From Amazon –
With a war looming on the horizon, Wendy’s fate seems sealed. But everything she sacrificed might be in vain if she can’t save the ones she loves. Her whole life has been leading up to this, and it’s all coming to an end.
The culmination of weeks and months, finally the end is here. Actually, when you sit back and realize that it truly has been only a few months since Wendy discovered she is the future Queen of Trylle it could almost give you whiplash thinking of all that has happened. No less than 3 men have fallen for her, she found out she was not only the daughter of a Troll queen, but of an incredibly evil Troll king, she’s been kidnapped, betrothed, and survived numerous attacks. That’s a lot for a teenager! Heck, that’s a lot for any person, but such is the life of a heroine of a YA novel.
Ascend, in particular, is full of action. There’s lots of planning and sneaking, deals made and broken, marriages, and general uproar. At times it feels as if things are moving very quickly, and at other times like nothing happens of any consequence for pages and pages. The pacing is off, and the ending feels rushed. However, all in all, I found it to be a satisfying conclusion.
As in other books in this series, I find the characterization to be off. Elora becomes a sympathetic, compassionate mother who only wants her daughter to be happy? I’m fairly certain that’s not the same woman we met in Switched. Hocking gives reasons for this in the book, but they just doesn’t ring true. I get the feeling that the author writes her characters to serve the plot, rather than allowing her characters to guide the plot. They appear to change because they need to in order to serve whatever purpose she needs done at the time. That, or she never gets a clear picture of who her characters are in the first place.
And of course, the romance plots are wrapped up fairly neatly. Though, not as I originally expected as they would. I certainly won’t give that away. I still never did really like Wendy as a character, she was too inconsistent and childish. I give Ascend a 3 out of 5.
I found this series to be an easy read; I read all of them in less than a week. For the price on Kindle, they were certainly worth it.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Torn (Book #2 of the Trylle Trilogy) by Amanda Hocking
From Amazon –
Wendy thought she finally understood who she was and what she wanted, but everything changes when the rival Vittra come after her.
She's caught between two worlds, torn between love and duty, and she must decide what life she is going to lead.
Torn begins exactly as Switched ends, with Wendy leaving Trylle and returning to her home. The respite is brief, and action is quickly returned to the troll world, including Vittra, a rival tribe who's king is determined to have Wendy.
In Vittra, we are introduced to several new characters. Oren, the king, becomes the main antagonist. His wife, Sara, is a timid, mousey character who leaves no impression on the reader. Then there’s Loki, a new rival for Wendy’s affections. He is handsome, mischievous, outspoken, and quite flirtatious with our heroine. Not to worry, as her love is still clearly fixated on Finn for now.
I don’t want to give too much time discussing her relationships, but they are central to this book (and its sequel, Ascend, which will be discussed later). Wendy appears to be in the middle of a love quadrangle. There’s Finn, with whom she is passionately in love but always torn away from because of his sense of “duty”. Rhys, who obviously adores her but Wendy describes her feelings for him as strictly platonic. Loki, with whom she feels great attraction, and possibly something more. And also, Tove, her trainer and friend, who is the only appropriate match for the future Queen.
I actually found myself rolling my eyes at so many scenes involving her love life. It seems that all she and Finn can do is yell at each other, make out a little bit, then yell some more. He glowers a lot, or ignores her, and she yells at him that they can’t “leave it like this”. I simply do not understand their great love, though Hocking was clearly playing it up this way. Loki is fun, but his feelings for Wendy make no sense either. After their first meeting, where all he really does is knock her out (he is Vittra after all), he suddenly is willing to betray his King and people for her. I don’t get it, what is so special about this girl? All this plays out among a background of impending war, family secrets, an ailing Queen, Wendy’s developing powers.
It was at this point that I realized that, while these books are entertaining, and an easy read, I probably will not be recommending them to my friends. Besides the continued grammatical errors, if I don’t really like the main character, or am ambivalent about her at best, why do I continue to read about her journey? Granted, she does begin to develop somewhat as a person. She becomes less self-absorbed, obviously develops a sense of care and duty towards the Trylle people. Still, Hocking is obviously playing to the tweens rather than truly creating a special world, and a heroine to root for. I rate Torn a 3 out of 5.
Wendy thought she finally understood who she was and what she wanted, but everything changes when the rival Vittra come after her.
She's caught between two worlds, torn between love and duty, and she must decide what life she is going to lead.
Torn begins exactly as Switched ends, with Wendy leaving Trylle and returning to her home. The respite is brief, and action is quickly returned to the troll world, including Vittra, a rival tribe who's king is determined to have Wendy.
In Vittra, we are introduced to several new characters. Oren, the king, becomes the main antagonist. His wife, Sara, is a timid, mousey character who leaves no impression on the reader. Then there’s Loki, a new rival for Wendy’s affections. He is handsome, mischievous, outspoken, and quite flirtatious with our heroine. Not to worry, as her love is still clearly fixated on Finn for now.
I don’t want to give too much time discussing her relationships, but they are central to this book (and its sequel, Ascend, which will be discussed later). Wendy appears to be in the middle of a love quadrangle. There’s Finn, with whom she is passionately in love but always torn away from because of his sense of “duty”. Rhys, who obviously adores her but Wendy describes her feelings for him as strictly platonic. Loki, with whom she feels great attraction, and possibly something more. And also, Tove, her trainer and friend, who is the only appropriate match for the future Queen.
