Ascend by Amanda Hocking

“Wendy!” Finn shouted pulling me from my moment with Loki. “What are you doing? You’re married. And not to him.” 
“Nothing slips by you does it.” Loki asked.” 

The final book in the Trylle trilogy. After devouring the first two books in this series I was excited to see how Amanda was going to play this out. I have to say I was thoroughly surprised and not at all disappointed, there were plenty of twists and turns that I didn't see coming and I was left guessing until the final pages.

A war on the horizon and a wedding to plan, so much happened in this book and my opinion changed on so many characters. Wendy has changed drastically since the first book, she finally learns what is it to be a Queen, she stands up for what she believes in, she finally takes charge and shows fierce strength and amazing loyalty. With her people arguing amongst themselves and trying to over throw her, Wendy does not back down. A completely different person to the first novel. I also loved how we saw the relationship build between Elora and Wendy, Elora showed that she really does love Wendy and towards the end it did get very emotional. Again the support cast where superb, you really felt for them and I loved that Hocking tied up all the sub plots at the end, you weren't left wondering what happened to anyone.

This book is full of emotion and courage. A wonderful ending to a fantastic series, that has definitely made me want to read more work by Amanda Hocking. 

Torn by Amanda Hocking

“Right then, it didn't matter what his reasons were. All I knew that I was sick of him breaking my heart.” 

The second instalment in the Trylle trilogy, is face paced with lots of twists and turns. After the events of switched Wendy has returned home with Rhys to her brother Matt, but this doesn't last long with her (true) families enemies looking for her, Wendy is soon captured and imprisoned by them. I won't say much more than that because I don't want to spoil the plot.

I really enjoyed this book, there was a lot more world building and character development. We get to learn more about the Trylle history and politics and why everyone is depending on Wendy to be a great queen. Its full of twists and turns and plenty of emotional moments.

Wendy really grew on me in this book instead of seeming so passive and letting everything revolve around Finn she finally stood up for herself and had to make some tough decisions and a lot of sacrifices. We also got to see a lot more of Elora and finally find out why she seems so cold and disant. The characters seemed to come alive more in this book, and we see that there is perhaps a lot more to them then we first thought. Plus there are a few new characters who really steal the show, Duncan Wendy's new tracker, is funny and sweet and makes for some real comical moments and Loki, her new love interest, well he is the mysterious bad boy, with a dark past but a sweet soul. I really fell for him. I like that he is more of a support for Wendy instead of telling her what to do.

Overall this book was sweet and enchanting, it really captures your imagination. You can feel the emotions of the characters and the weight of the decisions they have to make. It's definitely got me reaching for the final instalment.

Switched by Amanda Hocking

“Did you think you could treat me like shit at a dance, then sneak into my room in the middle of the night and tell me that I'm a troll with magical powers, and I'd just be like, yeah, that sounds right.”

A book that is instantly engaging, with characters that are witty and easy to like. A new idea is hard to find   in the YA category so I wasn't pleasantly surprised when I found this one involving trolls (or trylle), yes trolls. Such a novel idea that works really well and allows it to stand apart from other books out there. Amanda Hocking has developed a well thought out mythology that lets you understand this new world.

This is a book full of adventure, fantasy and of course romance. It has good pace and the potential for good character development. I've seen mixed reviews on the leading character Wendy but I really liked her, she had a strong personality and didn't let people push her about and Finn, well I liked him but didn't love him, he had that creepy, over-protective vibe going on, which I'm fed up of now. 

Switched was a great introduction to the trylle world, it set up the characters and the mythology of this world. This series definitely has potential and I can't wait to read the next one.