Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

Summary (from Goodreads):

She could save the world—or destroy it.

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.

Review:

So, I definitely had a love/hate relationship with this book. I loved it in the sense that I had to keep reading, and had to find out what would happened, an had to order book 2 (I think I’ll be getting it today), but…there were so many things wrong too. There were a couple of moments when I almost put it in my dnf pile. In fact, it’s odd for me to keep reading a book that I had so many possible dnf moments with.

So, I know we are all so done with the Twilight comparisons, but I have to make just one. This book kind of read like Twilight for me. I knew what I was reading, was terrible, but I couldn’t stop. The Edward/Bella relationship was leaps and bounds healthier than the Evie/Jack one. So, if you are a Twilight hater, you will most definitely not like this book.

Before I delve further into the Evie/Jack sham of a relationship, I did find things I loved in this book (hence, why I kept reading). I loved the whole Tarot Card idea. I have never read anything like that. I love a good end of the world (post apocalypse) survival story, and this definitely fits that category. I also love a story where the main girl does or will eventually grow able to kick some serious butt. This book promises some crazy/awesome kick butt moments to come.

I also super enjoyed the way it was setup. I liked getting the perspective of the creep that invites Evie into his home. It was interesting getting Evie’s whole story this way, and I thought the author did a great job of weaving all the plot elements together.  I also loved the side characters. There’s so much more I want to know about all the Arcana.

Pretty much everything I didn’t like about the book can be wrapped up in the romance. I didn’t like Jack in the beginning (before the apocalypse). Between Jack forcing Evie up against a wall, and not letting her go (even though she tells him she’s not interested), Jack stealing her sketchbook, Jack being involved in stealing all her friends’ phones, Jack not caring that she has a boyfriend, etc in the beginning I knew this book would be a rocky ride for me. Also, what kind of terrible best friend tells Evie that she needs to put out for her boyfriend, even though she doesn’t want to?

Then the apocalypse happens. After Evie’s mother is injured, she tries to push Evie on to any available, single man who can protect her…Why not teach Evie how to protect herself? Why not see what powerful things she can clearly do? And of course Jack comes back and Evie is pushed on him. And he protects her through their journey, and he orders her around, he makes constant sexual comments, he won’t let her do anything or teach her how to defend herself, etc.  And I’m not even going into their heated/almost sex scene. Just know that happened.

Evie was a bit naïve, princess-like, and unprepared for the apocalypse, despite her clairvoyant drawings. And it was definitely interesting watching her survive. I wish she didn’t spend so much time thinking about Jack though.

Also, what happened? Why did the world do that? Why did so many people die? I hope I get more explanation for this later. Also, I need more Arcana and more past lives questions answered. And I hope Evie continues to embrace her strength and power in book 2 because I’m so tired of her trying to ignore it or having other characters declare her too weak. I’m somewhere in between loving and hating this book. I give it a 5/10.