Review: Torn by Amanda Hocking (Trylle Trilogy #2)

Title: Torn

Author: Amanda Hocking
Publication date: March 1st 2012
Publisher: Tor
Age group: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Cover rating: 5/5
Content rating: 4/5
Buy: Amazon
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

Description:

Acknowledging that she was different from everyone else wasn’t difficult for Wendy Everly – she’d always felt like an outsider. But a new world and new family is a hard for any girl to accept easily.  

Leaving behind the mysterious country of her birth, she is determined to fit back into normal life. But the world she’s left behind won’t let her go that easily. Kidnapped and imprisoned by her true family’s enemies, Wendy soon learns that the lines between good and evil aren’t as defined as she thought. And those things she’d taken for granted may have been lies all along. With the help of the dangerously attractive Loki, she escapes back to the safety of Förening – only to be confronted by a new threat.  

It’s time to make a choice – can she put aside her personal feelings for the sake of her country? Torn between duty and love she must make a choice that could destroy her one chance at true happiness.

My thoughts:


While I really enjoyed Switched (which I reviewed here just yesterday) it was absolutely nothing compared to Torn! This one was so much better. I didn't even realize that book one was lacking that extra spark until I read this. Hocking really steps it up a notch and I was so satisfied! The end of book one certainly left me craving more and Torn really delivered.

In Torn, Wendy has a lot of decisions to make and I certainly don't envy her. I love how she faces everything with such courage and determination even though really, she is in way over her head. She's not even 18 yet and the future of an entire kingdom is resting on her shoulders. Wendy went from having one torn apart family to having three- her ''host'' family, her mother and her kingdom, and her father and his kingdom. There are a lot of emotions at play and I liked watching Wendy handling everything. It can be hard to know what to believe when everyone's telling you something different and I admire how she approached the whole situation.

I love that we really get to know more characters in this one. We really get closer to the Queen throughout Torn. She's not the most open or emotional of people but I enjoyed learning about her past and how she plans on dealing with the future. I think everyone will like seeing Wendy get to know Elora better even if it's not a typical parent-child relationship! She's quite a complex person and I both like her and dislike her at the same time.

Loki was the high point of this book for me! I think he's a fascinating character and adored every conversation he had with Wendy. There's just something so likable about him and I love that he doesn't take anything too seriously. I definitely enjoyed all his scenes in the book! We don't see Finn as much in this one as in book one. I still really like him but it's hard to get a real impression of him when he goes from open to mysterious in the blink of an eye. He's much more in the background than he was in the first book.

Amanda Hocking is brilliant at world-building. It was really great to get to know a little more about the history of the Trylle and their rivals. Everyone in the book seems to have secrets of their own and I definitely liked uncovering them. Torn really moves the plot along and I think some people will be a little shocked at the direction it's taking- I personally am! Fans of Switched will love this one and I'm very excited to get to book three to see how it all wraps up.