Rating: 3 stars
Cover Rating: 5 stars (Just so amazing. I love it!)
Cover Rating: 5 stars (Just so amazing. I love it!)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: October 11, 2011
Publisher: Egmont USA
Page Count: 262 p.
Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
Izzie feels like she has found her other half in Mark. He's nice and funny and just an all around great guy. When she notices that her friend seems to be wishing for love too, she decides to use some magic. Izzie's mom is a witch, and no one is really supposed to know about magic. Izzie's friend Branna knows and Izzie figures a love philtre is just the thing to get her to stop moping about. Izzie meets Tris later that day and thinks he would be perfect for her friend. Tris drinks the potion, but Branna won't. Mark tries to take a swig, but Izzie chugs the whole thing so that her boyfriend doesn't fall in love with Tris. Unfortunately, this is what happens to Izzie. Not only does she have to battle her feelings for Tris, there are lots of monsters coming to get her, and she needs to figure out how to find some magic to stop them.
As a magical adventure story, the novel wasn't half bad. As a re-telling of Tristan and Isolde however, it fell a little short for me. There wasn't a whole lot of romance. A re-telling of the greatest romance that was and it was nearly void of emotion. It was just a bit disappointing. I did like all the ways Harrison snuck little pieces of the original into her re-telling. The black sails and the love potion and the names. Izzie and Branna were sort of annoying characters. Izzie was just so blind to everything that was going on around her. There were some things that were completely obvious, but she was just too stuck in her own world. Branna was sort of a back-stabbing best friend. I mean, you can't help how you feel, but she was pretty wicked about things during this book. It went above and beyond just going for what you want. Mark and Tris were sort of flat characters. You got the smallest bit of background on them and I just couldn't really make them into full characters in my head. If you go into this book expecting nothing, or at least not having read the original tales, I think you will love it. It had magic and adventure and an interesting story line. I did feel like it was going to be a series, while I was reading it, until the epilogue. There is still room for more story, but the epilogue sort of killed a direct sequel. All in all it was an interesting little read, but if you're expecting romance, seek elsewhere.
First Line:
"Mark caught me in a big hug from behind as I closed my locker."
Favorite Line:
"We kissed then, and it was a kiss full of fire and magic."
Izzie feels like she has found her other half in Mark. He's nice and funny and just an all around great guy. When she notices that her friend seems to be wishing for love too, she decides to use some magic. Izzie's mom is a witch, and no one is really supposed to know about magic. Izzie's friend Branna knows and Izzie figures a love philtre is just the thing to get her to stop moping about. Izzie meets Tris later that day and thinks he would be perfect for her friend. Tris drinks the potion, but Branna won't. Mark tries to take a swig, but Izzie chugs the whole thing so that her boyfriend doesn't fall in love with Tris. Unfortunately, this is what happens to Izzie. Not only does she have to battle her feelings for Tris, there are lots of monsters coming to get her, and she needs to figure out how to find some magic to stop them.
As a magical adventure story, the novel wasn't half bad. As a re-telling of Tristan and Isolde however, it fell a little short for me. There wasn't a whole lot of romance. A re-telling of the greatest romance that was and it was nearly void of emotion. It was just a bit disappointing. I did like all the ways Harrison snuck little pieces of the original into her re-telling. The black sails and the love potion and the names. Izzie and Branna were sort of annoying characters. Izzie was just so blind to everything that was going on around her. There were some things that were completely obvious, but she was just too stuck in her own world. Branna was sort of a back-stabbing best friend. I mean, you can't help how you feel, but she was pretty wicked about things during this book. It went above and beyond just going for what you want. Mark and Tris were sort of flat characters. You got the smallest bit of background on them and I just couldn't really make them into full characters in my head. If you go into this book expecting nothing, or at least not having read the original tales, I think you will love it. It had magic and adventure and an interesting story line. I did feel like it was going to be a series, while I was reading it, until the epilogue. There is still room for more story, but the epilogue sort of killed a direct sequel. All in all it was an interesting little read, but if you're expecting romance, seek elsewhere.
First Line:
"Mark caught me in a big hug from behind as I closed my locker."
Favorite Line:
"We kissed then, and it was a kiss full of fire and magic."
This one looks so interesting - I can't wait to read it.
ReplyDelete