Wish Not, Want Not

 

Published:  March 21st, 2013

The Art of Wishing (The Art of Wishing #1)

By: Lindsey Ribar

Dial Books for Young Readers

ISBN-13:  9780803738270

 

He can grant her wishes, but only she can save his life.

 

Margo McKenna has a plan for just about everything, from landing the lead in her high school play to getting into a good college.  So when she finds herself in possession of a genie's ring and the chance to make three wishes, she doesn't know what to do.  Why should she put her life into someone else's hands?

 

But Oliver is more than just a genie -- he's also a sophomore at Margo's high school, and he's on the run from a murderer.  As he and Margo grow closer, she discovers that it will take more than three wishes to save him.

 

A whole lot more.

 

Review

 

     This is a book dealing with a normal teenage girl who gets the dream that everyone fantasizes about at least once or twice in life - a genie who is going to grant her three wishes!  Of course, everything had consequences, even things that seem perfect in theory.  So when Margo McKenna starts to know Oliver, her genie, for himself and not just his powers, it's not especially surprising that all Hell breaks loose.  Oh yeah, and there's a murderous madman after Oliver.  A fellow genie who wants to get rid of every other genie.  So there's that!  I really went into this one liking the way it kicked off.  A heroine who knows what she wants - to have a career in music.  She's got some family problems and is kind of awkward, so she isn't a Mary Sue (which I am eternally grateful for as a reader who detests them).  But Margo's entire life changes when she finds out that Vicki, the girl who gets the role of Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd instead of her, used magic to get people to like her and be in the musical!  This seriously pisses off Margo.  I totally understood that reaction.

     But once Margo comes upon Oliver's genie ring in the girl's bathroom and becomes his new 'master' things started to devolve.  I thought that the gradual development of a friendship between Oliver and Margo was very sweet.  She's feeling ignored by her Mom now that her parents have re-married, after so many years of it just being the two of them.  He's never had someone really take the time to get to know him.  Plus, Margo is taking her time and being extremely careful about her wishes.  She doesn't want to make any serious mistakes the way that Vicki did when she wished that more people would like her.  I understood the slow build and I liked the reality of Oliver's old mentor genie being a dangerous threat, who wanted to kill Oliver.  The dark edge to the book was interesting and fresh.  The focus on Margo's relationships with her Mom, best friend Naomi and her new one with Oliver made things stay interesting.

     Once the romance started to take over though, I lost interest.  It wasn't quite insta-love, but it wasn't too far off when you figure that Margo and Oliver had known each other less than an entire week!  So when things start to go down with the aforementioned villain, it felt like everyone else completely disappeared from the book and Oliver was the only one left - especially in Margo's view of things.  She basically tanks her future music career, her part in the musical, her friendship with Naomi AND her relationship with her Mom, just to save Oliver.  And as I saw mentioned in someone else's review, she could have just wished for him to become mortal instead of becoming a genie herself!!!  Not to mention the whole thing with her Mom struck me as vaguely weird, especially how jealous and resentful she was of her Dad.  She didn't even try talking to her Mom about things and hated that they got back together because it took her out of all the decision making processes.  I don't know about you, but it was kind a "duh" moment!  I thought Margo was kind of stupid honestly to expect her Mom to still treat her like another adult in charge of things once she remarried (never should have in the first place, honestly speaking).  The romance derailed the interesting part of it for me, which was the magic and the resolution of the parental/musical issues.  A cute book, but overall not what I was expecting from the synopsis.  I probably won't be reading the next one, cause I don't really care what happens next. 

 

VERDICT:  2.5/5  Stars

 



**No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**



We Think Patty Means Well...

Published:  February 27th, 2009 (First Published in 1911)

Just Patty (Patty #2)

By: Jean Webster

Project Gutenberg

ASIN:  B001U3ZCSG

Patty and her two roommates from last year are back in school. And they're upset School administration is trying to break up their dream team

"It's a shame " says Priscilla.

"It's an outrage " says Conny.

"It's an insult " says Patty.

"To separate us now after we've been together three years --"

"And it isn't as though we were "awfully" bad last year. Lots of girls had more demerits."

