Author: Amanda Hocking
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Published: February 28th 2012 by St. Martin's Griffin (first published December 31st 2010)
Series: Trylle (Book #2)
Source: I purchased a copy from a bookstore.
Blurb from Goodreads: 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.
As a special gift to readers, this book contains a new, never-before-published bonus story, “One Day, Three Ways,” set in the magical world of the Trylle.
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.
As a special gift to readers, this book contains a new, never-before-published bonus story, “One Day, Three Ways,” set in the magical world of the Trylle.
Review
My thoughts: Torn is the second book from the Trylle series and it was one of the most astonishing sequel I've ever read. When you start a series and the first book turns out to be amazing, you just have to hope the second one can keep up the awesomeness. And this one completely did, and more than that. I loved Switched so much, that I gave it 5 clocks, but then if I could give Torn 5 & half or 6 clocks I would, but that's out of my rating system. What Amanda Hocking has created is a stunningly beautiful world, where even the secondary character have their time to shine and the protagonist never stop to grow in your heart.
You can check out my review of Switched (Trylle #1) HERE!
About plot & characters: After Wendy and Rhyss run away from Forening, they try to explain Matt what's been going on in the last weeks, and when they finally seem to start making progress, the Vittra come into scene, kidnapping them and taking them to the Vittra palace. Here's where Wendy finds out she's the most important piece in all this Trylle puzzle. She's right in the middle of a fight that has been going on for many years.
In Torn, we are introduced to the other side of this world, the Vittra, and to a lot of new characters that come into play. We meet the Vittra king, who happens to be the most tyrant, cruel and self-centered being in the whole world. There is Sara, his wife, who is submissive and kind but I just hated her for being such a coward and never standing up to him. And we met Loki. How can I start talking about Loki without melting down? He's gorgeous and sexy and sarcastic and if I'd have to compare him to another character I'd say he's a lot like Jace from TMI series. If you loved Jace, I'm sure you will love Loki.
There is a lot going on in the Trylle side of the world too. We get to know Willa and Tove a lot better and I really grew fond of both of them.
There is Duncan too, Wendy's new bodyguard. He's just adorable, you can't help but love him. He's goofy and silly but he has a great heart and he would do anything to keep Wendy safe.
The only one who has lost all my respect is Finn, I just can't stand him anymore, he's so focus on his job that he can't see anything else around him and I just want to kick his ass and telling him to grow some balls and start fighting for what he loves.
Wendy is growing too. Without her even knowing it, she's becoming in someone worth to be called "princess". She realizes that there are a lot of flaws in the system that has been ruling the world of the Trylle and she's not willing to just let it be, because there's the way the thing has been managed since forever. She wants justice, and she's willing to fight for it.
About the ending: It was a proper ending, but that doesn't mean I liked it. It was necessary but you know how many times what's right is not what we want? Well, that's it. In the last two chapter I hated Finn more than ever and that's a shame because I really liked him in the first book. I can't really tell you much more about it without giving it up and ruining it for you, so you'll have to read it to find out what I'm talking about.
About the writing: I was so blown away by the first book that I started this one right away. I wasn't sure of what to expect, but in Torn, Amanda manages to keep up with the vertiginous pace of Switched and include a lot of details and information that help to built the background story without making you feel like you are being info-dumped. The character development is amazing, you can almost see the changes that Wendy is being going through and how everything is starting to fall in its right place. I loved how what it seemed to be a paranormal love story has become in an epic battle between two very different and powerful sides of the same species, leaving the protagonist right in the middle of everything. It's full of great moments, surprises, action, love and suspense. Everything was so well-written that when finished the book I was satisfied with the story but eager to start reading the last one in the series.
I would recommend it for: If you haven't read the first one yet, you HAVE to read it as soon as you can and catch up to this amazing book! I couldn't recommend it more!
Rating:
Quotes:
“I don't care where I come from or who you are. I can make you happy, and you make me happy. We could have a happily ever after.”
