(The First 17 Chapters) (The Arcana Chronicles) - Poison Princess Free Preview Edition

Mrs. Cole is a wonderful story teller. Her frighteningly realistic tale had me on pins and needles. Can't wait to read more of the series. I'll gladly miss more sleep so I can enjoy this apocalyptic tale!

I am a happy beginnings, middle and end kinda girl so I wasn't sure I'd like this book.
End of the world is not my thing. But I really enjoyed the struggles of the characters I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the book.

Poison Princess gets your attention from the start and keeps you riveted til the end.
Ms. Cole holds true with her Young Readers book(s) as well as she does with her adult books.
Thank you , Ms. Cole.

The concept is interesting but bogs down in the spoilt teen romance, dragging out the story. And when we do get to the promised apocalyptic moment, it's skated over in a few words. I feel the story is being stretched too far to make a series. And I hated the opening - nasty. The author also writes heavy erotica for adults and I feel this is spilling over into YA. The 'hero' is a nasty bit of work, I like the heroine and love one of the kooky secondary characters - who is killed off!! In general, this book seems to be a composite of different styles, and disappointing.

I am such a big fan of Kresley Cole. This felt like and extended free preview. I liked it so much, I bought it. I can't wait for further installments in the series. Keep up the great work! The Kindle version is cheaper than the hardcover in stores. Thanks, the store!

I really enjoyed this book! I'm not surprised though. I predict another winning series for Kresley Cole. A really different twist than what I'm used too, but WOW! For me It's kind of a "What if this really happened?" kind of tale. Great story idea Kresley! I can't wait for the next one!!!!!! Thank you for sharing your talent with the world!

This book drew me in like no other. Im in love with the concept;and Jackson has stolen my heart! (Yes, I'm a sucker for bad boys.) As soon as I finished this preview, there was no question that I would buy the book. Now, having finished the full version I can definitely say out of the hundreds upon hundreds of books I've read, Poison Princess is in a tie for my favorite title. I literally can't wait for the next installment!!!!!!

I chose this book because I am a huge fan of Kresley Cole. TRhis book is obviousl;y aimed at a younger crowd but is as well written as all of her other books, I can't wait for the rest of the series.

At 17 chapters, this is a great way to hook a reader--it takes you about a third of the way through the book itself, long enough to hook you...

...If you can get past the utterly obnoxious characters, jerk whose love interest is based solely on his desire to sleep with the main character, horrible pacing, useless name-dropping of rich brands, and a stupefyingly too-long introduction to the main character's high school life and surrounding idiots/friends who are not relevant to the actual premise of the book.

The writing is mediocre--it felt forced and basic, I was surprised when I noticed this wasn't a self-published first draft.

Still, it's great as a guilty pleasure. It was hard to find anything positive to say, but I still got the book from the library after finishing the preview. I couldn't in good conscience recommend it to anyone looking for a good book, but it works to relieve boredom, or if you can ignore all the previously-stated problems. And it's hard to beat free, so this is a good way to sample the story and writing before deciding whether to continue.

When this book was picked for a group read-along, I took one look at it, and groaned. I barely skimmed the summary because from the the cover alone I knew: this would not be my kind of book. Never have I been so happy to be proven wrong.

Doubly wrong even. Earlier in the weak I had myself a little rant on why prologues suck and should die in a fire. Poison Princess opens with a prologue. Quite possibly the most intriguing prologue I have read in a good long while. Creepy guy! Secret experiments! Pretty girl lured into his nest!

The actual story starts a couple of days before the world goes to hell due to solar flares, or some such. The reason for the apocalypse is kind of glossed over. The chapters have a countdown to the end. So we get to follow the live of the pretty girl, Evie, knowing full well that time is running out. Awesome way to ramp up tension.