"Only our badness was sort of conspicuous," Patty admitted.

"But we were "very" good the last three weeks," reminded Conny.

Don't worry, they'll work around it. And raise more heck this year than ever before. . .

Review

     Patty and her two best friends Conny and Priscilla are appalled when they find out they've been separated as roommates for their senior year at Saint Ursula's boarding school.  Patty will not let it stand and the girls come up with schemes to go back to rooming with one another.  The book follows Conny, Priscilla, Patty and their schoolmates (but mostly Patty) through their senior year.  It's a series of vignettes about friendship, mischief and growing up in the early 1900s.

     When I downloaded this for my Kindle (it's free on Amazon as part of Project Gutenberg), I had already read  Daddy Long-Legs and Dear Enemy.  Jean Webster has a pretty sharp sense of humor and writes wonderfully relatable heroines, that put me in mind of L.M. Montgomery (only with some extra snarkiness, versus dreaminess) and her Anne series.  I thought about reading When Patty Goes to College first since it was written before this one, but decided to go in chronological order by the actual setting of the book.  I normally am not a huge fan of books told in short story/vignette form, but this one really was a pretty good book when it comes down to it.

     Patty is an absolute lightning rod for mischief and makes it a habit to deliberately misinterpret things that people say to her or instruct her to do - with mostly hilarious results.  The other two girls are in the mischief with her, but Patty is most definitely the ringleader!  There were some that were almost entirely humorous, like the incident where Patty and the girls strike for better/more equal treatment in Latin class, and the incident with one of the girls having a fake beau (boyfriend) to hurt another girl's feelings (Patty takes care of that one with some pretty funny antics).  But there were also stories like the one where Patty is stuck at school for Christmas and decides to help a lonely and out of place student who feels abandoned have a meaningful holiday.  Also, the incident with the prank where Patty accidentally encounters a real burglar and finds him a job when she goes trespassing on a grumpy, reclusive millionaire's property.  Patty always means well, even when she's trying to get around doing things that she should (like studying to make up an exam that she misses).

     Overall I was impressed with this book and felt like the overall tone to it avoided the malicious spirit that books centered around pranks and boarding schools tend to have on occasion (whether by accident or design, things do move in that direction quite often).  I am only sorry that Jean Webster died at such a young age, with so much potential to be a classic children's writer in the collective consciousness instead of nearly forgotten, as I feel she is in our present day.  Also interesting to note is that Jean Webster was Mark Twain's grandniece.  Who knows maybe his famous snark is some of the reason she manages mischief so admirably in her own novels!  I highly recommend this one, especially for fans of classic books along the lines of Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, or the Betsy-Tacy series.  My only real complaint is that I wish there were more to this book.  It felt far too short, especially with the story Webster chose to end on.

VERDICT:  4.5/5  Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available mostly  in used bookstores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

I Do Have A Name and I Am Someone

Published:  April 4th, 2013
Nameless (A Tale of Beauty and Madness # 1)
By: Lili St. Crow
Razorbill
ISBN-13:  9781595143570

When Camille was six years old, she was discovered alone in the snow by Enrico Vultusino, godfather of the Seven—the powerful Families that rule magic-ridden New Haven. Papa Vultusino adopted the mute, scarred child, naming her after his dead wife and raising her in luxury on Haven Hill alongside his own son, Nico.

Now Cami is turning sixteen. She’s no longer mute, though she keeps her faded scars hidden under her school uniform, and though she opens up only to her two best friends, Ruby and Ellie, and to Nico, who has become more than a brother to her. But even though Cami is a pampered Vultusino heiress, she knows that she is not really Family. Unlike them, she is a mortal with a past that lies buried in trauma. And it’s not until she meets the mysterious Tor, who reveals scars of his own, that Cami begins to uncover the secrets of her birth…to find out where she comes from and why her past is threatening her now.

