What I'm Reading (And wish I wasn't...)

I have been dying to read Mette Ivie Harrison's Tris & Izzie since I stumbled across it on Goodreads.  Who wouldn't be sucked in by this cover?

Anyone else drooling?

Synopsis:  from Goodreads
A modern retelling of the German fairy tale "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.

I got as far as a modern retelling of the German fairy tale "Tristan and Isolde," and was hooked.  When it came up for review on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance.  


My review (as posted to Goodreads):
I had such high hopes for this book. Let's start with that.

1. This book had such a unique premise. To unearth the old Tristan & Isolde myth and bring it to the present day had me drooling for this book.

2. I think this cover is absolutely delicious. That, coupled with the fantastic premise and well-written synopsis, made me jump at the chance to read and review it.

Unfortunately, the book fell FAR short of my expectations...

1. Primarily, the most distasteful aspect of this book for me was in the translation. From legend to present day, that is. YA literature is my favorite genre, in all of its raw emotion and angst. However, I wish authors would realize that teen does not mean trivial. I could not stomach the poor characterization of several of the primary characters.

Izzie (I can't stand the trivialization of such a beautiful name) is shallow, unobservant, and completely self-absorbed. She is completely unable to discern that her best friend, Brangane, is and has been in love with her boyfriend Mark for years. This speaks to a problem on multiple levels. Although it's not officially revealed until later in the book, for the reader, it's as subtle as a two-by-four to the head. What sort of person (even a teenager) misses this?

Brangane, Izzie's "best" friend. I just didn't understand this friendship at all. It appears that she's merely the 3rd wheel on this bike. What sort of friendship is built by hanging out with your friend and her boyfriend, whom you're lusting after? Further, Brangane's considerable resentment toward Izzie for her complete lack of powers of observation is pretty much understandable. Which is why I was totally irritated when suddenly she and Izzie are the world's best friends again after Izzie is "generous" enough to gift her with Mark when she decides she doesn't love him anymore. UGH.

Mark, the aforementioned boyfriend, is ridiculous. His lightning transfer of allegiance and love to Brangane simply because he suddenly gets a clue about her feelings? I don't know ANYONE (teenagers included) that can move on that quickly.

2. The treatment of the legend is again trivial. The key is that the lovers ingest the love potion (whether knowingly or not), after which they love each other desperately. However, the notion that Izzie is just trying to help Brangane (some friend, that) and gives the potion to Tristan and then ingests it HERSELF to keep Mark from drinking it--and then it wasn't even a love potion to begin with--is comical and clumsy rather than feeling even slightly like the legend.

My Final Verdict: I did finish, hoping desperately that something would redeem this book. Ultimately, this was a beautiful idea with a slapdash execution. I would need serious convincing (beyond that beautiful cover and clever synopsis) to pick up and read the next book in the series. 1.5 stars.  And I think that's generous.