Ascend (Trylle Trilogy #3) by Amanda Hocking

Ascend is the way every single trilogy or even series should be ended.  Kind of like what J.K. Rowling did with the Harry Potter books, Amanda Hocking included a short epilogue that explains where the characters are in the future. It's amazing. Hocking ends the story and sums everything up, then she does a little "where are they now" type thing.  Perfect. Just the way I like it.

Wendy has discovered now that in order to save the Trylle from the deadly Vittra, she must sacrifice herself to the Vittra King, who also happens to be her father.  If she doesn't surrender to the Vittra, then the Vittra will mount an enormous attack on the Trylle that the Trylle may not be able to survive. Wendy must decide what to do. Chance a fight with the Vittra or sacrifice herself so her friends can be safe.  Among Wendy's decisions is to decide what guy to choose to be with forever.. Loki or Finn? Finn or Loki? Wendy does get married in the book but you'll just have to read it to find out to who..... The future of the entire world rests in Wendy's hands and it's up to her to figure out what to do to save the world!

Excellent series and easy to read. I really enjoyed reading these books, and I think it only took me about a week to power through all three of them.  I would definitely recommend checking them out! I've also been looking into Amanda Hocking's blog, where I found out that she has sold the movie rights and someone is now trying to make a movie out of the books! Fancy shmancy. I hope they do a better job with these than what they did with the Beautiful Creatures novels.  That movie adaptation was atrocious. But that's besides the point.. read the Trylle trilogy! You won't regret it!

Want to buy it? Here it is on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

                                                   © ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, Amanda Hocking

Quick Review:
Title: Ascend (Trylle Trilogy #3)
Author: Amanda Hocking

Pages: 326 (paperback) including the "bonus" story

Recommended for: Young adult girls, with some reservations about the language and content. Probably ages 14+

Torn (Trylle Trilogy #2)

Well hello again. I'm writing this post quickly before I go to class (grad school classes suckk), so it may not be too well written. But still, bear with me....

Here goes nothing...

So Torn, also by Amanda Hocking of course since she wrote the Trylle series. Awesome number 2 to this series. Sometimes sequels to books are ehh but this one is wonderful because it helps tie up some loose ends from the first books but still leaves you wanting more from the third book. Torn picks up with Wendy in Trylle trying to become the best princess she can be. However, she is really starting to resent her mother for giving her up and making her a changeling but also she is starting to despise her role in Trylle as the princess. She decides to go home and try to live as a regular human. Yeah right, nice try Wendy.  Not even 5 minutes after she is home she is alone and is then attacked by the Vittra who take her home with them.  At the Vittra palace Wendy meets Loki, a Vittra prince with whom she starts to share a growing attraction. While imprisoned at the Vittra palace, Wendy learns more astounding secrets of her life and must make some pretty crazy decisions. Wendy spends the second half of the book trying to decide if she should listen to her heart and do what's best for her or listen to her mother and the Trylle and do what's best for the Kingdom.  While in "princess training" Wendy must also learn how to master her magical powers and also marry a powerful royal to help her rule the Trylle when she becomes Queen.

The book is very well named, I must say. Wendy is "torn" between so many different things, love and duty, who to listen to, who to believe, who to love, it's amazing. Either way she loses something she loves. Who does she decide to love? Finn, her bodyguard who is strictly off limits? Loki, the Vittra prince who she should hate, but just can't? Or Tove, the best match a royal can have in the Trylle kingdom, but he comes with an impossible mother-in-law? In Torn, Wendy must face many dilemmas and she must choose, not only what's best for her, but what's best for her kingdom too.

Great book! Definitely a good continuation of Wendy's story from Switched.

