characters weren't unique enough.