Poisoned

Sophie's stepmother is a cruel queen who rules the land with an iron fist and spreads fear in the hearts of her subject.  She has always told Sophie she is too kind, too weak to rule, and now that Sophie has come of age to rule, she hopes to marry her off to a strong prince who will follow the queen's powerful lead.  

But the queen has an ill kept secret.  Everyone believes the magic mirror is about vanity, but the voice in the mirror is actually an advisor of sorts.  He's helped her survive this far, and she's not going to doubt him now.  When the King of Crows tells her Sophie is the greatest threat to her crown, she acts decisively.

Sophie isn't concerned when the huntsman leads her into the dark forest.  She has no reason to believe he would harm her, but his fear of the queen is greater than his love of the princess, and Sophie is left dying on the forest floor, her heart in box making it's way back to the castle.

At the last moment, seven mysterious men find her and build a clockwork heart to replace her flesh and blood one.  There are two problems.  The heart feels emotions too strongly.  If Sophie was too kind before, now she feels love for everyone and everything she sees.  Her compassion is completely overwhelming at times.  The other problem, a clockwork heart won't last forever.  

Despite warnings from the seven brothers, Sophie sets out on a quest to retrieve her stolen heart from it's hiding place in the dark castle of the King of Crows.   She will have help from a faithful hound and a young man with problems of his own, and this journey will reveal the true devastation of her stepmother's reign.  Sophie has always believed she was too weak to rule, but what if her compassion is actually her greatest strength?

So...I really wanted to love this book.  I absolutely adore Stepsister, and I was primed for more.  I just felt like it took too long for Sophie to grow a spine and take charge.  The first half of the book is slow paced with too much time hanging out with the seven brothers while the plot stagnates.  I absolutely loved the last third of the book when things start moving and the mythological elements are revealed.  One of the greatest strengths of Stepsister was the battle between Fate and Chance, and it took too long for their counterparts to be fully realized in Poisoned.  I really liked the King of Crow's sister, whose true identity isn't revealed until near the end of the story.  Pain portrayed as a withered, half-mad woman who continually says, "sometimes I help," is both disturbing and thought provoking.  I needed more of this in the story and a stronger Sophie who often comes across as whiney instead of kind.  I would still recommend it, and I would love to talk about it!