Evangeline "Evie" Greene is the kind of girl who has it all. A loving (if slightly pushy) boyfriend. A best friend who'd do anything for her. The kind of popularity that makes other teenagers weep. Her life would be perfect, if it wasn't for the nightmares, visions, voices and a short stint in a mental institute.

The drugs they gave her hasn't cured any of the symptoms. Instead, as she tries to put her life back together, it seems to get worse. But, the visions might also be the only thing that saves her and her mother from dying as so many other do in the "flare".

The book skims over some vital info in the middle, shooting the story from the moment of the flare to a couple of months into the future. I would have liked to read a little more of how Evie and her mother survived during that time.

The post apocalyptic world is quite brutal, with zombie/vampire type creatures called bagmen wanting to suck people's blood, cannibals running loose, slavers taking over, and worse, militia doing what an invading army does best: pillage.

Evie is determined to get to her grandmother in North Carolina. She's willing to do anything to get there, even put up with abrasive ex-classmate, Jackson Deveaux. Jackson is rude, mean, short tempered and a bit of a horn dog. I am a little ashamed of how much I liked him.

My excitement for this book can be summed up easily: POST APOCALYPTIC ROADTRIP

I love Kresley Cole. I've read ALL of her books, and this one is a YA, about a 16 year old girl with powers she can't handle. There is lots of action, a boy, on the run, and seeking. This is full of excitement and anticipation, no sex. The hardcover book itself, is breathtakingly beautiful, from the cover to each page. My daughter understood the mysttery better than I did, but she knew the meanings of the Taro cards. I'm not usually a YA fan, but it a well done mystical journey. It is a thrill ride with a HFN, because it is book #1 in their saga.
I won't be reading the next one.
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Poison Princess is the first book in The Arcana Chronicles by Kresley Cole. I will tell you now, this review won't do the book justice. There is so much I want to say, but I can't do it without giving things away. This book surprised me in many ways. It had things I usually don't like in books, but in this story... it all worked. I chose to read it out of curiosity, but I certainly didn't expect to love it. Boy, was I wrong! There is so much that went into the building of this world and the characters, and they were put together flawlessly. This author must have a truly amazing mind.

I like other reviewers was disappointed in this book. I guess there is a huge market for YA series books because all my favorite writers are writing them. This of course makes me frustrated because they write fewer and fewer adult books and concentrate most of their efforts on YA books. I am not a fan of YA books but this is Kresley Cole we are talking about, surely she could write a great YA book. No, unfortunately not. I read about a third of the preview and started quickly skimming through to the end. Why, because this book, like the few YA books I have tried to read, is filled with self-centered kids who are spoiled rotten. They only think of themselves and their "friends" and pretty much hate every adult in their life. Don't we have to deal with that in real life enough on an every day basis? Why on earth would I want to read a whole book of self-absorbed brats? I am glad I tried to read the free preview, because I would never pay for the book. If you are 12-20 years old this is is the book for you, any older and I say don't bother.

I thought it was a short story then found out it was part of a bigger book....now I am getting the big book cause I can't seem to put this story out of my head.but I am very offended that she makes people who live on the bayou's of Louisiana are very poor to where they can't afford to live in regular houses and have computers as well as cell phone. Even though it is a work of fiction I am so disappointed people write that we here on the Bayou's of Louisiana are so poor that we don't have a regular life.

This little excerpt just temps the brain. Now I will be looking for more. Those of us who read Kresley know that this will be a gripping series. I can't wait. It looks to be one of those series I can't put down. Go Kresley .

Jackson seems so hot and mysterious.
Why is Evie so secretive?
Why did u stop the book in the middle of the mysterious part?
What's goin to happen to Evie , Jackson, and Karin???
What is Arthur goin to do to Evie.;)
I"'ve read this book 2 times now!!!!!;)

I love Kresley Cole's books and I normally can't put them down. Not so with this book. I could barely get through the very long, and sometimes confusing story line. Kept waiting for the passion and romance of her other stories but it never came. I hope the next installment is a better read.