I actually found myself rolling my eyes at so many scenes involving her love life. It seems that all she and Finn can do is yell at each other, make out a little bit, then yell some more. He glowers a lot, or ignores her, and she yells at him that they can’t “leave it like this”. I simply do not understand their great love, though Hocking was clearly playing it up this way. Loki is fun, but his feelings for Wendy make no sense either. After their first meeting, where all he really does is knock her out (he is Vittra after all), he suddenly is willing to betray his King and people for her. I don’t get it, what is so special about this girl? All this plays out among a background of impending war, family secrets, an ailing Queen, Wendy’s developing powers.
It was at this point that I realized that, while these books are entertaining, and an easy read, I probably will not be recommending them to my friends. Besides the continued grammatical errors, if I don’t really like the main character, or am ambivalent about her at best, why do I continue to read about her journey? Granted, she does begin to develop somewhat as a person. She becomes less self-absorbed, obviously develops a sense of care and duty towards the Trylle people. Still, Hocking is obviously playing to the tweens rather than truly creating a special world, and a heroine to root for. I rate Torn a 3 out of 5.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Switched (The Trylle Trilogy Book 1) by Amanda Hocking
The Trylle Trilogy is a series by independent, self-published author Amanda Hocking. The first, Switched, was recommended to me on Amazon, and for only 99 cents for my Kindle, it was worth a shot.
With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed - a world both beautiful and frightening, and Wendy's not sure she wants to be a part of it.
I found this to be an interesting premise. I enjoy supernatural/paranormal books, particularly of the young adult genre and have become exhausted of the vampires, werewolves and fairies. Trylle are a colony of trolls, though they are quick to describe themselves as more human-like than have been depicted in bedtime stories. The characters were a little flat, and the relationships a bit too forced for my liking. Wendy is, to put it bluntly, a brat. She even describes herself this way many times. Finn, the love interest, is strong, handsome, broody and mysterious - fairly typical for a YA novel. Many other characters are introduced once Wendy comes to learn more of the Trylle, including the Trylle Queen, Elora, neighbor Willa and mansklig Rhys. What is a mansklig you ask? You'll have to read and find out. I'll just add here that while I had many problems with characters in Switched, I adored Rhys. He had very little to do, and very little face time, but what was there I really enjoyed. We are also introduced to Tove, another "royal" in Trylle. He has very little to do in this book, but becomes a larger character later. I also really liked Tove, he is described as scatterbrained and "weird", but I just found him to be quiet and mostly inside his own head. I can see how a teenager (as the book is told from first person POV) might describe him this way.
One of the biggest problems I have with YA in general, is the problem of telling rather than showing. The relationships in this book are a prime example of this. We, the readers, are TOLD that Wendy is falling in love with Finn, but never given reasons why. He makes her heart race, and has a burning in his eyes when he looks at her. That's all well and good, but overall I just felt as though the development of their undying love for each other left much to be desired.
The other thing I must mention is the terrible editing. The book is rife with grammatical errors, which took me right out of the action. Overall though, I would say this book is easily worth the 99 cents I paid for it. I rate it 3 out of 5 stars.
You can check out Switched on amazon here.
Switched (Book #1)
Amazon's Synopsis -
When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn't until eleven years later that Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed - a world both beautiful and frightening, and Wendy's not sure she wants to be a part of it.
I found this to be an interesting premise. I enjoy supernatural/paranormal books, particularly of the young adult genre and have become exhausted of the vampires, werewolves and fairies. Trylle are a colony of trolls, though they are quick to describe themselves as more human-like than have been depicted in bedtime stories. The characters were a little flat, and the relationships a bit too forced for my liking. Wendy is, to put it bluntly, a brat. She even describes herself this way many times. Finn, the love interest, is strong, handsome, broody and mysterious - fairly typical for a YA novel. Many other characters are introduced once Wendy comes to learn more of the Trylle, including the Trylle Queen, Elora, neighbor Willa and mansklig Rhys. What is a mansklig you ask? You'll have to read and find out. I'll just add here that while I had many problems with characters in Switched, I adored Rhys. He had very little to do, and very little face time, but what was there I really enjoyed. We are also introduced to Tove, another "royal" in Trylle. He has very little to do in this book, but becomes a larger character later. I also really liked Tove, he is described as scatterbrained and "weird", but I just found him to be quiet and mostly inside his own head. I can see how a teenager (as the book is told from first person POV) might describe him this way.
One of the biggest problems I have with YA in general, is the problem of telling rather than showing. The relationships in this book are a prime example of this. We, the readers, are TOLD that Wendy is falling in love with Finn, but never given reasons why. He makes her heart race, and has a burning in his eyes when he looks at her. That's all well and good, but overall I just felt as though the development of their undying love for each other left much to be desired.
The other thing I must mention is the terrible editing. The book is rife with grammatical errors, which took me right out of the action. Overall though, I would say this book is easily worth the 99 cents I paid for it. I rate it 3 out of 5 stars.
You can check out Switched on amazon here.
Welcome
Welcome to my book review blog. I vow to review every book I read, new and old. I will make no apologies for what I read. I enjoy a wide variety of genres, from classics to young adult and many things in between. I also will not apologize for my opinion, but will gladly hear yours! In fact, I welcome them. I love a good debate.
I read most of my books on kindle, which many associate with not having a true love of literature. I beg to differ. The kindle has opened the ability to absolutely read any and everywhere. I sat at the dentist last week reading a book on my phone using the kindle app. So, if you are wary of a kindle, I ask that you reconsider. I adore mine.
So, welcome!
I read most of my books on kindle, which many associate with not having a true love of literature. I beg to differ. The kindle has opened the ability to absolutely read any and everywhere. I sat at the dentist last week reading a book on my phone using the kindle app. So, if you are wary of a kindle, I ask that you reconsider. I adore mine.
So, welcome!
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