Review

 

     Camille Vultusino isn't really one of the New Haven royalty, a daughter of the most powerful of the seven Families that rule the city.  She is just a little girl, found by Enrico Vultusino, head of the family, wandering in the snow broken by abuse and unable to speak.  Now she is on the verge of turning sixteen years old and Cami is starting to ask questions about who she really is, and where she appeared from as a child.  With Papa Vultusino making the change into full-fledged vampire and her adopted 'brother' (with not so brotherly feelings) is busy taking the reigns of the family and his place among the Seven, Cami is feeling lost and alone.  When Tor shows up with sacrs like hers and a mysterious past, she starts taking dangerous risks to get some answers.  But the truth may be far more horrifying than she ever could have imagined.  With a secret that might consume them all can Cami, Nico, along with her friends Ruby and Ella, avoid total destruction in the face of pure evil?  Or will it take them over completely?
     I have seen so many negative and lukewarm reviews of this book that I really was unsure what to expect.  But when I began to read it, I was immediately sucked into the story and found myself attached to the characters.  Cami might be taken by some readers to be whiny, manipulative and annoyingly weak.  I found her to be just another human being, struggling to heal from hurts in her past and become a better person.  Yes, she plays the victim and the martyr in this book which got on my nerves.  But I thought the author also managed to give her quite a good sense of humor in the internal musings and narrative that belong to Cami for the most part.  I think pretty much everyone can identify with feeling like you don't fit in and wanting to find somewhere that you do.  But Cami does do some pretty stupidly-impulsive things while trying to accomplish this very common goal. 
     The dystopian/steampunk type world that the author creates did get slightly confusing at times, as the world build wasn't slowly and carefully done - as a reader, you get tossed into the deep end immediately.  The supernatural aspect and alternate history (focus on Tesla versus Edison being one point, of many) was fascinating.  The world in the novel retained an almost Victorian aspect due to the Revolution of the supernaturals shortly after the first World War.  There is a mixture of magic and technology that for the most part is hinted at, but never really focused.  The only history the author really ever focuses on is Camille's.  Romance when it is well done can really add to a novel, especially in a fairy tale retelling and that floats my boat when it happens.  But this was not one of those times.  Honestly with a confused and volatile 'hero' like Nico and his competition being Tor who turns out to being something COMPLETEY DIFFERENT from how he is initially represented, I felt like it was just a convenience romance build on the part of the author.  Just because Camille and Nico have known each other forever doesn't mean they have to end up together and that Cami has to make the choice she does in the end of the book.  It made sense for her character, but still felt like the easy way out.  The truth of  Cami's birth and early childhood is truly horrific and the stuff of nightmares.  It was some of the best horror writing that I've encountered in the YA world since I finished reading The Devouring series by Simon Holt which terrified the Hell out of me, incidentally! 
     But my favorite characters in this novel with the most promise were Cami's friends Ruby and Ellie.  They were most obviously the incarnations of Red Riding Hood and Cinderella.  I am super excited to read their individual novels, because the author managed wonderfully rich characterizations in this book for them, which rarely happens with secondary characters in YA fairy tale retellings.  It made me happy!  Ruby made me laugh and smile with her rebellious, smart ass but loyal as a tiger ways.  Ellie made my heart bleed with the abuse she was suffering and the haunted life she was living.  Overall, this was an inventive retelling of a classic fairy tale (even with some flaws).  Rarely is a book 'perfect', or even close so I can honestly say that there was nothing overwhelmingly annoying to me as a reader in any of the flaws listed above.  It's a fairy tale and the characters in the originals weren't exactly 3-D and living color either.  I would highly recommend this for hardcore fairy tale fans and people who want something fresh and new.

VERDICT:  4.25/5  Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

Stay On The Other Side of the Mirror

Expected Publication:  May 14th, 2013
Parallel
By: Lauren Miller
HarperTeen
ISBN-13:  9780062199799

Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She'd go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice—taking a drama class her senior year of high school—changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, miles from where she wants to be, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she's in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it's as if her past has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby's life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. Meanwhile, her parallel is living out Abby's senior year of high school and falling for someone Abby's never even met.

As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, forced to live out the consequences of a path she didn't choose, Abby must let go of the Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that's finally within reach.

