Poisoned Blade (Court of Fives, #2)

by Kate Elliott

"Jes will remind readers of fearless Katniss.... Let the games continue!" (Booklist starred review for Court of Fives)

Jessamy is moving up the ranks of the Fives--the complex athletic contest favored by the lowliest Commoners and the loftiest Patrons in her embattled kingdom. Pitted against far more formidable adversaries, success is Jes's only option, as her prize money is essential to keeping her hidden family alive. She leaps at the chance to tour the countryside and face more competitors, but then a fatal attack on Jes's traveling party puts her at the center of the war that Lord Kalliarkos--the prince she still loves--is fighting against their country's enemies. With a sinister overlord watching her every move and Kal's life on the line, Jes must now become more than a Fives champion.... She must become a warrior.

• ISBN10: 0316344370
• ISBN13: 9780316344371
• Publish Date: 25 August 2016 (first published 16 August 2016)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 9 April 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
• Imprint: Little, Brown Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 480
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

Poisoned Blade picks up exactly where Court of Fives left off. Jes has just beat Kal at The Fives, and he is not happy about it. He honestly thought that she'd let him win so he wouldn't be sent off to the army. But Jes needed that win and knew throwing the game wouldn't help her. The book starts with her wanting to explain things to Kal, but his inner spoiled prince comes out and she's basically like "forget it!" From there Jes has a lot of other decisions to make to keep herself and her family alive in the face of war and shady politics.

I'm not sure if liked Poisoned Blade more than the first book. There's certainly a lot more going on and it spans a lot more time. I never got bored and just had to keep reading. But at times, there was maybe too much going on. Jes is still running The Fives, which she loves, even if she hates the situation that put her there. She has to find ways to secretly support her mother and siblings without getting them killed. She also gets thrown into a treasonous plot, and there's no way knowing what she knows will end well for her. On top of that, there's a war and it's a lot closer to home than she first thought.

What I really liked about Poisoned Blade was how big of a role Jes's mixed heritage played. We learn in the first book that Efians and Patrons are not allowed to marry and children of these unions are treated like crap. This time we see even more of how tensions between these two cultures make it hard on Jes and other mixed people to get by. There's a weirdo doctor who wants to study them like they're some kind of subspecies. Then there's the fact that no one trusts Jes because they don't know which side she's loyal to, and she doesn't want to choose one parent over the other. But she has to find a way to be true to herself while also making sure she's on the right side of the these battles.

Poisoned Blade was a worthy sequel. Instead of having a race against the clock type of plot, we're thrown in the midst of war and political intrigue. There's a lot of stuff building which suddenly comes crashing down toward the end and nothing is how it seems.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.