Amanda Hocking

Yikes.

Book content warnings:
ableism
classism

First of all, what a prologue! I didn't know who to root fore, especially with the title being what it is. I thought the book would go into more about how changelings affect humans (because they're literally victims). But then what I got on the first page is the love interest introduced by having him "stare" at the MC incessantly during her high school class with his "dark eyes". Give me a break.

And soon after, I got this:

Most likely he was a damn show more sociopath, and for whatever reason, I found that endearing."
??

This isn't the only awful line because once Wendy meets her actual mother, there's this gem:

". . . in a beautifully elegant borderline-anorexic way."
Lovely. I didn't know an eating disorder was elegant. What makes this worse is that this is a young adult book. Young girls are going to be reading this and seeing anorexia as "elegant" and "beautiful".

I also should have counted how many times the author uses the descriptors "foxy" and "dark eyes" because it seems she ran out of creativity when it came to describing men. The only way it could be worse is if she used the word "orbs".

It's also difficult to relate to Wendy, the MC, because she's so privileged. Her brother drives a Prius (even without having a job), her family came from money, and she's "never been a big fan of manual labor" --> and by that she's talking about working in the veggie garden.

This whole privilege thing was supposed to be justified, too. Eventually, Wendy finds out she's a literal troll, and goes to the "troll village" somewhere in Minnesota. The Queen (of the trolls) says this: "And so we leave our children with the most sophisticated, wealthiest human families. The changelings live a childhood that is the best this world has to offer . . ." Soooo . . . the Best This World Has To Offer is the childhood of the wealthiest? And it doesn't help that all these trolls are coded as white, even though they're supposed to be earth-toned--so it would make so much more sense if they were black, or literally any other race. So these trolls supposedly get the Best this world has to offer by living with privileged, racist families, most likely. Because poorer and poor families have nothing to offer, do they?

Plus this whole Princess thing with emphasis on bloodline and the fact that Wendy is the most important because of her pure bloodline and what she can offer the kingdom through her CHILDREN reeks of misognyny. Is she a princess or a purebred dog? The whole plot seems to revolve around this. What if she had endometriosis or cysts or other reproductive issues? Would she be banished as if she had actually "bred" with a lower Trylle such as a tracker? But then again the author probably didn't even consider someone could have actual illnesses when her book is so ableist as it is (re her "host mother" and all the jokes about insanity so FUNNY).

So yeah, I didn't enjoy this book. I did like Tove, but not much else. show less

I would like to say that Hollowland was a quick, fun, zombie read, except it wasn’t much fun at all. I admit I have a fondness for zombie stories but this one seemed to lack something. It was dark, which is usually fine for me, it had the gore and violence that one expects from zombie books, but something was definitely missing. I think that something was heart. I never grew to like the main characters and it was obvious to me that most of secondary characters were introduced simply to be show more zombie fodder. The author tried too hard and in the end I simply just didn’t care.

The writing served the purpose of telling a story, but was unexceptional in all other ways. The characters had no development and there is no internal dialogue to speak of, and not much emotion is portrayed. I never thought I would call a zombie book dull, but dull it was. There was a distinct lack of originality, hence we have a cult leader called Korech (ring any bells?), and murderous hoods that call themselves Mauraders as in the game of Fallout. Oh, and did I mention outlandish plot devices, let’s see, where to begin, how about finding a tame lion to travel with you and provide handy protection just when you need it.

Hollowland is the first book in a planned series, but this will be one zombie series that I won’t be planning on following. There are simply too many other ones out there, written by the likes of Jonathan Maberry and Charlie Higson, that are far better reads. show less

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#1 Switched - ★★★★★
#2 Torn - Not Read Yet


Wendy Everly knew she was different the day her mother tried to kill her…

Her mother told her she has been switched at birth. Unable to fit anywhere, bored and frustrated by her small-town life, she also has to hide her secret - the fact that she can somehow influence people’s decisions, without knowing how or why she does it.