Review

 

     Abby Barnes had a pretty great life until she was thrown a curveball - she has to take either drama or astronomy her senior year because her chosen elective was cancelled.  So she takes drama, which instead of leading her to Northwestern for journalism like she's planned on forever, threw her into the lead of the school play.  Then she was discovered and cast in an action movie.  Now Abby is feeling like her life is going in a direction that she never approved of and so she wishes for a do-over.  The next morning she wakes up in a dorm room at Yale with no idea how she got there.  Someone out there must have been listening, because Abby's wish has been granted.  But after the collision that put her in this parallel world happened, Abby is year behind in her memories.  And with her parallel making new decisions daily, every time she wakes up things are different.  With the help of her friend Caitlin and each new set of memories, Abby is able to piece together some semblance of a life.  But when the decisions of her parallel (who is still trying to live by the rules) begin to get in the way of what Abby really wants, will she find a way to forge her own path and take control of her destiny?

     The premise of this book is one of my favorites - surviving when time travel/parallel universes/alternate realities throw things out of whack.  I don't necessarily even require a well-drawn scientific explanation (although that's definitely a bonus factor).  What I do require is a coherent plot, interesting and relatable characters, and a satisfying ending that makes me feel like I didn't completely waste my time as a reader.  This book started out with the first two requirements being met, but things degraded as the plot progressed.  I'm still trying to decide if it met the last requirement in any capacity whatsoever.  Abby, the displaced and disillusioned girl who finds herself in a parallel life was like an alien lifeform to me.  She treated everything that didn't fit into her life plan with complete disdain, was a jerk to almost everyone she came into contact with and don't even get me started on the Josh/Michael debate.  The little plot twist about their connection to each other had me gagging and seeing red alternately.  Her best friend Caitlin, on the other hand, is the best kind of character.  One with faults, but who doesn't let bumps in the road completely derail her.  The evolution of her character was my favorite part of the book.  Well, besides crazy Dr. Mann's lectures and odd little mannerisms/actions.  I felt like most of the side characters were very underdeveloped, with the most cardboard ones being Ilana (the stock slut character), Tyler (the 'sensitive' jock/popular guy), and Michael (the mysterious/perfect boyfriend).  It made the interactions with the secondaries very bland and kind of annoying to me.  When the book was focusing on the disparity between realities and the affect on Abby and Caitlin, it had my attention and interest.  But when it became completely centered around 'soulmates' (Bish PLEASE!) and who was in love with who, it really took a nosedive.  By the time it ended I was completely disgusted and mad that I hadn't quit reading it earlier on.  The full circle idea for the ending was a good one, but the destiny concept pissed me off so bad I couldn't see past my anger/disdain.  Such an easy out for an author!  Overall, if you like romance and EXTREMELY light sci-fi, this might be the book for you,  Especially if you believe in using people like your own personal toys, without remorse and in predestination.

 

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

 

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via Edelweiss. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is May 14th, 2013.*

My Alias Is Yours For the Taking

Expected Publication:  February 26th, 2013

Also Known As

By: Robin Benway

Bloomsbury

ISBN-13: 9780802733900

Being a 16-year-old safecracker and active-duty daughter of international spies has its moments, good and bad.  Pros: Seeing the world one crime-solving adventure at a time.  Having parents with super cool jobs.  Cons: Never staying in one place long enough to have friends or a boyfriend.  But for Maggie Silver, the biggest perk of all has been avoiding high school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations.  Then Maggie and her parents are sent to New York for her first solo assignment, and all of that changes.  She'll need to attend a private school, avoid the temptation to hack the school's security system, and befriend one aggravatingly cute Jesse Oliver to gain the essential information she needs to crack the case . . . all while trying not to blow her cover.

