Review--Ascend by Amanda Hocking

Wendy Everly is facing an impossible choice. The only way to save the Trylle from their deadliest enemy is by sacrificing herself.  If she doesn’t surrender to the Vittra, her people will be thrust into a brutal war against an unbeatable foe.  But how can Wendy leave all her friends behind…even if it’s the only way to save them?

The stakes have never been higher, because her kingdom isn’t the only thing she stands to lose. After falling for both Finn and Loki, she’s about to make the ultimate choice…who to love forever. One guy has finally proven to be the love of her life—and now all their lives might be coming to an end.

Everything has been leading to this moment.  The future of her entire world rests in her hands—if she’s ready to fight for it. 

So I finished Amanda Hocking's Trylle trilogy and it was pretty great!! Ascend brings Wendy's story to a conclusion and I must say I was surprised and thoroughly satisfied!! 

War is looming...it's inevitable. Wendy and the rest of her people all know it. But when it comes is another story. The Queen's health is worsening and it's only a matter of time before she will pass. Wendy and Tove have officially tied the knot after her eighteenth birthday and naturally, her father decided to crash the wedding.

So much happened in this book, and yet, not all that much in the big picture. It's all the little details that added up. Loki comes to Wendy seeking amnesty, broken, bruised, and bloody. And naturally, Wendy grants him such, despite the upheaval it creates. In the meantime, Oren has been sending his armies to kidnap changeling children from their host families and then he starts attacking other Trylle countries. It's total chaos, until he and Wendy come to an arrangement. There will be peace until she officially becomes Queen.

So basically, things are chaotic in this one! There's so much going on, that Wendy rarely has a quiet moment. She's preparing to be queen and has a lot to learn. Then of course, there's the whole love triangle dilemma. I had my "team" picked out. Really while reading Torn, I had made my choice, but I was so, so certain that Wendy would go against it and choose the other guy. I just felt like that was how it would be, despite circumstances. But boy, was I ever glad I was wrong! 

Things wrap up rather nicely at the end of this one. I feel like there's definite closure and nothing is left unsaid. I especially enjoyed the short story at the end of this one, as it pushed the characters into a future time, over a year later, and we actually get to see peace and happiness. It was quite nice! Even though I had my speculations of how the other characters ended up at the end of Ascend, I liked reading this short story to get the confirmation of it all!

This was truly a remarkable series! It started out a little shaky, and I still never could quite grasp why Wendy was do adamant to not meet her father like she did with her mother. I guess the whole "kidnapping" way of bringing her to him turned her off. And I get that. I just felt like Wendy was totally against her father because she met her mother first? I don't know really. I just got that vibe, Wendy hated her dad because he kidnapped her. And that I get, and he did end up being a villain more than we ever counted for. But in Torn, we didn't know that. I don't know. There's conflicted feelings going on here, because she didn't know her mother right away when she came to the palace and yet she was more accepting of that world and kingdom then she was when she was shown her other side. So again, conflicting feelings, but I was never a fan of Oren after things started going down in those short stories and how he treated Loki.

To reiterate after that triad, Ascend was an enjoyable conclusion to the Trylle trilogy and I look forward to moving onto the Kanin Chronicles shortly!


Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars