Blog Tour: Poison by Bridget Zinn

I'm thrilled to be part of the blog tour for POISON by Bridget Zinn. I found out about her parting a few months ago and I definitely cried some. She never got to experience the full author experience or meet her fans. So we're going to help her dream come true by telling you about the epicness of POISON. 

Review

Goodreads Blurb

Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she’s the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom’s future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.
But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart . . . misses.
Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king’s army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she’s not alone. She’s armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can’t stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?

This book was amazing and definitely different. Even before deciding I wanted to read it, I was told that it was a lighter read and more innocent, even with the potions and witchery and assassination attempts! Of course, I didn't quite believe them. But then, there was a pig. But then, it still wasn't quite enough to convince me. I'm sorry!

Because now, I totally get what they meant. This may be the genre where most books are bloody and deadly, but that definitely wasn't the case with Poison. It was more...deception than war, I guess. Does that make sense? Of course not. It's me we're talking about.

But all you need to know was that this was seriously adorable and amazing. And if that put you off (like it did a bit for me--I'm more of a suspicion and evil kind of girl...that sounded a bit sinister), take a chance! I was pleasantly surprised by how much I just adored this! It's sweet and innocent and SO REFRESHING. No matter how many times I say that, I think that's the most true it's ever been. I've been reading so many dark books, it's a bit of a relief to read something that's just fun!

The characters were wonderfully written as well! I loved Kyra who was such an...interesting character to read about. She was feisty and she was actually pretty indifferent and cold in the beginning story. She was willing to kill her best friend for her kingdom and that was pretty...sacrificial. Fred was seriously my favorite character in this book! He was the fun one who I'd associate with the pig, actually, not the wolf we meet him with. Also, I love their first meeting! Talk about hilarity!

I love the way this story was told! We start after the assassination attempt and as we go on, we read about Kyra's memories, so it was like reading two storylines at once--the time leading up to the assassination attempt, and the escape afterwards. Surprisingly, it wasn't choppy either, like I'd usually expect. The two stories fit together seamlessly and created an immensely enjoyable read!

The only thing that I didn't love was that there were some random things that popped up. Why did Arlo do what he did? What did he get out of it? It's like he had 2 plans and they really just cancelled each other out...but I can't explain this without ruining it! And the Gypsy caravan just popping out of nowhere was a bit startling too, and a bit too convenient really.

Pages: 288
Genre: High Fantasy
Series: Stand alone
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: March 12, 2013
Rating: 4 stars

First

SO. I HAVE DECIDED TO TALK ABOUT MY FIRST AUTHOR SIGNING/EVENT. Also known as possibly the most embarrassing thing EVER. 

I was in NYC (WHY didn't I meet my bloggy friends before this? NOOOO. I HAD TO FRIEND THEM AFTER) and I'd heard about a Teen Author Carnival in a library that was hosting the authors of some of my most anticipated titles. OF COURSE I WENT.

It was so incredibly embarrassing.

I was late to the first talk because of subway troubles (they're so incredibly,incredibly confusing) and the second one was SO FUN. I GOT BOOKS. But after...well. So I'm pretty sure I embarrassed myself in front of a few authors (Fiona Paul, Gennifer Albin, Tiffany Schmidt, K.M. Walton, Lauren Morrill) and thank God they don't remember the awkward girl who just stood in the corner, making shifty eyes. Well maybe they do. I wanted the OH SO PRETTY SWAG. But I wasn't sure if we could just...you know, TAKE it. So I asked. It was awkward. You had to be there. I then went up to Fiona and asked when ARCs would be sent to bloggers. SO SHE GAVE ME HER ARC. I SQUEALED SO MUCH. And thus embarrassed myself. *cough* Im going red from typing this.

Author

Bridget grew up in Wisconsin. She went to the county fair where she met the love of her life, Barrett Dowell. They got married right before she went in for exploratory surgery which revealed she had colon cancer. They christened that summer the "summer of love" and the two celebrated with several 
more weddings. Bridget continued to read and write until the day she died. Her last tweet was "Sunshine and a brand new book. Perfect."

Bridget wanted to make people laugh and hoped readers would enjoy spending time with the characters she created. As a librarian/writer she loved books with strong young women with aspirations. She also felt teens needed more humorous reads. She really wanted to write a book with pockets of warmth and happiness and hoped that her readers' copies would show the watermarks of many bath time reads.

Other stops