By Katherine Rundell
5 Stars
As the sequel to Katherine Rundell's Impossible Creatures, The Poisoned King is absolutely fantastic. It once again revolves strongly around the theme of love, but now, it's more desperate as Christopher hopes to recover that which he lost. Of course, the book is not without its fair share of mayhem, magic, and mystery, for a poison invades the kingdom targeted at not only kings but also another creature, one it shouldn't be able to affect. 
This book is really interesting, and I loved how the beginning was structured. At first, we are reintroduced to Christopher and get to "catch up" with him. Then, his storyline is cut off at a cliffhanger, and we are introduced for the first time to a girl, Anya. She seems the ordinary princess, but she really isn't. At first, I thought her boring and predictable, but after finishing the book, I've realized that this was intentional and that later on, you learn to love Anya just as much as you did Mal and Christopher. But either way, you're stuck with her for the next little while until she meets Christopher in rather uncertain circumstances.
Another reason for which I adored this book was the plot itself, as once again it was fast-paced and full of twists. In fact, so much so that you don't even want to turn the page and find out what happens next out of fear of losing your favourite character or your love for them. All in all, the plot is wonderful and captivating, with a nice amount of mythology and magic inserted into it.
In conclusion, this is a great book due to all of its components, from characters to plot to myth, and I recommend it for all fiction lovers.
Reviewed by Uliana as part of the Teen Reviewer, opens a new window program
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