Review: Tris and Izzie

Details:
Title: Tris and Izzie
Author: Mette Ivie Harrison
Publisher: Egmont USA
Pub Date: October, 2011
Genre: Paranormal Romance

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. -- Goodreads

My Thoughts:
I didn't really know anything about the Tristan and Isolde fairytale before reading Tris and Izzie; the story just sounded fun and possibly Shakespearean. I wanted something fun and light to end the summer with and this was a good choice for that.

Like I've said before I'm not a huge fan of romance and this is definitely a romance. I liked it, but I did get a bit annoyed by Izzie's relationships and her need to not be in love with Tris. That said I didn't really connect with Izzie at all, but I did like Brangane and Tris quite a bit and for some reason it really didn't matter all that much that I didn't like the main character, the other characters held up the story enough for me to enjoy it.

The mythology Harrison created was excellent and a different take on the paranormal genre: very different witches story that any I've read. Although, I must say the mythical creatures and special powers did get a little silly to me at a few points in the story -- it just seemed too little-kid-fairytale, but these moments were pretty rare.


If you're a romance and fariytale fan then you'll probably love this one, I liked but just got a bit bored with the romance.

Rating:

Review: Misfit

Details:
Title: Misfit
Author: Jon Skovron
Publisher: Amulet
Pub Date: August 2011
Genre: Paranormal

Jael Thompson has never really fit in. She’s changed schools too many times to count. The only family she’s ever known is her father, a bitter ex-priest who never lets her date and insists she attend the strictest Catholic school in Seattle. And her mother—well, she was a five thousand year old demon. That doesn’t exactly help.
But on her sixteenth birthday, her father gives her a present that brings about some unexpected changes. Some of the changes, like strange and wonderful powers and the cute skater boy with a knack for science, are awesome. But others, like the homicidal demon seeking revenge on her family? Not so much.
Steeped in mythology, this is an epic tale of a heroine who balances old world with new, science with magic, and the terrifying depths of the underworld with the ordinary halls of high school. -- Goodreads

My Thoughts:
I'd heard a bit about Misfit from a few other bloggers before I can across the galley on NetGalley (if you don't know about NetGalley, check it out), but I haven't read much paranormal in the past few weeks and the whole demons and mythology aspect sounded really interesting.

Misfit wasn't what I was expecting and I'm having a difficult time deciding if I liked it or not. The story and the characters were interesting and exciting, but the writing style was really difficult for me. The point of view and tense changed throughout the novel, which confused me and drove me crazy. I probably would have stopped reading after about three chapters if I weren't so interested in the mythology setup in the novel.

So the story and mythology of the book, pretty awesome. The whole world of demons and myth came together really nicely and was clearly well researched. I was impressed by how well the religious stories and the myths came together and created a very complete history and background for the demon world. It wasn't like anything else I've read (although I haven't read very demon/religious/mythology centered books). There's a lot going on; many cultural and religious stories are mixed.

I liked the characters, but some of them were a bit over-the-top for me. I liked Jael for the most part; her character growth was excellent and I liked her relationship with boy. Jael's father and some of the other religious figure characters just didn't seem believable to me. They were too much; I don't know very many priests, but I can't picture these guys in a church in the real world.

If you can get passed the strange writing style, the story's pretty good.

Rating: 
I'm giving two ratings because the story was:

but the writing style was:

In My Mailbox (7)

"In My Mailbox" is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren to showcase what books bloggers have received in their mailbox, from the library, or bought. If you want to participate check out her site here.



Books Mentioned: 
Misfit by Jon Skovron
Divergent by Veronica Roth 
XVI by Julia Karr 
Bumped by Megan McCafferty
Heist Society by Ally Carter 
Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter 
Putting Makeup on Dead People by Jen Violi
Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin

What did you get this week?

Thoughts on Paranormal YA and Paranormalcy Anticipation

You won't hear me gush about Twilight or the like. It's not that I don't like vampires, just haven't found a YA vamp book/series that I really love. (I do admit that I'm reading the Sookie Stackhouse books -- total guilty pleasure and do watch True Blood, but they are definitely adult books) However I have found several werewolf, witch, and faerie books that I will gush over. So maybe paranormal is growing on me, maybe. What I like about the paranormal books I do enjoy is that they feature strong, smart, independent characters (especially female characters). The girls may fall in love with other-worldly creatures, but they are not helpless -- or they are the other-worldly creatures themselves. What really irks me about a lot of paranormal YA is that the girls are completely helpless without their other-worldly love interests. (Note: I also see a similar problem in YA romance as a whole) I'm sure you've all read this argument before, but I felt the need to share my thoughts on the subject since I'm planning on reading several paranormal books in the upcoming months. One being Paranormalcy by Kiersten White, which launches the end of this month.

After reading about Paranormalcy I became super excited about it. I absolutely love the whole premise of a strong female character "bagging and tagging paranormals," no ridiculous weak female love story here (does little happy dance). Sixteen-year-old Evie's job is bagging and tagging paranormals. Possessing the strange ability to see through their glamours, she works for the Intern ...more  

Sixteen-year-old Evie's job is bagging and tagging paranormals. Possessing the strange ability to see through their glamours, she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency. But when someone--or something--starts taking out the vamps, werewolves, and other odd beasties she's worked hard to help become productive members of society, she's got to figure it out before they all disappear and the world becomes utterly normal. From Goodreads.com

And to add to my anticipation HarperTeen has posted the first NINE CHAPTERS on their website! Check it out here. I will definitely be reading it this afternoon and the likely dying with anticipation and excitement until the 31st when the book will be released.