“Right then, it didn't matter what his reasons were. All I knew that I was sick of him breaking my heart.”
“Tove had blown the doors open with his abilities, and he stood on the other side of them, looking astonishigly bad ass.”
“And I have two eyes. I’ve seen that little melodrama play out between you and that other tracker. Fish? Flounder? What’s his name?”
About the author (from her Goodreads page):
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!)
You can check out my review of Switched (Trylle #1) HERE!
About plot & characters: After Wendy and Rhyss run away from Forening, they try to explain Matt what's been going on in the last weeks, and when they finally seem to start making progress, the Vittra come into scene, kidnapping them and taking them to the Vittra palace. Here's where Wendy finds out she's the most important piece in all this Trylle puzzle. She's right in the middle of a fight that has been going on for many years.
In Torn, we are introduced to the other side of this world, the Vittra, and to a lot of new characters that come into play. We meet the Vittra king, who happens to be the most tyrant, cruel and self-centered being in the whole world. There is Sara, his wife, who is submissive and kind but I just hated her for being such a coward and never standing up to him. And we met Loki. How can I start talking about Loki without melting down? He's gorgeous and sexy and sarcastic and if I'd have to compare him to another character I'd say he's a lot like Jace from TMI series. If you loved Jace, I'm sure you will love Loki.
There is a lot going on in the Trylle side of the world too. We get to know Willa and Tove a lot better and I really grew fond of both of them.
There is Duncan too, Wendy's new bodyguard. He's just adorable, you can't help but love him. He's goofy and silly but he has a great heart and he would do anything to keep Wendy safe.
The only one who has lost all my respect is Finn, I just can't stand him anymore, he's so focus on his job that he can't see anything else around him and I just want to kick his ass and telling him to grow some balls and start fighting for what he loves.
Wendy is growing too. Without her even knowing it, she's becoming in someone worth to be called "princess". She realizes that there are a lot of flaws in the system that has been ruling the world of the Trylle and she's not willing to just let it be, because there's the way the thing has been managed since forever. She wants justice, and she's willing to fight for it.
About the ending: It was a proper ending, but that doesn't mean I liked it. It was necessary but you know how many times what's right is not what we want? Well, that's it. In the last two chapter I hated Finn more than ever and that's a shame because I really liked him in the first book. I can't really tell you much more about it without giving it up and ruining it for you, so you'll have to read it to find out what I'm talking about.
About the writing: I was so blown away by the first book that I started this one right away. I wasn't sure of what to expect, but in Torn, Amanda manages to keep up with the vertiginous pace of Switched and include a lot of details and information that help to built the background story without making you feel like you are being info-dumped. The character development is amazing, you can almost see the changes that Wendy is being going through and how everything is starting to fall in its right place. I loved how what it seemed to be a paranormal love story has become in an epic battle between two very different and powerful sides of the same species, leaving the protagonist right in the middle of everything. It's full of great moments, surprises, action, love and suspense. Everything was so well-written that when finished the book I was satisfied with the story but eager to start reading the last one in the series.
I would recommend it for: If you haven't read the first one yet, you HAVE to read it as soon as you can and catch up to this amazing book! I couldn't recommend it more!
Rating:
Quotes:
“I don't care where I come from or who you are. I can make you happy, and you make me happy. We could have a happily ever after.”
“Right then, it didn't matter what his reasons were. All I knew that I was sick of him breaking my heart.”
“Tove had blown the doors open with his abilities, and he stood on the other side of them, looking astonishigly bad ass.”
“And I have two eyes. I’ve seen that little melodrama play out between you and that other tracker. Fish? Flounder? What’s his name?”
About the author (from her Goodreads page):
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!)
Here are some ways you can talk to me:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/amanda_hocking
Facebook: www.facebook.com/amandahockingfans
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/amanda_hocking
Email: hocking_amanda@hotmail.com