Want to own it? Here it is on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Quick Review:
Title: Torn (Trylle Trilogy #2)
Author: Amanda Hocking

Pages: 324 (paperback) including the "bonus" story

Recommended for: Young adult girls, with some reservations about the language and content. Probably ages 14+

Switched (The Trylle Trilogy #1) by Amanda Hocking

     The Trylle books are by Amanda Hocking. They are fantasy books that are set in modern day but with a secret world built in. Kind of like Harry Potter, only not as good. (Sorry, I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and nothing I've read can come close to those books!)  
      The Trylle Trilogy I read in about a week.  All 3 in 1 week. I couldn't put them down.  The first one was called Switched, which is what I am talking about in this post. It starts out with Wendy, who seems like a normal girl, living a normal life... Until you find out that when Wendy was 6 her mom tried to kill her. Wendy lives with her brother and Aunt now and they move from town to town because Wendy has a knack for getting into trouble, forcing them to move away. Now enter Finn. He's a mysterious guy at Wendy's new school who is about to unravel Wendy's life and completely change her point of view. He comes to tell her that she is not a human and was a changeling who was switched at birth. Finn is sent to retrieve Wendy from her human home and to take her home to Trylle, where she belongs.  Wendy is forced to enter a whole new world and become someone new. She wants to fit in in this new place, but she doesn't want to leave her brother and Aunt behind, both of whom have done so much for her over the years.

          This was a good, quick read. Had a lot of plot twists that I was not expecting and it also had some action scenes in it as well. The Vittra are the enemy "tribe" to the Trylle and they are constantly trying to attack the Trylle and take Wendy (you find out why in the book, I don't want to ruin it for you!). The book that I got, and I think most of the books have it now had a special add on story called "The Vittra Attacks."  It takes a scene from the book and explains it from the Vittra's point of view. I thought that was very neat because you never get to see exactly what happens in the "bad guy's lair" or inside their head, it's always from the point of view of the hero. The other two books in the series also have similar stories at the end of the book.  

           I would recommend these books for Young Adult readers. Girls mostly, but the right boy may enjoy it because it does have action scenes in it. There is some content in the books that may not be appropriate for young readers, and the language in the books can sometimes get graphic. 

          I would like to read the Watersong series by Amanda Hocking as well. Has anyone read those? I think that may be next (or somewhere up top) on my to read list, that seems to be getting longer and longer by the minute. I don't hate it one bit. 

Want to buy the book? Here it is on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

© ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, Amanda Hocking

Quick Review:
Title: Switched (Trylle Trilogy #1)
Author: Amanda Hocking

Pages: 318 (paperback) including the "bonus" story

Recommended for: Young adult girls, with some reservations about the language and content. Probably ages 14+

The Elite by Kiera Cass (The Selection #2)

****SPOILER ALERT**** If you have not read The Selection by Kiera Cass, I would highly recommend that you DO NOT read this post. This is the next book in the trilogy and if you read what I have to say about this book then you'll know what happens in the first one.  Read what I have to say on The Selection here.

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Okay, since you are still reading, I am assuming that you have read The Selection. First of all... When I first picked up this book, I didn't realize that it was a trilogy. So when I came to the end and nobody had been picked I was upset. Now, however, I have come to terms with the fact that it is a trilogy and have read the next one in the series. The Elite was riveting. I could not put it down, and I think I finished it in a day. Now that the Selection has been going on for quite some time, Prince Maxon has narrowed down the Selection from 35 down to 6. We've gotten to know the girls pretty well and I know everyone dislikes Celeste. She really gets on my nerves. Doesn't Prince Maxon see what a conniving, backstabbing biotch she is? But onto America.. She hasn't decided if she's still in love with Aspen, or if she loves Prince Maxon... AND THEN Aspen shows up at the castle as a guard! Did not see that one coming. Of course it complicates things, forcing America to remember all the promises and secrets that Aspen and her shared. The other girls are now fighting even harder for the crown and America is forced to make some hard decisions. But just as America decides exactly where she wants to be a devastating and heartbreaking loss forces her to reconsider her choices.  The rebels are also fighting against the throne, throwing in some action packed scenes and making America think about what it would be like if she lost Maxon or Aspen. 
     I personally would love for America to choose Maxon. I think that he really cares about her and she knows it would really help her family out for her to be so powerful and rich.  I also think that with America as the Princess and eventually the Queen that it would make for some very interesting changes in the kingdom.  America has good ideas about changing things up and I think with Maxon's help they could really make it work, as well as create a beautiful life together. Aspen is a good choice and I know he would make it work with America and really work hard to provide for her, but I don't know if after the Selection she will be allowed to marry an eight.  Now that she has jumped to a three rank, I feel like nobody will allow for her to marry an eight. In the book I also like how supportive America's dad is of her. Especially during the scene where she tries to stand up for Marlee and her dad tells her how proud he was of her trying to do that. It brought me to tears. I am rooting hard core for America and I can't wait to read The One which doesn't come out until May 2014! Yikes, that's a long time to wait.
    Also, there is another Selection novella called The Prince.  I have not read this yet, but apparently it is from the point of view of the Prince and it's about the other girl in Prince Maxon's life before the Selection. Gasp! Wow. It's only 64 pages so I will probably download it on my nook and read it real quick and let you know what I think! If anyone has read it already, let me know what you think!
   Unrelated to the Selection novels but completely related to Kiera Cass, you should check out her YouTube Channel. She's so awesome and down to earth and she does some "interviews" with the Selection girls.  She dresses up as them herself and answers some questions as if she were them.  They are hilarious. You can watch them here, and here is Kiera Cass' YouTube Channel.

