The Secret Life of Trystan Scott is a series of 5 novellas. An omnibus edition of all 5 volumes is also available. Below you will find my review for the entire series as a whole (the omnibus edition) as well as my reviews for each individual volume. This is a high school romance story. Perfect for teens (and adults wanting to relive their youth!).
The Secret Life of Trystan Scott Collection by H.M. Ward
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
My review:
The Secret Life of Trystan Scott is a series of 5 short books that start off as a high school teen romance and slowly progresses towards young adult romance. This series is the prequel to the upcoming novel "Broken Promises" which will be about Trystan, a couple of years after the events of "The Secret Life of Trystan Scott".
This series is not the typical reading I usually go for (due to the age of the main characters and high school setting) but since it's was written by my favorite author, I figured I'd give it a try. I love H.M. Ward's style of writting. It's witty, fun, full of angst, palpable tension and anticipation.
Trystan is the school hearthrob and has the reputation of messing around with lots of girls. Mari is more of a wallflower-type girl that doesn't really date much. They are good friends and they both secretly have feelings for one-another. Trystan has issues and so does Mari. Family life isn't easy for either of them and it just gets more and more complicated as the story evolves. The friendship and romance also evolve as they lean on each other for strength and support. Can they be each other's salvation? The secondary characters (Katie and Seth) are hilarious and provide most of the comic relief in these books. This series deals with issues of parental abuse (physical and verbal), bullying and parental pressure.
In true H.M. Ward style, my emotions were all over the place by the end of the story. This book tears you appart, wanting one thing, then another, then back again. Decisions are made and along with these decisions come sacrifices. It's romantic, sad, happy, bittersweet... The end had me happy and sad all at once. I loved the entire story!
If you have read or plan on reading the Ferro Family books by H.M Ward, I recommended reading this series if you want to understand Trystan and Mari's characters better (they make appearances in the various Ferro series).
Synopsis:
Fame has a price and Trystan doesn't want to pay. Everything he worked so hard to hide is about to be revealed. Nothing he can do will stop it. Within a few short hours everyone will know about his father and the sordid details of his past.
There are four words Trystan's father said that haunt him--four words that he ignored--never fall in love. But it's too late.
This is the complete collection of the prequel series to BROKEN PROMISES (A Trystan Scott novel).
The Secret Life of Trystan Scott Collection by H.M. WardMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
My review:
The Secret Life of Trystan Scott is a series of 5 short books that start off as a high school teen romance and slowly progresses towards young adult romance. This series is the prequel to the upcoming novel "Broken Promises" which will be about Trystan, a couple of years after the events of "The Secret Life of Trystan Scott".
This series is not the typical reading I usually go for (due to the age of the main characters and high school setting) but since it's was written by my favorite author, I figured I'd give it a try. I love H.M. Ward's style of writting. It's witty, fun, full of angst, palpable tension and anticipation.
Trystan is the school hearthrob and has the reputation of messing around with lots of girls. Mari is more of a wallflower-type girl that doesn't really date much. They are good friends and they both secretly have feelings for one-another. Trystan has issues and so does Mari. Family life isn't easy for either of them and it just gets more and more complicated as the story evolves. The friendship and romance also evolve as they lean on each other for strength and support. Can they be each other's salvation? The secondary characters (Katie and Seth) are hilarious and provide most of the comic relief in these books. This series deals with issues of parental abuse (physical and verbal), bullying and parental pressure.
In true H.M. Ward style, my emotions were all over the place by the end of the story. This book tears you appart, wanting one thing, then another, then back again. Decisions are made and along with these decisions come sacrifices. It's romantic, sad, happy, bittersweet... The end had me happy and sad all at once. I loved the entire story!
If you have read or plan on reading the Ferro Family books by H.M Ward, I recommended reading this series if you want to understand Trystan and Mari's characters better (they make appearances in the various Ferro series).
Synopsis:
Fame has a price and Trystan doesn't want to pay. Everything he worked so hard to hide is about to be revealed. Nothing he can do will stop it. Within a few short hours everyone will know about his father and the sordid details of his past.
There are four words Trystan's father said that haunt him--four words that he ignored--never fall in love. But it's too late.
This is the complete collection of the prequel series to BROKEN PROMISES (A Trystan Scott novel).
