I am a sucker for this type of story--fantasy set in a time that seems long past but isn't necessarily. Along the lines of Gail Carson Levine, Kate Constable, Katherine Roberts... I realize these are all sort of middle grade-ish writers (or at least that's when I first read their work), but the type of setting still stands, and I did (and still do) love the authors mentioned. This series is definitely Young Adult, which I love, and the story really is shaping up to be very good.
Yelena is a true heroine, even if that means she's often brusque, and can stand her own ground. But she means well. She's nice at heart, which can be seen through her 'friendship' with the beggar children at the Citadel in this novel.
And... Valek. Her heartmate, as they say in the book. Don't get me wrong: I like Valek. I like the fact that she is with him, and I like their dynamic and so forth. The thing is this: when I first read Poison Study, I would have never guessed that she would fall for him (and he for her). It never crossed my mind. To me he was merely her captor, even when they became (in the loosest sense of the word) friends. In my mind, he was not in her age range and was just doing his job. I don't know if he is actually too old for her--as the age gap is never mentioned, I have no idea, but my guess would now be not. The point remains, though, that the fact that they are together continues to be weird to me. It came out of the blue and hit me in the head.
Besides that, though, I have very few qualms about this series and I would recommend it. It's a lot of fun to read and the story continues to be awesome. In terms of non-main characters, I continue to love Ari and Janco, and Kiki is turning into a favorite of mine as well.
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