Review

     Maggie Silver has been safe-cracking since she was three years old and wants nothing more than to be a spy just like her parents.  So when the organization they work for, the Collective, gives Maggie a solo assignment she's super excited.  Then she finds out that her assignment is basically to be a normal teenager - go to high school, make friends and infiltrate the life of Jesse Oliver so she can steal his Dad's info on the Collective.  Maggie only has a small time frame before Mr. Oliver publishes what he knows and ruins her parent's lives (and her own).  Or so she's been told.  But with the help of family friend Angelo, her new BFF Roux and Jesse himself, can Maggie find out the truth before it costs her something far more valuable than she ever expected?  Also, what can you do when you fall in love with your assignment?  I have been a fan of Robin Benway since reading her debut novel, Audrey Wait!, which was one of my favorite books to be published while I was a teen.  She has a great sense of humor and the characterizations she manages are amazing.  I was laughing at and gasping with Maggie from the very first page of the novel.  Probably because I was a majorly over-dramatic teenager myself and can totally relate to her.  The idea of a teenage spy isn't very appealing to me normally, but the focus on character versus spy/thriller action inclusions kept me involved a lot better than I would have been.  The relationship with her parents was both hilarious and touchingly realistic.  I am a rare girl who does not happen to like Ally Carter's novels about the teen spy school.  Just not my thing.  But by placing Maggie in an everyday environment, Benway really impressed me.  Jesse was a cute romantic interest for the heroine and their chemistry was at turns sweet and hot both.  Roux was freaking HILARIOUS!  I loved her so much, but her crappy home life made me want to cry.  The whole mystery did seem quite downplayed and ignored for most of the book, which was a little disappointing to me as a reader.  The ending seemed perfect to me though and I really enjoyed this book overall.  I thought it was well-written, had a great sense of humor and some lasting value.  I highly recommend it for fans of character driven narratives, with lots of humor/drama.  But I forewarn those looking for an in-depth spy novel, this IS NOT IT.

VERDICT:  4.5/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is February 26th, 2013.*

Why Are We Being Silent?

Expected Publication: July 24th, 2012
Circle of Silence (WiHi # 2)
By: Carol M. Tanzman
Harlequin Teen
ISBN-13: 9780373210626

THE BIGGEST STORY OF MY LIFE COULD BE HOW IT ENDS It's my turn to run a "Campus News" crew, and I've put together a team that can break stories wide open. And Washington Irving High has a truly great one to cover, if only we can find a lead.

A secret society has formed in our school. It announced its presence with pranks: underwear on the flagpole, a toilet in the hallway, cryptic notes. A circle of silence keeps the society a mystery. No one knows its members, agenda or initiation secrets-until a student lands in the hospital under "strange" circumstances.

I "will" blow this story wide open and stop others from being hurt...or worse. And while my ex, Jagger, might want to help, I don't trust him yet. (And, no, not because of our past together. That is "not" important to this story.)

But whether you find me, Valerie Gaines, reporting in front of the camera, or a victim in the top story of the newscast...be sure to watch "Campus News" at 9:00 a.m. this Friday.

"This addicting, thrilling mystery hits upon many of our worst fears."-"Booklist "on "dancergirl"

Review

   Valerie Gaines is finally getting the chance to run one of the crews at Campus News, for her high school.  Val takes reporting very seriously, so when a mysterious person or group calling themself 'MP' starts to play pranks (undwear on the flagpole, a toilet in the hall, a box for new member applications) she definitely wants to be the one to crack the case.  Especially after the one of the new initiates lands in the hospital with serious injuries and refuses to talk to anyone about what really happened.  So Val needs to find a way to settle things with her ex-boyfriend Jagger (who is on her news team), figure out what secrets her little sister is hiding from her and shut down MP once and for all.  But will everyone still be alive when the dust settles?  When I requested this book on Netgalley, I didn't realize that it was a companion novel/part of a series.  Banking on the fact that the publisher is HarlequinTeen, I was expecting a little more romance and a little less mystery.  Plus all of the reporting and references to the news team began to get on my nerves near the middle of the book.  Didn't Valerie have a life outside of school at all?  The whole entagled situation with Jagger was only ever half-ass explained and I never felt satisfied with the way it played out near the end of the book.  The whole revelation of who was in MP (one of the people was REALLY close to Val) was so cliched and the resolution so after school-special that it made me want to vomit.  Badly.  Overall, it was a decently intriguing book but I wouldn't highly recommend it unless your main requirement for a book is a lot of filler plot, dialogue that has no place, a pointless and never filled out romatic subplot and a dissatisfying mystery.  Definitely NOT the book for me at all.