My reviews for each individual volume:
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
My review:
The Secret Life of Trystan Scott is a series of 5 short teenage romance books that can also be enjoyed by an adult audience (if you are a Ferro family fan, read on!).
I love HM Ward's style of writting. It's witty, fun, full of angst and anticipation. Trystan is the school hearthrob and has the reputation of messing around with lots of girls. Mari is more of a wallflower-type girl that doesn't really date much. They are good friends and they both secretly have feelings for one-another. Trystan has issues and so does Mari. Life isn't easy for either of them and it just gets more and more complicated as the story evolves. The secondary characters (Katie and Seth) are hilarious and provide most of the comic relief in these books.
I recommended reading this series if you want to understand Trystan's character better going into "Stripped" (a Ferro family novel by HM Ward) and into "Broken Promises", a novel on Trystan Scott as an adult that is due to come out sometime in 2014.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
High school romance with lots of tension - TELL HER ALREADY! GAH! :-)
This series is not the typical reading I usually go for (due to the age of the main characters and high school setting) but since it's from an author that I really like, I figured I'd give it a try. This is book #2 of 5 in the Secret Life of Trystan Scott series. The books are fairly short and read fast. Good entertainment when you don't feel like getting into something too lengthy. The story is between 18 year old Trystan and 16 year old Mari who both secretly have feelings for one another. HM Ward is great at putting the reader in a state of constant anticipation and these books are no different, although more on the teenage side than some of her other stories.
If you have read (or planning on reading) Stripped from the Ferro family saga (which occurs 3 years after the events in this series), you may want to read The Secret Life of Trystan Scott to get a better idea of Trystan Scott's backstory (he is a secondary character in Stripped). 21 year old Trystan will be the main character in a novel entitled "Broken Promises" due out sometime in 2014.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
"There were few things in life that were certain, but I knew this was real. We were meant to be together." - Mari
Book 3 out of 5 in The Secret Life of Trystan Scott series. A high school romance that is told over the course of 5 short books. It is also the story behind the rise to fame of Trystan Scott, who's character appears (3 years after the events of this series) in the book "Stripped" (a Ferro family novel) and "Broken Promises" (due out sometime in 2014). In this volume, we learn more about the family drama in both the main characters' lives. The romantic tension and anticipation is always palpable (it's an HM Ward book after all!). This book deals with domestic violence, bullying and parental pressure.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
"He really needs to make up his mind and pull her in or push her away." - Trystan
Intensity is pushed up yet another notch in this 4th installement of the 5 part series The Secret Life of Trystan Scott. Trystan & Mari each try to deal with their abusive (physically and verbally) fathers while leaning on each other for strength and support. Their love for each other is so strong and the way each sequence is described, you can't help but feel the tension along with them. Can they be each other's salvation???
To fully enjoy the experience of these books, you have to start with the first one and work your way on up. Since these are serials, they are short and don't have room for recaps of what happened in previous books. They start off from the previous cliffhanger. This book ends with another zinger, making you crave the 5th and last book.
An older Trystan Scott makes an appearance in the book "Stripped" (a Ferro family novel) as Jonathan Ferro's best friend. Reading The Secret Life of Trystan Scott will give you a better appreciation of his character in Stripped. Trystan will also get his own set of novels as the now-famous, 21 year old rock star (due to be released sometime in 2014).
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a tough review to write. My emotions were all over the place by the end of the book.
As with all of HM Ward's serials, the 5th and last installement of The Secret Life of Trystan Scott starts off exactly where the previous book ends. Mari and Trystan's futures are being decided and not necessarily in the same direction. This book tears you appart, wanting one thing, then another, then back again. Decisions are made and along with these decisions come sacrifices. The secondary characters (Seth and Katie) are hilarious!
Romantic, sad, happy, bittersweet...
The end had me happy and sad all at once. Thank goodness there will be more of Trystan Scott (and hopefully Mari too!) in the "Broken Promises" novels due out in 2014. Loved the book!
I haven´t read anything from H.M.Ward but I´ve heard a lot of good things of her books so maybe I´ll try some of them soon. Nice blog and new follower.
ReplyDeleteHere is my blog if you want to check it out http://livinginourownstory.blogspot.com.es/