Review: Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

 Sixteen year old Evangeline “Evie” Greene leads a charmed life, until she begins experiencing horrifying hallucinations. When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future—and they’re still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux.
But she can’t do either alone.
With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can’t totally depend on Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him?
Who can Evie trust?
As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of twenty-two teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it’s not always clear who is on which side….

You really don’t know how excited I was for this book. The cover drew me to the novel and the synopsis reeled me in for the kill. I am glad to say that I was not disappointed with this book at all.

The tarot card teens and end of the world battle between them was written marvelously. The book is basically Evie Greene telling her story of “the flash” to a mysterious alchemist/scientist named Arthur. While most of the book is told in Evie’s perspective, little snippets are told in Arthur’s (all in present time rather than in Evie’s story). New characters are introduced including the hottie Cajun, Jackson Deveaux and four of the tarot cards (including Evie). It was interesting to learn about the tarot cards and their special abilities, especially Evie’s.

The only thing I didn’t like about Poison Princess was Evie. She was a spoiled, rude, Barbie doll brat for three fourths of the book and it was so irritating to read about how she talked down to others and couldn’t take care of herself post flash. She was not an awesome heroine until the very end where she did kick some butt, but if I lived in the world of Poison Princess, I’d leave her to die immediately because she was a huge resource suck and an annoying witch.

I hope that we learn more about the tarot cards and the flash in the next book in the Arcana Chronicles. I laughed a few times, squealed a few times, and almost cried a couple times. BUT THAT ENDING! UGH!!!! NEED book two. Now. 4 Stars!

Release Date: October 2nd, 2012, Simon and Schuster