Book Review: Torn by Amanda Hocking

“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.”

This second installment of the Trylle trilogy, Torn, picks up immediately where the last book left off. After being attacked by the Vittra on the night that she is to be presented to Trylle society, Wendy is more than overwhelmed with the duties she’s expected to carry out as a princess. She uses her newfound abilities to persuade Rhys, the human boy with whom she was switched at birth, to take her home to her host family. However, she soon finds out that she isn’t as safe among her human family as she originally thought she’d be. Her decision to leave Förening leads to her, Rhys, and her host brother, Matt, getting captured by the Vittra.
In the Vittra capital of Ondarike, Wendy meets the king of the Vittra and learns some interesting things about herself. Secrets are revealed and lies are exposed before Wendy is able to escape back to Förening to sort through what she’s been told. One of the biggest things that she has to deal with is the fact that Oren, the Vittra king, is her father, which makes her not only the princess of the Trylle, but the Vittra princess as well. Now, Wendy will have to choose which kingdom to rule. Should she stay with her mother, who is cold and critical of her every move? Or should she join her father, a man who she knows nothing about – except that he is cruel and ruthless – as a way to bring peace to the Trylle and Vittra?

I rate this book:

This book was absolutely amazing. There were so many things that happened in it that I couldn’t fit it all into this review without giving away the entire story. The story went a lot faster than it did in the first book and there was so much action in the book that I really could not put it down. There were more than a few plot twists in this book that definitely contributed to keeping my interest while I was reading. I couldn’t get over how much Wendy’s character seems to come into her own throughout the course of the story. She is definitely the most interesting character that I’ve seen in a while and I really enjoyed reading through everything she had to face in this book. Also, as with the first book in this series, the new, republished edition of Torn contains its own never-before-published bonus story called, “One Day: Three Ways.” You won’t want to miss out on Torn, especially if you’ve read the first book in the trilogy. Torn is a very satisfying read and will definitely leave you wanting to know what happens next in the Trylle trilogy.

Amanda Hocking is the USA Today bestselling author of the Trylle trilogy and six additional self-published novels. After selling more than a million copies of her books, primarily in eBook format, she is widely considered the exemplar of self-publishing success in the digital age. She lives in Minnesota, where she’s at work on her next book. Visit her at www.amandahocking.blogspot.com or www.trylleseries.com.