All the magic-born in Ixia are to be executed, but when the previous taste tester dies, Yelena is given the option of being killed or being the taste tester to the Commander.

“Poison Study,” by Maria V. Snyder, part of the “Study Series,” is a book of romance, action and lessons about being able to pick yourself up and defeat the demons within yourself.

Yelena, the main character, is a young woman in the middle of a long-waged struggle between the northern country Ixia and the southern country Sitia.

In this world, people are born with magic powers. Sitia has special schools to help teach those with their special abilities, assigning magic-born with specific tasks when their training is complete.

On the other hand, after Ixia’s takeover by the Commander, all found with magic abilities are sentenced to death because he believes magic causes corruption.

Yelena finds herself in an orphanage at a young age with no recollection as to how she got there. She lives a rather happy life in her new home and is well taken care of by the orphanage owner, Gen. Brazell, who is in charge of the district that Yelena lives in.

But around the age of 14, Gen. Brazell and his son, Reyad, start to abuse her, leading Yelena to murder Reyad.

After being charged for murder and sent to the Commander’s castle to rot in a dungeon, Yelena is given the chance to become taste tester to the Commander due to his law that the next in line for death is given the option if the position is available.

She is sent to Valek, head of the guard, to learn how to find poisons in different foods, and while she studies more and more each day, she learns that she is producing the ability to do magic.

Unlike other books within the genre of action romance, this book has a main character who is able to fight in her own way. She has an intuitive ability like a young Sherlock Holmes character.

Though Yelena has weak moments, her cunning and sense of self empowerment helps her with a lot of near misses and helps her with quite a bit of her deduction skills.

In a way, it also creates a mystery aspect to the book series.

This book series is not just an adventure story. It is also about the inevitable, star-crossed love between Yelena and Valek and the power that it gives Yelena and teaches people.

With all these aspects being covered, I believe that this story is an amazing read for most ages and either gender.

The whole time reading, I was engaged with the characters and even wept at times.

This book receives five out of five stars.