Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

Goodreads Blurb

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…

OH. MY. FREAKING. GOD.  Poison Princess? It was so...so...so...good. I'm afraid I can't recommend it highly enough, and that I'll just be squealing throughout the entire review!

First of all, the originality of this was just amazing! I, personally, have always been fascinated by horoscopes (Pisces here! The personality traits for a Pisces totally describes me!) and the Tarot cards (mine's the Moon. But I hate Selene. I really do). So when I heard about a Young Adult series that featured the Arcana cards? And the apocalypse? And a sexy guy with "rakish grin"? Well, of course I had to get a copy! And I'm so glad I did. Like I said, while there were some attributes that Poison Princess had with other books, there were so many that was pure genius! 
The similarities? Well, there were blood-sucking monsters after the apocalypse, there was the main character going "crazy", the main character was the most special and powerful being, and there was a mischievous love interest. And while I was tired of those things at first, they clearly added to the story. (Except Bagmans. They were like vampires. And that mixed with the Arcana? MAJOR supernatural overload! Not to mention, the apocalypse.)
The pure genius stuff? The Arcana, the powers and alternate names of the Arcana, the roles each card plays, the description of the apocalypse,the way that Kresley Cole tells the story, and, well...everything else. 

The plot was simply amazing. Immediately, chapter 1 gets you hooked. It's...creepy. We're introduced to Arthur, even before we meet Evie, and he's definitely the type of guy you don't want to run into. The best word to describe him? Psycho. And he lures Evie into telling her own story. Before and after the Flash. And that's how we learn her story. Which is just filled to the brim with action. There were attacks, betrayals, very cruel insults, daring rescues, and slim escapes. I just loved it! You never knew what would happen next, you never knew who was on your side or not. And you always had this foreboding sense of dread at the botton of your stomach, just waiting, knowing, something big was going to happen. You just never knew when!

Oh my my my, did I love the characters? Except for Selene, you bet I did! Evie was seriously a kick-ass character who definitely had that sassy side. She wasn't naive or weak (no matter what she or Jack thought!) and that ending? Oh, God. I'm having Arcana withdrawals! Evie is that heroine you love and the type that a lot of authors try to shoot for, but few actually hit the target. 
Jack was...the one with the cruel insults. He was just so mean sometimes and I wanted to throttle him most of the times (especially that pool incident. REALLY, Jack?), but he saved Evie's life a hundred times and he was just so sweet...if not bipolar a lot!
Matthew was just adorable and hilarious! And frustrating to no end. He had ALL the answers, but he didn't answer a single question! But his replies? They made me laugh so much, frustrating me at the same time! I didn't even know that was possible!

So world building. Definitely loved. Like I said before, I'm a giant fan of Tarot cards, and the way that Kresley Cole portrays them as humans? It was just spot on. And the after affects of the Apocalypse? I can definitely imagine that happening and it really wasn't a giant stretch. The thing about this world was that it was...horrible. There were so many dangers, so many desperate people, creatures. And that wasn't even the worst of it. Or, that's what I'm suspecting. 

Overall, Poison Princess was a lush read that while it may disappoint Kresley Cole's Adult fans (from what I hear!), it definitely had me loving it after page one. Young Adult fans should be clamoring for this title and grabbing it off the shelf once they see it! Everything was absolutely wonderful and the lush writing will definitely pull you in, if Jack and his wicked grin don't get you first! 

Pages: 384
Series: The Arcana Chornicles #1
Genre: Apocalyptic/Romance
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Rating: 7/5