Review: The Study of Magic (The Study Chronicles: Valek's Adventures #2) by Maria V. Snyder

About the Book

Frankly, I think death is the best cure for stupidity.

As Chief of Ixia’s Security, Valek’s work is never done. After rescuing Commander Ambrose with, Yelena, his heartmate’s, help and seeing her off to Sitia, Valek discovers the nefarious scheme to overthrow their country is far more complex and far reaching than anyone could have guessed.

Valek must discover who is continuing with Brazell and Mogkan’s conniving plans, all while dealing with a tense political situation. The Ixian generals are questioning his abilities to keep the Commander safe, and whispers of a possible coup are circulating.

Will Valek be able to survive a plot that seeks to sabotage all he and the Commander have worked for? Also, having opened his heart to love, will Yelena still wish to be with him when all is said and done?

A companion novel to Magic Study, The Study of Magic reveals Valek’s side of the story. Find out what hazards Valek encounters and survives before he and Yelena are reunited once more.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY THOUGHTS

This book tells the events of Magic Study, book 2 in the original Study series, from Valek’s perspective. It's so good! Valek is my favorite leading man, so I was ecstatic to get this book from his point of view. I hate to say it, but Magic Study was my least favorite book in the original series. Probably because Valek was missing from a good portion of it. Don’t get me wrong, I loved seeing Yelena explore Sitia, her home, but I missed Valek. A lot. In this book, we finally learn what he was doing while Yelena was away. I loved it so much! There was a lot going on in Ixia while Yelena was away!

I loved that there was plenty of Ari and Janco too. I always enjoy their shenanigans. I thought I knew them pretty well, but there were new revelations about them that I really appreciated learning.

This book is not a standalone. I’d recommend at least reading The Study of Poison first, possibly even the original series too. It’s well worth it, though. It’s my all-time favorite fantasy series. I highly, highly recommend it to fans of the genre.

4.5 STARS