Tris & Izzie Review

Friday, September 9, 2011

Title: Tris & Izzie
Author: Mette Ivie Harrison
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Publish Date: October 11, 2011
Genre: YA, PNR
Pages: 304
Source: Publisher

A modern retelling of the German fairytale "Tristan and Isolde", Tris and Izzie is about a young witch named Izzie who is dating Mark King, the captain of the basketball team and thinks her life is going swimmingly well.

Until -- she makes a love potion for her best friend Brangane and then ends up taking it herself accidentally, and falling in love with Tristan, the new guy at school.
Izzie is on top of the world. The only daughter of magical parents, Izzie apparently has inherited absolutely no magical powers, and her life, instead, is one of comfort, luxury and wanting for nothing. She's popular, she's gorgeous, and she has the most athletic guy in school falling all over himself for her. What more could a girl want? But when she and her best friend Branna have a fight, she goes out of her way to set her up with the new boy, Tristan. Unfortunately, Izzie underestimated herself and her place in the world of magic. As her plan backfires and she finds herself falling more in love with Tristan by the day, she must come to terms with her abilities and her new life, or lose it all forever.

Tris and Izzie is touted as the modern retelling of Tristan and Isolde, two ill-fated lovers caught in a deadly and tragic love triangle. So, naturally, my inner sob-story fiend shouted with glee and absolutely had to have this one. Plus, please take note of the stunning cover - haunting, beautiful and breathtakingly romantic, is it not? Mette Ivie Harrison is a renowned author for her ability to spin heartbreakingly lovely romantic tales with ease, all the while captivating the readers with intriguing characters, a great premise and a wonderful follow-through. Tris and Izzie has, by all accounts, all the set-up for a wonderful novel.

Unfortunately, however, I have to be honest and say that Tris and Izzie didn't work for me on many levels. First of all, characterization is key in a remake of a classic. Whether deviating from the original plot or not, should you choose to model the characters after the originals, there should be some semblance of humanity to them. I felt that Izzie, especially, was exceptionally immature. Never once did a get a grasp on any sense of true character from her and, furthermore, she was only hindered further by mere shadows of characters in the supporting cast, including Tris, Mark and Brangane. Honestly, none of them felt real in any way, shape or form. Tris and Izzie also presented a unique challenge with the love story. The classic is a tale of true love which, yes, is a bit of an insta-love scenario. However, Tris and Izzie amps it up yet another notch by adding a love potion that not only created instantaneous true love for Tristan and Izzie, but also obliterated the true love between Mark and Izzie from mere days before. The ultimate and fatal flaw for me with Tris and Izzie was simply that the premise offers us glimmers of magic and the paranormal. However, all facets of those elements felt rushed, thrown about haphazardly and never truly explained. It felt as though Tris and Izzie had elements that could have made for a great book had they been executed better, but they were simply placed in the novel with no true backstory or sense of direction.

I hate giving bad reviews to authors and their books, and I hate to give my readers a review that might leave a sour taste in their mouths, but I have to be honest and say that Tris and Izzie simply did not work for me at all. I give it a 1 out of 5, and I would recommend it to those who enjoy YA and the paranormal who want to make their own decision about this one.

I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.

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In the spirit of giving all readers and bloggers the opportunity to form their own opinions about Tris and Izzie, I am giving away my ARC of the novel. The rules are simple: You do NOT have to be a follower to enter, but it is always appreciated! This giveaway is open internationally and will end promptly at midnight EST on September 16, 2011.

Click HERE to enter.

38 comments:

  1. I couldn't finish after ten pages, so you did better than me in that you actually finished it. I was really disappointed, too. Between the cover, the original story, and what I've seen of the author's other works this book should have been so much better.

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  2. The few reviews I've read for Tris & Izzie so far have also shared your opinion. I hate having to say bad things about a novel too, but sometimes, there's really not much you can do if you feel that way. I had been looking forward to reading the novel initially after seeing its beautiful cover, but the negative reviews have really put me off from wanting to read it. Thanks for the honest and heartfelt review, Melissa!

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  3. Thats a shame, this book had such potential! thanks for the honest review :)

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  4. I really wondered if this one would live up to the hype of the cover and summary and honestly had my doubts. Seems like my fears were right. This would probably be one I's start and abandon. Thanks for the head up.

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  5. There have been so many low rated reviews for this book. Definitely keeping off my reading list. Thanks for the honest review :)

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  6. I'm impressed that you were able to finish the book. I couldn't get past 50 pages and even that was a chore. It's so sad, because the idea of the book is wonderful and the cover is amazing. I feel bad for the author since she is getting a plethora of (unfortunately deserved) bad reviews.

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  7. Sorry this didn't work for you. I know how hard it is to write a negative review, but you really did a very fair and balanced job. I think it is very difficult to do these re-tellings in a way that is both unique and true to the originall story.

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  8. Thank you for an honest review. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it, but it's not stopped me wanting to give it a go anyway :)

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  9. thanks for the honest review i am in love with the cover though its so beautiful!

