Torn by Amanda Hocking

Title: Torn
Author: Amanda Hocking
Release Date: February 28th, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 291
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Others in the Series: Switched
Age Group: Young Adult
Rating: 5 Stars

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.

I wasn't in much of a hurry to read this book, and it's not to say that I didn't love it or anything. Obviously I did since it got a five star rating, but I just didn't feel as excited when I got it as I would for other books that I'm anxiously awaiting.

The story essentially picks up where the last book left off, and I mean that literally, like not even five minutes had passed between the two books. So I liked that because it kept the story fresh for the reader, but I didn't like it and it had a lot to do with Matt. He is Wendy's overprotective host brother and he is the reason that Wendy was in a hurry to get back home from the community that she would soon rule. Well, the way that Hocking represents him as being very caring for Wendy and wanting to make her happy, I feel like he didn't take the whole situation the right way. In fact, I think that was one part in the book where I felt like everything was very detached.

But besides this little part in the beginning, Hocking keeps the reader's attention by not leaving any action out. And as soon as Wendy finds herself home, she then finds herself being thrown from one place to another and she gets the chance to meet King Oren. He adds a new twist to the tale that I think fits well with the overall plot line of the story and Hocking did an amazing job of placing him there.

Another new face that get's presented is Loki, who actually grew on me at the beginning. My feelings for him are a little mixed up right now, but there was something that I liked. And along with new faces came some familiar ones. Tove comes back, and he's the same bad-ass self. I really liked how Hocking brought him out a little more. And I also liked the new side of Willa that I got to see. It was different but better.

The entire story starts to unravel a little more about the life and world of the Trylle and the reader gets to see an inside look into the enemy, the Vittra, who aren't what they seem.

I think that reader's are right when they say the character's start to grow on you. I did feel like there was more of a connection and I loved the way that Wendy had been able to grow as a character from her immature self.

There is a lot of promise for the third and last book. This is a book series that takes some growing on a reader, but when it does grow I think it'll be really hard to let something like that go.

Amazing book from a rising author.

Switched by Amanda Hocking

Title: Switched
Author: Amanda Hocking
Release Date: January 3rd, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 293
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Age Group: Young Adult
Rating: 5 Stars

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 wasn't sure what I was expecting. I have heard so many wonderful things about this story and equally so many not so wonderful things about this story. But I saw it, and decided that I should take a chance and see what it's like because I have reviewed a lot of self-published work and a lot of these authors have more promise than what people give them credit for.

The story starts with Wendy, a young brat who comes from a troubled past when her mother tried to kill her. She know lives with her brother and aunt but she still causes a lot of trouble for them. When Finn enters the picture and plans to take Wendy away, to her home, because she's a changeling. And I don't mean as in faery, but as in troll.

Hocking takes an old idea of changeling and instead of riding the faery wave with it, she takes a different route and goes after troll, but these trolls are different. They look exactly like humans besides some minor things and they behave mostly like humans. The troll aspect to them is kept though because these changelings are put into place in order to steal from their host family, who are typically wealthy. I like that about this book.

And then there's the idea of powers and how some have it and others, like Wendy, are extremely powerful. But Wendy isn't just any troll, she's a princess. I like how Hocking was able to incorporate the personalities of these characters to match that of what most people would think of trolls, because Wendy's biological mother is just horrible. And then there's Wendy's own temper tantrum that she has.

While this book isn't packed with a ton of action at the beginning, it does have a quick start. I like how Hocking is able to take the readers into Wendy's head and see what her human life is like. She is super close to her older brother and feels protective of her family. And then there's the contrast to what she experiences when she's at Forening, her homeland.

Wendy is stubborn and I like how Hocking took a realistic situation with a child who doesn't really know what to do in a situation that she's in. Wendy does a lot of things wrong and her mother just gets worse and worse.

Hocking, also did a fantastic job in bringing in a variety of characters. They are rich, spoiled kids who come back in order to live with their biological families, after taking from their host families. But they all have their soft sides and their own personality. Like Tove and Willa, they are both very different and yet Wendy can connect with them each. Even though Tove's family is trying to take away Wendy's crown, the two teenagers form a weird friendship that works. And Tove in the beginning seems like the typical rich boy that doesn't care about anything, but when he speaks he talks insightful of the social and political world that surround them and how it needs to get fixed.

Willa, she came off as snobbish at first. I wasn't sure if I would like her, but she started to grow on me, especially when Wendy needed her the most.

What I didn't like much was the way that Wendy became so focused on Finn and her family doesn't seem as important for the middle section of the book. While at no time does she actually become comfortable in her new home, she doesn't think much about her old family.

Overall, this was a great book and Hocking did a fantastic job in bringing these characters to life. I wish there was a little more action, but for the most part the book went well.