Tris & Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison

Tris & Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison
Publish Date:  October 11, 2011
Publisher: EgmontUSA
ISBN  9778-1606841730
Pages:  272


I received this e-galley from www.netgalley.com.



Let's take a look at the Tristan & Isolde legend before we talk about the book, shall we?  There have been tons of retellings of the legend, which is a tragic love story.  Tristan is a symbol of the virtues of chivalry: including honor and bravery.  So he's wounded in a battle and his injuries won't heal.  Oh yeah, a piece of his sword got stuck in his opponent's head.  He goes to a princess, Isolde, who was skilled in healing. His King is impressed and sent Tristan back to seek her for his Queen.  Isolde realizes that Tristan had killed her uncle (remember that piece of sword stuck in his opponent's head?), but she still agrees to marry the King.  Isolde's mother feeds Isolde and Tristan a love potion - they know what it is and drink it anyway.  Isolde marries the King but loved Tristan. Finally Tristan flees in despair, later marrying another Isolde, becoming injured, sending for the first Isolde and dies.  The first Isolde dies when she realizes he's dead.

So the King must be Mark, Izzie's boyfriend, I'm guessing.  He's the football team captain.

Izzie has been dating Mark for awhile now and she hangs out with Mark and her best friend, Branna, all the time.  Izzie's mom drives an ambulance because she's magical and uses potions to help patients she picks up.  Her dad is dead.

Izzie wants to set up Branna with a boy, but can't figure out who Branna's in love with.  Then this new guy shows up...Tristan. He's cute, great personality and runs fast. Mark wants him on the track team and Izzie feels attracted to him, which makes her mad, so she's mean to him.  Branna doesn't seem to care about him one way or the other.   

In the end: Tris and Izzie end up together and Mark and Branna end up together.  My issue with this is that everyone is pretty much instantly ok with it.  C'mon, these are teenagers - it's not that simple!!!!  I hated that Izzie's mom thinks Branna might have magic since she accepts the idea of it so easily.  The battles took too long and there was even romance in the middle of them, seriously?!  Also, just because Tristan is from a sheltered magical community, does he need to speak like he's from medieval times?  I mean, Izzie and her mom only left the community 10 years or so ago, are they that far behind?

I really didn't feel connected with the characters and felt that this wasn't a retelling of the legend, it more or less just used the names and general idea.  That being said, it was pretty well-written, I'm going to have to see what else the author has written and give it a try.