Magic Study (Study, #2) in What's the Name of That Book???

May 30, 2008 Trin rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, american-lit

Like its predecessor, Poison Study, this book is not very well-written, but still quite entertaining and fun. I liked it less than the first book in the series, mostly because the best characters—Yelena’s love interest, Valek, whom Snyder succeeds in making seem genuinely dangerous (in an admittedly “fanon version of Snape” sort of way); and Yelena’s buddies, the “we’re totally doing each other” duo of Ari and Janco—were absent for the first half of the novel. By herself, learning about her spe ...more

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Dec 14, 2009 Nadine in NY Jones rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-and-sci-fi, young-adult

I loved Poison Study and I couldn't wait to get my hands on the second volume, Magic Study. It has NOT disappointed. (Interestingly, this book has more of a young adult feel to it - I wonder if the author was intentionally trying to market to this growing market, or if it's just a coincidence. No matter, it works for me, and I'm a grown up!)

When Magic Study ended, I was very very sad to leave some of the characters that had fascinated me - Valek, Ari, Janko, and I couldn't imagine how the next b ...more

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Jun 23, 2012 Maria Elmvang rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-stars, fantasy, owned-physical-book, owned-ebook, 2012, 2016

I loved Poison Study, but had heard somewhere that the other books in the series weren't quite as good, so I'd been reluctant to pick this one up. However, I was challenged to read it in October, so I figured I might as well get started and loaded it onto my Kindle two days ago.

It TOTALLY lived up to the standards the first book set! This is one of the best fantasy series I've read in a very long time, and I only hope the last book can live up to my now very high expectations. I love Yelena and ...more

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Oct 11, 2010 Sara ♥ rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2010, challenge-fall-2010, action-adventure, fantasy, romance

All right. I gotta review this before I delve into the third book, or I'm going to forget which events happened in which book (as sad as that is)...

I really liked this sequel to Poison Study, although I wish Valek was in it more, obviously.... I've never been so in love with an assassin in my life, I gotta say... ;)

Anyway, in this book Yelena is down in Sitia, where she is reunited with her family and the culture of her birth. Except she has been gone since she was SIX (14 years, now), so obviou All right. I gotta review this before I delve into the third book, or I'm going to forget which events happened in which book (as sad as that is)...

I really liked this sequel to Poison Study, although I wish Valek was in it more, obviously.... I've never been so in love with an assassin in my life, I gotta say... ;)

Anyway, in this book Yelena is down in Sitia, where she is reunited with her family and the culture of her birth. Except she has been gone since she was SIX (14 years, now), so obviously, she's adopted much of the mind-set and ways of doing things from Ixia. So even though she's finally back home, she doesn't exactly blend in seamlessly! Her parents accept her, no questions asked, but her brother, Leif, is a completely different story. I really quite liked the Yelena/Leif storyline. It makes for an interesting dynamic. Leif SORT OF annoyed me at first, but then you start getting some insights into his head, and it turns more interesting than annoying.

I really liked Irys in this book, too, and the mentor/student relationship between her and Yelena. They get SO FRUSTRATED with each other, because they think so differently (Irys like a Sitian and Yelena like an Ixian). Yelena is constantly trying to do things on her own, which drives Irys crazy, but then it makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, Yelena doesn't exactly have the best track record when it comes to trusting other people, now, does she?

I liked how Yelena "studies" magic. I expected a kind of school environment, and there IS a BIT of that, but I liked that it was more of a learning-by-doing process. Not that Irys was PLANNING to have Yelena learn that way, but that's how it ended up anyway. I felt like the magic was pretty well explained. I found myself able to visualize it quite easily... Although I hope that Fire Study delves more into the bond she shares with Valek, because that's still pretty mysterious.

I liked the bad guy. And when I say that, I mean that he was SO SO HORRIBLE! I didn't think anyone could hold a candle to Reyad, but this guy ("Ferde") was CREEPY. And when I say "creepy," I mean, skin-crawlingly. *shudder* But I liked how Yelena's past experiences are good for something, you know? They allow her to be able to relate to Ferde's victims so that she can help them and they are more willing to trust her. Yelena's past is CRAP, but I'm glad at least SOME good can come out of it.

Anyway, those are my thoughts, as jumbled together at 3 am. Now back to sleep before the baby wakes up wanting to eat again! ;) I'll start Fire Study later today.... ...more

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Nov 25, 2013 Abigail rated it it was ok

What bugged me out most about this book was the near obsession with sexual abuse in this book/series. It's like the only hardship this author can come up with is horrifying abuse which has to be gone into in cringe inducing detail. There were also way too many under-developed characters in this book and Valek got on my nerves in an alarming way ("my love" is not something I could have ever pictured him saying, let alone saying at the beginning or end of every sentence). Sadly, this sequel was di ...more

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May 20, 2012 Sara ♥ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: action-adventure, fantasy, romance, 2012

Really read the hardcover edition (9780373802494)

I had a LOT to say in my other review, so I'm mostly going to leave it at that. This was definitely a middle book. It was good, but it didn't have enough Valek and there were a LOT of questions unanswered at the end. I get that, as there needs to be more to do in the third book, but yeah. I dunno. ...more

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Jan 24, 2009 Debbie is on Storygraph rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2009

I had a hard time seeing how Synder would live up to Poison Study. She did and surpassed it. Yelena must learn how to control her newly discovered magic powers while dealing with court intrigue, an antagonistic brother, suspicion on the part of the Sitians, an exiled Ixian would-be king, and a sadistic murdering rapist. I could not put this down! ...more

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Jun 30, 2008 Sharon rated it it was amazing

Oh my god oh my god, I have to run right out and read the next.

If I sat and thought, I could probably find some flaws with these books. But they're so fast-paced, and delightfully full of daily life details and seamless world-building, and characters I just so want to be friends with, that I am in love and aswoon.

Fire Study is waiting at the library! ...more

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Jul 06, 2007 Chelsea rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy, recced, historicalfiction, 2006

A decent historical fantasy, but nothing earthshaking. It very much felt like the middle of a trilogy (which I believe it is going to be - I know there's a third due out, possibly next year, and I'm assuming that's the end of the series). Valek was absent for most of the book, which means that it was only half as fun as the first. ...more

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Feb 20, 2014 Sara ♥ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, romance, 2015, audiobook, 2014, suspense

April 3-4, 2015

Hmmm... interesting middle book.... The plot is a bit.... convoluted. Like stuff coming out of nowhere to make the plot seem less predictable. I dunno. The first book is the strongest in the series.

February 21-22, 2014

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