Review: Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles #1)

Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles #1)
By Kresley Cole

Published By: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: October 1, 2012
Date Read: August 19, 2022
Genre: YA – Dystopia
Source: Bought
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 369

From Goodreads:
#1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole introduces The Arcana Chronicles, post-apocalyptic tales filled with riveting action, the dark mysticism of Tarot cards, and breathtaking romance.

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, killing everyone she loves, 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 trust 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 teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it’s not always clear who is on which side…

In Poison Princess, New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole introduces a dark and intriguing world, full of unspeakable danger and irresistible romance.

Poison Princess is a book that has been on my radar for a long time. I first came across it back in 2012 when it first released. And it just sat on my shelf for years. I ended up not picking it up because I knew the series was unfinished and the author wasn’t writing for a while due to personal reasons. I just didn’t want to read a series that I didn’t know if it was going to be finished. Fast forward a lot of years, and the final book in this series is just about to be released. So, I am joining in on a group readalong of this series.

Poison Princess is very different from what I was expecting. I’ll be honest and say I read the blurb almost 10 years ago when it first released and had completely forgotten what this book was about. So, I was technically going in completely blind. I thought this series was a YA Fantasy series, so imagine my surprise to find out it’s actually a dystopia. This is a very welcome surprise for me… as I freaking LOVE dystopia series. As soon as we got to the ‘apocalypse’ event, I was hooked!

I listened to the audio edition of this book and I am so glad that I did. The narrator of this book did a phenomenal job! She really brought Evie to life, and I could feel every emotion Evie went through along with her. I was completely hooked and I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen to Evie next. I cried, I laughed, I swooned… this whole book was an emotional journey and I really enjoyed every single moment.

Poison Princess is a fantastic start to what I’m sure is going to be a fantastic series. It has action, mystery, intrigue and romance. I really enjoyed every moment, and the ending had me reeling, dying to know what is going to happen next. I really loved that this has tarot cards as a big mythology aspect. I found this really unique and different to other series. I am so glad that I finally started this series and I will be going straight into the audiobook of the next book, Endless Knight. If you love old school YA series and you love dystopia, then I highly recommend that you pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed.