8.22.2014 | Friday

Torn

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Torntitle: Torn
author: Amanda Hocking
series: Trylle #2
published: 28 February 2012
publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
genre(s): fantasy, romance
pages: 336
source: bought
format: paperback
buy/shelve it: Amazon | B&N | BookBub | Goodreads

rating: four-half-stars | series rating: four-stars

the blurb

When Wendy Everly first discovers the truth about herself—that she’s a changeling switched at birth—she knows her life will never be the same. Now she’s about to learn that there’s more to the story…

She shares a closer connection to her Vittra rivals than she ever imagined—and they’ll stop at nothing to lure her to their side. With the threat of war looming, her only hope of saving the Trylle is to master her magical powers—and marry an equally powerful royal. But that means walking away from Finn, her handsome bodyguard who’s strictly off limits…and Loki, a Vittra prince with whom she shares a growing attraction.

Torn between her heart and her people, between love and duty, Wendy must decide her fate. If she makes the wrong choice, she could lose everything, and everybody, she’s ever wanted…in both worlds.


my review

Torn begins as Switched finishes.  This is an apt title for this book, as it is all about Wendy being torn between the people she loves and her destiny.  She struggles to decide what the right choices are, knowing that the wrong choice could destroy her world… both of her worlds.

She is conflicted, unsure of what she should believe and who she should trust in her new world.  She is overwhelmed and confused and doesn’t really understand what is happening around her.  That drove me nuts.  For most of the book, various people are pulling at her in different directions, telling her what she should be doing without telling her why.  There are so many things going on under the radar in the kingdom, but no one will explain anything to her and she tends to rebel.  Elora and Aurora continue to snark at her, trying to mold her into something, someone she just isn’t.

I loved this book even more than the first.  Her struggles were real and I felt her frustration.  I wanted to jump into the book and slap those who treated  her so badly, even as they wanted her to save them all.  The caste system also drove me nuts in this book, how badly the trackers were treated.  These are the people expected to sacrifice everything for the nobles and yet they were treated as though they were disposable.  They were the soldiers of the society and I suppose that, as a former soldier myself, it bothered me that their lives were so worthless and unsupported, even as they were expected to risk themselves.

Willa, whom I really didn’t like in the first book, begins to come into her own.  She grows up and realizes that people are people, regardless of caste.  I loved that change, and it made me love her.  There are all kinds of new characters inn this book, Tove being one of my favorites.  He is starting to have a big role in the series and there is a bit of mystery about him.  Wendy, too, begins to change and I love that she still has that spark and bucks the traditions of the kingdom!

Bonus:  There’s a bonus short story in the newer editions of the book, One Day, Three Ways, set in the world of the Trylle!

Love the cover, love the story!  This is my favorite thus far and I definitely recommend it!

About Amanda Hocking

I live in Minnesota, and I write young adult paranormal romance and urban fantasy mostly. The My Blood Approves series is about vampires in Minneapolis, and its available now. I also wrote the Trylle Trilogy, which is a paranormal romance without vampires, shifters, mermaids, fae, angels, dragons, ghosts, or ninjas.

My latest book is Hollowland – a zombie urban fantasy set in the dystopian near future. It’s a bit more violent and gritter than my other books, but there is still romance. Mostly though, Remy kicks a lot of butt.

I also enjoy Red Bull, Jim Henson, Batman, Jane Austen, Star Wars legos, and I absolutely hate long walks on the beach out of my intense fear/hatred of wet sand

My favorite authors are Kurt Vonnegut, Chuck Palahniuk, Bret Easton Ellis, Alan Moore, and J. D. Salinger, but I don’t write anything like them. I have an obsession with River Phoenix, and I’ve seen Silence of the Lambs more than any other movie, even The Dark Knight. If I were trapped on a deserted island, the one thing I’d take with me would be a boat capable for taking me home.

I’m also the guitarist in a band called the Fraggin Aardvarks, and even though its even twice as cool as it sounds, we haven’t had a practice in like two years, so I’m not sure that technically we are still a band. But we never broke up, and it’s an awesome thing to tell people, so I’m sticking with it. (We even had a synethesizer!)

Rating Report
plot
four-half-stars
characters
four-half-stars
writing
four-stars
pacing
four-half-stars
Overall: four-stars

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