Audio Review of Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

Title: Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles #1)
Author: Kresley Cole
Narrators: Emma Galvin & Keith Nobbs
Published by: Simon & Schuster Audio
Length:11 disc, 12.5 hours
Source: Publisher
Format: Audio
Rating: 5 stars

Summary from Goodreads: An apocalyptic event has destroyed Evie’s hometown and killed her mother. What makes it worse? Evie’s prophetic visions predicted it all—but she wrote it off as one of her freakish dreams. Now Evie teams up with a wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux. They are forced to leave town on a road trip heading to meet Evie’s maternal grandmother. Meanwhile, Evie is coming to terms with the fact that she has special powers—powers that have revealed themselves to her slowly.

The mythology of the story is inspired by Tarot cards. Evie is the personification of the Empress Tarot card, the genesis of her abilities. Along the way, she and Jack meet teens who have taken on the powers of other Tarot characters. It seems an ancient prophesy is being played out, and these teens have been tapped to reenact the battle.

This is my first Kresley Cole book and I'm blown away!  Poison Princess started out with a bang and only got better as I continued to delve into this mysterious world.   

I loved how this story was unfolded.  It starts off 246 days after the apocalypse when Evie runs into Arthur.  She starts off by telling him her story from a couple days before the apocalypse to how she got where she is today.  Evie's story is so compelling you feel as if you are living it with her.  She completely seems like a normal teenager until you learn about the visions and her ability to control the plant life around her.  Soon after the apocalypse she starts remembering her grandmother preaching about the Arcana and explaining who Evie and the rest of the Arcana with a deck of Tarot cards.

This is one of the most creative and original ideas I've come across.  Kresley Cole took the most popular genres in YA literature and threw a completely new twist on it.  As story takes you deeper into the Arcana and you start to meet some key players.  Some of which I liked and some I didn't.  In fact, Matthew drove me absolutely bonkers.  I felt like he was keeping things from Evie and not at all willing to help out.  Evie herself, is one of the most deadly Arcana and yet she won't accept who she is.  In fact, she comes off as very weak and needy.  That's ok though, because she's got the resident bad boy, Jackson, to take care of her.

Jackson and Evie's relationship is brimming with sexual tension that will quite literally take your breath away.  Jackson broods and Evie keeps secrets, yet they are magnetically drawn together with a force field effect that is explosive.  As new Arcana get drawn into their lives, a canyon starts forming between them as they are trying to survive this desolate world and find out the truth. 

Packed with action and adventure this is a novel that makes it impossible to put down.  I would purposefully find reasons to drive just so I could continue listening to this story.  One of the only problems I have with this book is the end...it was heart-wrenching and left me a little lost plus I will have to wait awhile until the next book comes out to see how the story continues. 

As for the audio, Keith Nobbs did an amazing job as Arthur.  His voice alone gave me the creeps and whenever I'd hear it, I would instantly fill with dread and loathing.  Even though he had a small part I think he added immensely to the audio.  Emma Galvin was ok, but I didn't feel like she truly embraced Evie.  I actually enjoyed her low drawl for Jackson and some of the inflection for the other characters more than I enjoyed her as Evie.  However, I don't think this took away from the story at all.  It was still impossible to turn off and stuck with me long after I finished it.