Thanks for reading!

Copyright © 2012, Kiera Cass.

Want to own it? Here it is on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Quick Review:
Title: The Elite (Selection Book 2)
Author: Kiera Cass
Pages: 323 (hardcover)
Recommended for: Young adult girls

The Selection by Kiera Cass

            The first book that I have decided to talk about is The Selection by Kiera Cass.  I read this book a little while ago and it was fantastic. It's set in future United States after China has tried to take over and failed. The public is divided into Castes, with the wealthiest people deemed as "Ones" and the poorest people "eights." There is a King and Queen and the Selection is set up to find the future Princess of the kingdom.  It gives thirty-five girls the chance of a lifetime. They are given the opportunity to enter the world of glittering gowns and sparkly jewels to fight for the heart of the handsome Prince Maxon. Okay so I know what you're thinking, this sounds so much like the Bachelor. Well, it is kinda. But with much higher stakes. The rules are much stricter for the girls and they are forced into "Princess training" for when one of them is chosen. Enter America Singer, the protagonist of the story. She does not want to be swept up into this fancy world. America has already decided to spend the rest of her life with Aspen, but their love is secret because he is a whole caste below her.  She is picked in the Selection (surprise!) and is forced  to compete for a crown she doesn't really want. Of course, like any book she goes into the competition hating the Prince and then gradually finds out he may not be all bad. But does she want to give up the future she's been imagining with Aspen? Dun dun dun... What happens next? 

Copyright © 2012, Kiera Cass.

Well.. you have to read it to find out! It's a quick read, meant for young adults. The hardcover edition is only 327 pages, which is nothing. A very quick read and definitely worth it! 

Want to get it? Here it is on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Quick Review:
Title: The Selection
Author: Kiera Cass
Pages: 327 (hardcover)
Recommended for: Young adult girls

And So It Begins...

             I have decided to start a new adventure today. It's summer, it's nice out, perfect tanning weather, yet all I want to do is read. I've decided sharing the books I read and what I think about them will make the amount I read seem a little less scary. I have to admit, I am a total bookaholic. I buy books even though I have a million on my shelf still waiting to be read.  I'm pretty sure I inherited this trait from my mom. She does the same thing. I have millions on millions of books to read, yet I still buy more books when I see them. I have a hard time walking past a bookstore without walking in and buying something.  McKay's in Manassas? I can barely drive past there without feeling an overwhelming urge to pull over, run inside and scoop something up. 
            My boyfriend thinks it's a problem. And you know what, I think he may be right. But with this blog, it will make it seem (to me at least) that I HAVE to read. I have to blog about my books when I'm done and somebody is dying to read about what I've read! I'm thinking that this may turn out to be a terrible idea, or maybe it'll end up being fun? Who knows. 
           Join me on my adventure this summer as I try and read as many books as humanly possible and then blog about each and every one of them.  If you ever have any suggestions or books you think I should read, please let me know! (As if I don't have enough to read already, what's one more book right?) 
            
         And now..  Let the games begin.....