Review: Poison by Bridget Zinn

Author:  Bridget Zinn

Pages: 288

Genre: Young Adult - Fantasy

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Amazon: Poison

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she’s the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom’s future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.

But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart . . . misses.

Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king’s army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she’s not alone. She’s armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can’t stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?

Kyra is not your typical murderer, and she’s certainly no damsel-in-distress—she’s the lovable and quick-witted hero of this romantic novel that has all the right ingredients to make teen girls swoon.

Reviews: 4 out of 5 stars

I was instantly drawn to the beautiful cover of Poison, it is really eye-catching and after reading the synopsis, I knew it would be a fantasy tale I would enjoy.

Poison was a real page turner, the main heroine is Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled and respected potions master and the only person who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction.

Kyra ends up hunted when she attempts to kill her former best friend and the future queen, Ariana with her poison dart and misses, now on the run she sets out to find where the princess is hiding. She was such a strong, self-reliant character who I came to adore as the story progressed – some of the predicaments she landed herself in were quite hilarious; the storyline follows Kyra in her journey to finish the job she started –  to kill her former friend and along the way she has the help from adorable Rosie her magical pig and Fred who I was drawn to instantly.

Fred was such a likeable, fun and witty character who bought comic relief to the story; he was laid-back and carefree and although I think the relationship between Kyra and Fred progressed too fast, it was quite cute and sweet none the less.

The fantasy story Zinn has weaved is filled with magical mayhem and interesting characters; it was adventurous and although I expected a heavier plot line it ended up being quite light-hearted and fun. You are drawn into the creative and wonderful well-built world.

As the story developed, Kyra's secrets and her motives come to be revealed; leaving twists and turns aplenty until the very end. I loved the mystery and suspense; I was quite surprised by a few revelations.

Poison was fast paced and engaging, I loved Ms. Zinn's simplistic writing style, the banter and the dialogue between Kyra and Fred had me laughing out loud, I loved every word. The plot was solid, the world-building amazing and the characterisations perfect.

Overall, Poison was a terrific fantasy story that had me riveted throughout.

Sadly, Bridget Zinn passed away before Poison was published. My sincerest condolences to her family and friends.

Thank-you to Disney Hyperion for the opportunity to read and review Poison.

About Bridget Zinn

Bridget grew up in Wisconsin. She went to the county fair where she met the love of her life, Barrett Dowell. They got married right before she went in for exploratory surgery which revealed she had colon cancer. They christened that summer the "summer of love" and the two celebrated with several more weddings. Bridget continued to read and write until the day she died. Her last tweet was "Sunshine and a brand new book. Perfect."

Bridget wanted to make people laugh and hoped readers would enjoy spending time with the characters she created. As a librarian/writer she loved books with strong young women with aspirations. She also felt teens needed more humorous reads. She really wanted to write a book with pockets of warmth and happiness and hoped that her readers' copies would show the watermarks of many bath time reads.