Book Review: Tris and Izzie

“I don’t want him to love me because of a potion,” she said.

Izzie loves Mark, and why shouldn’t she? As the captain of the basketball team, he is kind and loving and he’s everything she’s ever wanted in a boyfriend. Her BFF loves . . . somebody, but she won’t say who. So when a hot new guy, Tristan, shows up at school, who better for Izzie to fix up her friend with? And what better way to do it than with a love philtre?

But even the best of magic has a way of going awry—and Izzie finds she’s accidentally fallen in love with Tristan herself. And that’s a problem. First of all, there’s Mark. Second, Tristan comes with baggage—like the supernatural creatures that keep attacking whenever he’s with Izzie, and the fact that he comes from the place where Izzie’s father was killed, years ago, by an enormous, evil serpent that’s still around—and it knows Izzie is out there.

**ARC Courtesy of Netgalley

Goodreads: No rating

The only redeeming portion of this book is its cover, unfortunately.

As I read the first fifty pages (forty-eight, to be exact), I couldn’t help but notice that something was missing and completely off. I had to really think about this, and I’ve come to the conclusion there were a few things that might’ve made me lose my interest:

1. The voice. The entire time I read this, I felt like Izzie was in middle school. She didn’t have that standout YA voice like a lot of books out there right now. Instead, hers was whiny and pulled the I’m-better-than-you vibe more than once, which is something I absolutely loathe. Give me a great voice and I’m hooked for the rest of story.

2. The drama. Everything was melodramatic. Everything!!!!!!!!! Let me tell you a secret: Exclamation marks burn my eyes, people. It hurts. It hurts so badly.

At times, Izzie would just yell (or what seemed like yelling) at Branna. And when she first met Tristan? Yeaaah… She became sweaty and angry because he glanced her way a couple of times. The hell? Ignore the dude if you don’t like it, but don’t act a fool. When Izzie asked if his parents’ money ran out for private school, I wanted to beat her with a crowbar. Yes, I’m violent sometimes.

Also, Branna was this lumbering ogre who acted all Emo because she was in love with a guy who didn’t know she existed. But, because my second job is actually as THE Sherlock Holmes, I’m deducing Branna is in love with Mark, who also happens to be Izzie’s boyfriend. Am I right? Yes? Someone get me a cookie. Or tiramisu. I love tiramisu. <3

3. The setting. This probably sounds really weird, but when I read, I get a feel for the surroundings and “atmosphere” of where the book actually takes place. I didn’t feel that with this book. I had no sense of setting whatsoever. I mean, I knew they were in school one minute and the next Izzie was at home, but that was it. Nothing was described. There was more narrative about Izzie’s mom’s magical capabilities than there was dialogue or description.

Sadly, I have to agree with the other negative reviews. I typically don’t let reviews hinder my decision-making when it comes to how I feel about books, but I couldn’t get into this one. However, since this book has already received its fair share of negativity, I’m not going to rate it.

I would recommend this to readers of a younger age. I could see this being a middle grade novel instead of YA.