Series Review: Secret Life of Trystan Scott

Serial Saturdays: On the occasional Saturday, I review a serialized series (a series that is released in parts that would normally make up a whole novel) to see if the series is worth keeping up with or worth buying all its parts. Here is this week’s offering:

Synopsis for Collide (from Goodreads):

When Mari accidentally overhears that Trystan is in love, she can’t believe it. He’s pining over some girl that doesn’t know he’s alive. The confident swagger and endless stream of girls is a facade. It conceals his loneliness and hides how messed up he’s really become trying to flee from a life that’s battered him to his core.

Trystan tries to figure out how to make it clear how much he loves Mari, but every insincere kiss and every broken promise haunts him, because she knows them all. Now, Trystan has to prove to the one girl he’s actually fallen in love with that she’s not just another conquest.

Mari has no idea who Trystan loves, but she can tell that whoever it is has captured his heart entirely. Soon Mari sees the man behind the mask, the guy that Trystan tries so hard to hide. Everything about him is appealing, and too hard to resist.

In a moment of desperation, Trystan uploads a love song he wrote for Mari, but before he can show it to her, the video goes viral. Everyone wants to know who he is, and the only thing shielding him is an anonymous account name and some thick shadows hiding his face. Tyrstan realizes that the consequences of revealing his identity will be disastrous. Everything he’s tried so hard to hide will be exposed. It’s a secret that is impossible to keep and the only girl who he wanted to hear it will never believe him.

Series: The Secret Life of Trystan Scott

This crosses over with the Ferro Series.

Author: H M Ward
# of Parts: 6 (Full Reading Order Here)
Complete?: Yes
Genre: Young Adult / New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Heat Rating: warm
Point of View: First Person, Alternating
Publication Date: August 2012 December 2015
Source & Format: Own & Kindle Unlimited–eBook

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

I don’t really remember how I found out about this series. I think I grabbed the first book as a freebie and after enjoying The Arrangement Series, I wanted to give this one a shot. I loved the concept of the uber popular guy falling for the quiet girl yet she has no idea. There’s just something so charming about the whole idea.

Format:

So the first 5 installments are Young Adult “novellas”. I think anything over 150 pages and these hover around 200 pages) would be considered a novel but that’s how they’re billed. Regardless, they are quick reads. The final part is a much longer novel that shifts away from the YA vibes and skews more New Adult.

The Plot:

Having read a few other H M Ward works prior to this, I did know to expect high drama with all-consuming romance and not a whole lot of character development. These works live up to the novella serial formula where things happen quickly and often leave you on a cliffhanger so you are obligated to pick up the next installment.

Some of the “drama” was a little much for me. Lots of communication-assumptions and situations that become soap opera-ish and melodramatic. I got a little frustrated by some of the character decisions as a result.

The Characters:

I liked Trystan and Mari well enough. I think that’s because I enjoyed their romance. Both have troubled family lives (well Mari’s was a bit of a stretch) so they bond over that. Trystan is the brooding bad boy and Mari is the quiet girl waiting in the wings. They both fulfil their roles for the story.

The Romance:

There’s just something about first love that gets me! I thought these two were super cute at the start; playing coy with their feelings by not being the first to give in. I wasn’t a fan of the final book though and how things proceeded there. Kinda tarnished the whole thing for me with the dramatics.