Review: I enjoyed this one!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 25, 2014
The thing that THIRD DEGREE has going for it, very strongly, is a very unique heroine. Isabel Jenkins is a genius. At the age of 18, she has already graduated from high school, college, medical school and has completed her work as a medical intern. She’s a lot smarter than your favorite nerdy heroine and she’s a lot more awkward. Lot’s of heroines in YA and the newly formed (and questionable) New Adult fiction are awkward. They fall over their shoe laces, have few friends and have no idea how to talk to boys. Isabel is the first socially inept character I’ve read who is socially inept with good reason.When other kids were learning how to interact, gossiping about boys and playing team sports, Isabel was being interviewed on primetime TV and blowing everyones minds with her smarts. She hasn’t had a normal life and so there is no reason she should be normal. So, when she doesn’t get the residency she’s worked her whole life for, she’s heartbroken. Especially, since the reason she can’t continue as a doctor is, because she is emotionally stunted, has poor bedside manner and lacks empathy.Determined to gain some of these skills, Isabel decides to go to college. This time with people her own age. This is where she meets Marshall, the RA from her town who knows exactly who she is.What I liked about THIRD DEGREE is it’s ability to surprise me. It’s set up as a normal college drama with a quirky twist in Isabel’s genius status. But, there is more. These characters are going to do more than come of age, fall in love and experiment with sex. Isabel and Marshall have to deal with psychological issues, human connection and even disease.Just when you think “I’ve read this before,” Julie Cross gives you characters who are dealing with more than their other New Adult counterparts. All without getting melodramatic and unrealistic. I can absolutely believe that these two characters and their stories exist. There’s no psycho killer coming out of the woodworks. Marshall doesn’t save Isabel from an attempted rapists, there’s no crazy over the top declarations of love and honestly very few cliches.I really enjoyed this one.