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  10. Thank you for your honest review, Melissa. This one sounds like a hot mess! I had this one requested by Netgalley but now I've lost all interest. I need something to work in the story (characters, writing, plot) in order to keep me motivated and interested in the story. I'm going to take a pass on this one.

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  11. My review of this book isn't scheduled to post until closer to the publication date, but I'm glad to see that someone else had the same issues with the story that I did. Your statements about the magical elements couldn't have been more right--and you were very fair and articulate in your review.

    I thought this book was a total mess.

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  12. Oh I do not know, insta-love in any form and I just do not always mix, it works like 1 % of the time for me

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  13. I have yet to read a positive rating for this one. It sounds like a case of a beautiful cover hiding a terrible book. Such a shame when that happens! I got this one of Netgalley, but I'm going to pass on reading it!

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  14. Ooh, dang. I'm glad I didn't have a chance to read this one yet! I really dislike when characters aren't developed well. And the insta-love/insta-un-love thing? Yikes. It's a bummer that Tris & Izzie didn't work out! Thanks for the thoughtful review, Melissa!

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  15. I really appreciate it when bloggers have the guts to post negative (yet thoughtful and respectful) reviews...it is important to me not to waste my precious time on books that I won't enjoy./ This one is being deleted from my Nook!

    ♥ Melissa @ Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf

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  16. oh no! i'm sorry to hear you didn't like this one :( I still would love to give it a try, but thanks so much for the honest review. and thank you for the contest!

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  17. Oh no! I hate when books end up as a disappointment. Especially when you're excited for it beforehand!

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  18. I haven't seen too many good reviews of this book. I have it coming up on the review tbr and so I'm not looking forward to it now. Darn. I just hope it isn't a DNF. Thanks for the honest review! I really appreciate it.

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  19. Oh, how sad! This book has such potential. And such a fabulous cover. *sigh*

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  20. To be fair, I was going to give this one a try awhile back when it was on NetGalley but there were so many reviews of different aspects of it that just would have never worked for me. It's sweet of you to let others have a try, though. :)

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  21. I know the legend of "Tristan and Isolde". I would love to read this book.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  22. Love the review and thanks soooo much for the giveaway!

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  23. I have yet to see a good review of this book. You seem almost too nice in your review. I don't think I've ever seen you give a book a 1 star. It must be truly bad! I won't be reading this one ever. Thanks for the honest review. I think this is the hardest thing to do, be honest when the book is really bad!

    Heather

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  24. Yes, I also have seen nothing but bad reviews for this one. It's a shame because I love the Tristan and Isolde myth, but I think I'd be wise to wait for a better retelling.

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  25. Such a shame! & that cover is truly gorgeous.

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  26. I agree. I finished the book but didn't like it either. It's such a shame because it seems like everyone loves the myth but found the book disappointing.

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  27. Every review I've read on this book has been negative. I went so far as to take it off my to-read list because these reviews are all from bloggers I highly respect and trust their opinions. Glad to see, yet again, from this review that my gut instinct was correct.

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  28. I honestly haven't read a single positive review for this one and it makes me sad. :( The cover is so pretty. I guess one must never judge a book by its cover.

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  29. This makes me so sad! I have been looking forward to this one for a while, even though I've never really had super high hopes... (Long story... But I've read the authors other books, and none have been amazing, although I do... like them) Anyway, it makes me sad that you REALLY didn't like this one! Sigh. :(

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  30. I have this book for review. I actually tried reading it when I first got it but could not get into the story at all. I went on to something else. It's a great cover, though. One of the best...but that doesn't always mean a great story is inside. I might pick it back up eventually. Thanks for your honest review!

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  31. Beautiful cover!! I would so read this just for that haha

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  32. In all honesty, I have not heard any good reviews on this book. I was never going to read it because I don't like the original Tristan and Isolde. I do not like epic sorrow in my books and while Tristan and Isolde is a beautiful love story , tantamount to amazing, it's so sad I just can't do it again. Glad to know this line of thinking kept me away from the epic fail that is Tris & Izzie! I do love your reviews, Melissa, because I know you are always being honest!

    Jen
    In the Closet With a Bibliophile

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  33. Your review is very interesting. The sure is that the book has an amazing cover.
    Thanks for the giveaway!

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  34. I have read nothing but negative reviews for this one, unfortunately. All from trusted bloggers. So I don't think I'll be giving this one a go for myself but I appreciate that you feel like other people might want to give it a go. For me, the bad characterization and lack of development in the paranormal aspects are the killers. But thanks for the review!

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  35. Such a gorgeous cover, but so many negative reviews....Definitely a shame. Thanks for your honest thoughts, Melissa! :)

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  36. Thank you so much for you honest review, Melissa. I am glad I'm not the only one who feels this way about this book. I just saw the Booklist review and I was just shocked.

    Amber
    The Musings of ALMYBNENR

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