Torn

Amanda Hocking

Publisher: Amanda Hocking 

Soon to be published by: St Martin’s Griffin

Publish date:

                e-book: already out

                print: 28 February 2012

Version: e-book

Series: Trylle Trilogy

This is the second book in this trilogy.  The first book, Switched, gave the history behind the Trylle and some history of Wendy.  At the start of this book, Wendy and Rhys, who is Wendy’s mänsklig, leave Förening.  Förening is the place where the Trylle live and Wendy was taken to in the last book to keep her safe.  When she returns to her home in Florida with Rhys, her brother Matt is excited to see her.  It isn’t too long before Finn showed up to protect Wendy once again.  After refusing his help and that of the tracker who was assigned to her, Duncan Janssen, the two trackers unwillingly leave.  This leaves an entry for the Vittra to kidnap the princess.

Wendy put up a fight when the Vittra came in and attacked her and Loki Staad, Vittra Markis or royalty, helps in the capture of Wendy, Rhys and Matt.  When she wakes up, she is in the dungeon of the Vittra palace and is confused about what had happened at home.  She then finds out that she is more of a princess than she thought and understands why both the Vittra and Trylle want her to reign.  She also is introduced more to Loki and she is confused by him because he seems to want to help her but then again, he is the one who kidnapped her in the first place.

Duncan, Finn and Tove finally come to rescue her, Matt and Rhys.  With the help of Loki, they are freed and on their way back to Förening.  While there, Matt learns about the Trylle and Wendy’s history.  Wendy also learns more about her mother, the Queen.  The Vittra break in during Wendy’s Christening Ceremony which causes the Trylle to reinforce their security.  It isn’t too long before the Vittra try another tactic and Loki is captured and held prisoner.  This is when he has more access to Wendy as she is trying to figure out everything that is happening between the two kingdoms, and at the same time, find out she was arranged to marry.

I read through this book quickly.  It went much smoother than Switched, because there wasn’t as much history in the book.  It was all action.   I had a lot of questions that remained from the first book and this one created so many more.

After I finished Switched, I immediately downloaded Torn.  The print version isn't expected to come out until February, but I couldn’t wait that long.  I am excited for the print versions to come out because in my ARE of Switched, it says that there will be a bonus short story with each of the books.

Torn the second installment of the Trylle Trilogy...

Wendy thought she finally understood who she was and what she wanted, but everything changes when the rival Vittra come after her.

She's caught between two worlds, torn between love and duty, and she must decide what life she is meant to lead.

• Wendy.  She is the heart of the books.  She is confused in this series about how important she is and what she means to the Trylle and Vittra.   She is trying to figure out things for herself instead of just believing what people tell her.
• Finn.  He is the Trylle that Wendy first met and fell for.  In this book, he tries to pull away from Wendy even though he cares for her because he knows that it is the right thing to do.
• Matt and Rhys.   Wendy’s brother and mänsklig.  They are Wendy’s side through everything.  Even though Matt doesn’t understand everything about the Trylle and their society, he tries to be a good big brother for Wendy and thinks of her safety first.  It was good to see more of Matt in this book.  I was also happy to see that Rhys was spending more time with Matt.
• Willa.  Wendy’s friend in Förening.   She is helping Wendy through a lot of the stuff in this book, including the planning of her upcoming nuptuals. 
• Tove.  He is the Marksis Kroner and is teaching Wendy how to use her talents.  He is a patient person and works really well with her.
• Loki Staad.  Yes, he kidnapped Wendy in the beginning of the book, but he has some good qualities about him.  He helped Wendy, Rhys and Matt escape from the Vittra palace.  Also, when Wendy is questioning him in the Trylle palace, you get a sense of who he is.
• Sara, the Queen of the Vittra.  She is on the “bad” team, but she is a good person.  She helps Wendy when she is hurt and also comes to retrieve Loki.
• Elora, the Queen of the Trylle.   I like her more in this book than I did in Switched because you get a better picture of her and what she has been through in her life.
• Duncan Janssen.  He continually gets flak for not being a great tracker, but Wendy likes him as her guard and he makes good decisions.

• Oren, the King of the Vittra.  He is a nasty person who likes other people’s pain.
• Finn.  I’ve put him on both sides on this book because there are things that I like and do not like about him.  I didn’t like the fact that even though he thought he was doing the right thing, he was essentially abandoning Wendy when she had the most stress and needed him the most.  In trying to stay apart from her, he also was hurting himself.
• Aurora Kroner.  Again, she wound up on the did not like list.   She says whatever she wants and doesn’t care who it hurts.  I don’t like people like that. 

This isn’t really fair because I have seen the covers on the print version that are coming out and I really like them.  On the e-book version, you see the blue sky with stars, some flowers and what looks like a spider hanging down from the flowers.  The word torn is written across the top.  This cover is very basic and doesn’t tell you anything of the story at all.  The print cover (pictured to the left) is very colorful has a girl, whom I presume to be Wendy, sitting on her knees in a field holding a crown.  In the background you can what look to be gates.  There is a part about gates in the story, but I didn’t think it was important enough to put on the cover.  The crown, however, is integral to this book.  Overall, I like the print cover and the e-book cover leaves much to be desired.