When the dark and handsome Finn shows up at her show more bedroom window one night, her life changes forever! The secret she has been waiting for has finally been revealed. Finn holds the key to her past and has an answer to her strange ability. He is also about to introduce her to a place she never imagined could exist: Forening, the home of Trylle.

Among the Trylle she is not different, but she is special. But being special also brings danger wherever she goes and with everything around her being new, Finn is the only person she can trust. But will trusting him be enough to stay alive?

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My Thoughts:

I absolutely LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Switched, and I need to buy the second book in the series as soon as possible!

Wendy is a girl that you immediately want to be friends with. Witty, honest and caring, willing to do everything for the people she loves - she is so precious and I wouldn’t let anyone touch her!

Finn - he is the fiction version of my boyfriend… Dark, handsome, brutally honest and his ego can sometimes get in the way. He is a tracker - and his job is to find other people like Wendy, who have special powers. Finn is a sort of a body-guard. And because Wendy is special and the future Queen, she cannot be with anyone that is not the same or similar rank as her. Which means that being with Finn is impossible.

Not allowed.

Frowned upon and could result in banishment for both. Loss of crown type of bad.

From the first chapter I was into Wendy’s world and this book was so quick to read. I read it in less than a day and it felt too short! It’s a page-turner in every sense of the world.

The world building as well as the Trylle people were quite interesting and unique. I also loved the fact that even though Wendy and Finn were amazing characters, we met so many other characters, who were also very well portrayed in their own way and all left a mark: Elora, Rhys, Matt, Tove, Rhiannon, Willa… All of them had their own uniqueness, and I can imagine how hard it can be to give life to so many characters in such a small book.

I rooted for Wendy and Finn’s romance, as you can imagine, and I have to say, I was a bit disappointed with the ending. However, I knew that was the right choice for Wendy at the time, and also, it left a great cliff-hanger for the second book, for me to read. I think that in the second book, a few old things will open up again and maybe, this time, the ending will go as I wanted it to go in the first book.

I recommend this book with all my heart to all of you that love fantasy and young-adult romance. You will read it fast and you will fall in love with it even faster. Switched is definitely a book I am adding to my favorites.

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Note: This is the second book in a series and needs to be read as such, since it picks up where the first one left off and offers basically no backstory to catch a reader up.

While the first book in the series laid the foundation of the world and characters, this second one shoots off into an ever growing mystery and brings mounting tension just like it should.

Eliana's disappearance and the desire to discover more about her own past has Ulla driving off in search of the impossible—the Lost show more Bridge to the First City. When she arrives at the Omte tribe, she's not sure what to make of the Queen's inability to answer her questions, but another door opens as she runs across a strange man, who knew her mother and might be her father. Learning that her father supposedly is a part of the secret guard, which protects the mythical city, she's sent to Sweden to live with the guardians there and him. But Ulla has doubts behind the true intentions of her journey and soon finds herself deeper in secrets than is safe.

As in book one, this is an imagination packed world, which gently brushes against modern reality every now and then. The characters are easy to like or hate, and yet, others sit heavily in the gray zone, making it difficult to decipher what their true intentions are. Ulla grows with every book as she struggles not only to uncover more about her own past, but also to come to terms with it. She has a few true friends at her side as well as Pan, the obvious love interest. It's fun to cheer the characters on as they stumble over lie after lie, and discover all sorts of things about this intriguing world.

The plot thickens in this second book, just as it should. There were still a few paragraphs I grazed over, but all in all, it is an engaging read. The romance slides alongside the main plot, adding a little zest without overpowering the story line...which I appreciate. Still, it's a bit too obvious for my liking, although the awkward moments fit well to Ulla's age. The new characters weren't as easy to fall into in these pages, but then, book one excelled in this area and with the increasing tension and mystery, the new characters simply aren't getting the same love as Ulla, Pan and friends.

Fantasy friends who enjoy refreshing takes on fantasy worlds and rich world building are sure to enjoy this one.

I received ARC copy through Netgalley show less