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    Study of Poisons by Maria V. Snyder Summary

    Study of Poisons
    Maria V. Snyder
    FictionThrillerMysteryPolitics
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    Overview of Study of Poisons

    Condemned prisoner Yelena chooses to become a food taster rather than face execution. This New York Times bestseller with 149,758 ratings blends fantasy, politics, and dystopia into an addictive tale. What would you risk to survive in a world where every meal might be your last?

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    Best quote from Study of Poisons

    “

    I'm beginning to understand that in this deadly game of politics, I'm merely a pawn with a very specific function: to die first if someone tries to poison the Commander.

    ”
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    Key Takeaways

    1

    Between Death and Poison: A Desperate Bargain

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    "I am not a fool," I tell Valek, the Commander's chief of security, accepting his offer to become the Commander's food taster instead of facing execution. The alternative is clear: certain death by hanging, or possible death by poison. As a convicted murderer awaiting execution in Ixia's dungeons, this unexpected opportunity feels like a miracle-albeit a dangerous one. Valek explains the position's lethal nature with chilling directness. I'll receive daily doses of Butterfly's Dust poison, requiring an antidote every morning to survive. Miss a dose, and I'll die painfully within two days, my organs shutting down one by one. It's a lifetime appointment with no days off and the constant threat of assassination attempts against the Commander becoming my death sentence. My new quarters are sparse but still a vast improvement over my prison cell-a narrow bed, wooden desk, and a tiny woodstove. What catches my attention is the window shutters that lock from the inside, with the ground only five feet below. Escape seems tantalizingly possible, except for one crucial detail-without the daily antidote, I'd be dead within 48 hours. The other servants give me a wide berth, whispering behind their hands. This is my new reality-alive, but existing on the knife's edge between survival and death, with few allies and many who wish me harm. Each meal I taste for the Commander could be my last.

    2

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    3

    The Murder That Haunts Me

    4

    Finding Allies in Unlikely Places

    5

    The Forbidden Magic Within

    6

    Political Machinations and Mind Control

    7

    Breaking Free from Control

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