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication is July 24th, 2012.*

Come to My Window, Come Inside

Expected Publication: June 14th, 2012
My Life Next Door
By: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Dial Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9780803736993

A gorgeous debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another

“One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A dreamy summer read, full of characters who stay with you long after the story is over.

Review

   Samantha Reed has been watching the Garrett family with longing ever since they moved in next door.  There might be a lot of kids and a lot of noise, but compared the Sam's distant, proper family it seems like heaven on earth.  So imagine her surprise when one summer night Jase Garrett comes up onto her terrace and enters her world.  At first they become friends and Sam thinks she can keep it from her Mom, who disapproves of the Garretts and is running to be re-elected as a senator.  Then they begin to fall in love, Sam gets seriously close to the Garrett kids during the times she babysits them and she no longer feels like she needs to hide it from her Mom.  But the last thing she wants to do is disappoint her family.  So at first, she just doesn't tell anyone.  Not exactly lying right?  But when something devastating happens to Jase's Dad, with Sam's Mom and her creepy political boyfriend are to blame, will she be able to do the right thing if it means losing her own family stability?  And will her relationship with Jase and the Garretts be over when the dust settles?  I can understand why this book has been compared to Sarah Dessen - the whole first love, personal identity and family issues mix definitely makes it similar.  But I thought that the way the book ended was pretty weak.  The plot twist involving Jase's Dad getting hurt and Sam's Mom being involved seemed a little too Lifetime movie of the week for my taste.  Huntley should have just stuck to the love story and the side-story of a family in need of healing.  That was what truly interested me about this book.  Jase and Sam made a wonderful couple.  The sub-plot with Sam's best friends, Nan and Tim, was truly wonderful.  I sympathized with Nan and hated her at the same time.  Tim I just wanted to wrap in a hug, feed a hot meal and save him from the downward spiral he was on.  Jase's brothers and sisters were awesome, especially Duff, George and Alice.  Tim cracked me up every time he tried to put the moves on 'Hot Alice.'  Definitely worth the read and it does the small town life admirably well with plenty of heart from each character.  I just don't know where in the HELL that crazy-cakes plot twist came from! :)

VERDICT:  3.5/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is June 14th, 2012.*

The Magic of Not Reading This Book

Published: October 11th, 2011
Tris and Izzie
By: Mette Ivie Harrison
EgmontUSA
ISBN-13: 9781606841730


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.

Review

   So, I have read a lot of retellings lately.  Most of them have been worth my time and I love the original story of Tristan and Iseult.  Plus, the movie Tristan and Isolde is awesome in my opinion.  So I figured out that I would give this book a shot even though pretty much every review for it on Goodreads said how bad it is.  They were right.  Izzie (Isolde) is a high school student whose Mother is a witch who uses her powers for healing.  They moved from Curneval, a hidden magical community, when Izzie's Dad died ten years ago.  Now her life is almost perfect.  She has her best friend Branna (who has been acting weird lately) and her boyfriend Mark, hot basketball team captain.  They rule the school and Izzie just has to say the word for Mark to exile anyone she wants from everyone in school.  Izzie thinks that the cute new guy Tristan would be a perfect boyfriend for Branna, so she steals one of her Mom's love potions to give them.  But she ends up taking it herself to avoid Mark taking the rest of it when Tristan's done drinking.  As a result, she finds Mark disgusting and is in love with Tristan instantaneously, seemingly for good.  So with practically no fuss, Mark gets together with Branna and she gets with Tristan.  Isolde is being hunted by some evil serpent from Curneval who killed her Dad and wants her dead.  She has to battle off the monsters with the help of her friends and defeat the serpent to save Curneval.  Izzie is shallow, selfish and dumb as a box of rocks.  Anyone with ears, eyes and a brain figures out within the first twenty pages that Branna wants Mark to herself.  All Izzie thinks about is how things will affect her and she strings both boys along for as long as she possibly can before having to give one up.  The inclusion of magic is so asinine and unnecessary it only underlines the poor character development, lack of plot, and overall atrocious writing.  I wish that I had magic in my life to help me go back in time and prevent me from reading this waste of space.  NOT recommended unless you like stupid books with bubbleheaded characters.

VERDICT: 1/5 Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores and online.*