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.

As a special gift to readers, this book contains a new, never-before-published bonus story, “One Day, Three Ways,” set in the magical world of the Trylle.

Moving right along with the Trylle trilogy my next read was Torn by Amanda Hocking. We pick up pretty much where we left in this one. Wendy and Rhys come home to Matt, and naturally chaos is quick to ensue. With Finn returning, plus another tracker named Duncan comes along as he's Wendy's new tracker. But all that gets thrust aside when the Vittra attack, once again!

This time, they succeed in kidnapping Wendy, plus her brother and Rhys. This is where we unofficially, I suppose is the correct word since we met him in the short story prior to Torn, Loki. Loki is quite the character. He's a resident troublemaker, but the closest the Vittra have to a prince, so the kind can't kill him.

I initially thought Wendy would be spending some time here in the Vittra kingdom, as we learn quite a jaw-dropping amount of info upon Wendy's arrival, but shockingly enough, Wendy is rescued or kidnapped yet again, but this time by Finn, Duncan and Tove and the group come back to Wendy's mother's palace.

We do learn quite a bit in this one about Wendy and her parents. We even got a little more insight to Finn. Not so much Loki, but I would've liked to learn more about him myself! I found his character to be quite refreshing. Finn is all moody and sullen. He goes back and forth with Wendy in saying that they cannot be together, he leaves, then he comes back. He leaves, he comes back. He says he wants her to be happy, yet when she shows Loki a kind side or word, he's pissed. He's a very hypocritical kind of guy. But I seriously get the feeling that he is meant to be THE guy for Wendy. For yes, we have entered into a love triangle of some kind with Wendy, Loki, and Finn.

Though, Loki isn't around as much as Finn. Though when Finn is around Wendy, he's quick to run in the other direction practically. Loki is a snarky kind of guy, the little that we saw of his interactions with the king were hilarious. He defies him at every possible turn, yet, he shows this other side completely to Wendy. Though they just met, there's a connection of sorts forming between them. But, I still have my money on Finn being THE one.

So as far as romance goes in this one, there really wasn't any. In Switched, we kept having all these little almost moments coupled with a lot of tension! And then, you know, the kisses towards the end. Here in Torn, we don't see too much of that. Finn and Wendy are not together anymore, but not by choice. There's longing on Wendy's part, but Finn hides his feelings well. I felt like he didn't care for Wendy, but then there are times his jealous side shows. Such as when Wendy spends time with Loki. But again, I can't see Wendy and Loki truly being together. Loki is a character who popped up mysteriously in that bonus story and now he's here. I always felt like the first guy a heroine meets where she shows an interest in him, that it foretells who she winds up with, no matter if another guy pops up. I can't think of an example where the opposite happens and the heroine goes with guy #2. But again, we're only in the middle of the trilogy, I'm not saying anything is set in stone!

As I said, in this one we get to see Wendy learning more about her heritage. She's preparing herself to be queen one day. There are more events that happen that push Wendy into action, but I won't get into those. I will say that I did enjoy this one a whole lot more than the first! There was just more going on in this one. Wendy also grows more as a character. She learns what is means to be a queen. Hard decisions will be made and their results may or may not be what she expects. Seriously, decisions get made, but nothing really gets settled all that well! But of course, we still have one more book to go!

And then it's onto the new series! With a brief interruptus for another read as well! LOL! Torn was an enjoyable read and I am just starting to see the awesomeness of this trilogy! I cannot wait to see how it all ends!


Overall Rating 4/5 stars