BOOK REVIEW - ARC - POISON PRINCESS by KRESLEY COLE - THE ARCANA CHRONICLES # 1 - SIMON & SCHUSTER - 5 JACKSON CAJUN STARS!!

By: Kresley Cole

Published By : Simon & Schuster

Released : October 2nd 2012

Details: Paperback received for review from publisher, Thankyou!

RATING : 5 JACKSON CAJUN STARS!

Blurb : Goodreads

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

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle :

My brain is near exploding with how crazy good this story was. This is my first Kresley Cole read and I am absolutely blown away with the plot and amount of work put into this book and its characters.

I cannot even begin to express how much what the cover of this book looks like, gorgeous girl, handsome guy, and what actually goes on inside this book with these two characters will surprise you. 

What it will do to your mind. 

KaaaAAbbBBoooOOom!!! 

This story has chapters with time lapses which I totally loved. The start of the story....... well hellloOOooo Mr Creepy. The start of this book had me checking the cover and wondering if the cover had been put on another story. Like, seriously, that was an uber intriguing, mega creepy start to this YA book. Very unexpected.

I have notes up to my eyeballs on this book. This is a good thing as it means Kresley’s tale has well and truly represented the hard earned dollars a reader will spend on it. I am of course speaking with the assumption of my belief in the majority.

This is a very detailed and well mapped out tale. The characters, as you slowly meet the key players, are very intriguing. The whole book is intriguing from the creepy start right until the last page.

Jackson Deveaux , the motorcycle riding, Basin Tongue Cajun French speaking bayou resident, hip flask whiskey drinking student, is as smexi as the tongue he speaks. Kresley gave this boy some lines in this book..... be still my heart. The cover art of Jackson is pretty spot on.

When Jackson lets you in, he will bowl you over. When Jackson doesn’t let you in, and he does dumb, stupid things with our lead female protagonist Evie, you will want to give him a shake. He is a Bayou boy through and through, but when he starts to think about his heart instead of his...err... appendage down stairs, then our hearts flutter. When we learn more about Jackson, we ‘see’ more of Jackson. He is a fearless protector but he can also be a bit of an ass when he mucks up.

But , what a gorgeous, smexi ass. Bad boy earns brownie points with me.

The Arcana Chronicles has enormous ( badass long) series staying power. When we think of apocalyptic stories, we often come in to the story years after the apocalypse has happened. Not the countdown and then the early stages. So much to learn, and we are only in a small pocket of the planet. We will be schooled in only some of the players.

Evangeline aka Evie is only just turning 16 years old . We see a lot of growth with her character by the end of this book. There are layers to Evie, some that she keeps a secret as she simply does not understand them herself. She has tried to silence her secrets. Her mother tried, the doctors tried.

Evie sketches her nightmares in such detail that they become her downfall. I mean who draws this stuff? Well....Evie.

I had to keep reminding myself that Evie has only just turned 16, she makes mistakes, she acts out, she has jealousies, she is trying to understand a lot that scares her. A lot that she will carry on her young shoulders.

I have not met Grandma, but I so want to. She holds a lot of answers that Matthew, bless him, love the guy, but sometimes cryptic boy needs a shake down. I just wanted him to spill it, but then that would have made for a shorter book J

Kresley keeps feeding the reader characters and plot, and the intrigue just kept the pages turning for me. Sometimes I felt like I was floundering like Evie in her nightmares and not ‘understanding.‘

Keep reading. Kresley will keep feeding you . The plot and amount of creativity that has gone into this book can’t all be info dumped onto the reader in one hit. We need to find out as the characters find out.

Everything weaves together, well as much as Kresley will allow us in this first instalment. As I said, how many books start just before an apocalypse, and we learn, as the characters who survive learn, the type of world the planet has become. The short amount of time it takes for man to turn the need to survive into something more deadly, even inhumane. The strong soon learn to be top dog, the weak.........just don’t be one of the weak. 

The animal , man can become.

I have quotes leaping off my notebook. Kresley’s dialogue with some of her characters lightened the seriousness of the situation. Finn is absolutely hilarious.

The sub character’s will pull at our emotions in all sorts of ways, this is an apocalypse people!

This is a dark tale with little laughing space, but when Jackson smiles, you will smile. When Finn opens his mouth, you will laugh out loud. When Jackson talks that Cajun French, you will swoon....well I did.

I don’t want to give away what the thing is that Kresley has used as the basis for her plot as it is an amazing plot and use of this thing and how she wrote her characters into using this thing is quite masterfully set up.

Air high five to Kresley.

I was soooo excited to receive this book from Simon & Schuster for review. It was one I had been dying to read and it did not disappoint.

An exceptionally well written plot that will have you turning pages and sticking up a ‘do not disturb’ sign. You won’t want to be interrupted.

Especially when Jackson has his smexi Cajun mojo in full swing........


FAVE QUOTES:


“Surely she’s going to get sent home with a skirt that short.”

Not to mention her midriff-baring shirt, which read : I Got Bourbon-Faced On Shit Street!



“But if they’re together, then why does he keep staring at you? Like he hasn’t deposited enough mental images into his spank bank by now?”



He looked at me like I might be lying. “You smell almost like .... honeysuckle.”

“I’m not wearing anything.”

“My fondest wish.”



He was staring at my lips, and before I could think better of it, I’d wetted them.

“That’s it, bebe,” he said in a coaxing rasp. “Ma bonne fille.” My good girl.

He wrapped one of his arms behind my back, cupping my chin with his free hand. “Evangeline, I’m goan to kiss you until your toes curl, until we’re breathing for each other.”



“Evie. Arms. Now.”

I rolled my eyes. After a hesitation , I finally reached around him-

Just as he rose up to disengage the kickstand.

My clasped hands brushed over him .... there.

He sucked in a breath, his muscles gone rigid with tension; my face flamed as I yanked my hands back.

“If you touch me like that again, Evangeline,” he began in a husky tone, dropping to his seat once more, “ in the space of a heartbeat, I will have you off this bike and onto the closest horizontal surface. And I woan be picky, no.”


Just as he’d promised, we were breathing for each other - and still I couldn’t get enough.



“If you want me to kiss you again, you call me Jack.”



“Ah, bebe, I feel like I ain’t seen you in weeks.”

Michelle

This vid of Kresley's does contain the thing I didn't mention , but the part of blurb I did not put on my review posting ( deliberately) said the plot thing I didn't want to reveal .

It is a wonderful vid, but be warned.