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+