Product Description

Switched - the first book in the Trylle Trilogy...

When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn't until eleven years later that Wendy discovers her mother might have been right.

With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed - a world both beautiful and frightening, and Wendy's not sure she wants to be a part of it.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3 in eBooks
• Published on: 2010-07-09
• Format: Kindle eBook
• Number of items: 1

About the Author
Amanda Hocking is a lifelong Minnesotan obsessed with John Hughes and Jim Henson. In between making collages and drinking too much Red Bull, she writes young adult urban fantasy and paranormal romance.

The first and second books - Switched and Torn - in her new paranormal romance the Trylle Trilogy are out now, and the third book - Ascend - will be out later. The first four books in her series - My Blood Approves, Fate, Flutter, and Wisdom - are available now, as well as Hollowland - a paranormal romance with zombies.

Customer Reviews

Not my typical reading, but enjoyable light reading!
Hocking has an uncanny ability to write fascinating little stories that are compellingly addicting. Her books are not my typical reading fare - I tend more toward the adult mysteries and suspense type of thing - however ever since I picked up Hocking's My Blood Approves series, I've been strangely addicted to her work. The Trylle series is no exception. Now, I may not fall in the typical readership for Hocking's books, but because I work as a Probation Officer for teenagers, I tend to read a lot of YA fiction to keep "in touch" with what my kids enjoy.

Hocking's three-part Trylle series, of which Switched is number one, is about a girl who has a miserable existance. Her childhood is filled with little oddities that don't make much sense, and her mother, who refers to her as a "monster" goes so far as to try to stab her to death at her own birthday party. Switched is so much a coming of age tale - with a twist - as Wendy soon discovers that she has another life waiting for her discovery and that she is so much more than an angst filled teenager stuck in high school.

I won't give away any more, as part of the joy of reading this book is discovering - right along with Wendy - just what in the heck is wrong with her and why she has all these odd little habits, abilities and thoughts.

This is not a literary masterpiece for your college Women's Literature 101 class. It was not intended to be so. It is not filled with symbolism and fodder for critical discussion. It IS, however, fun, light reading that will keep your attention. It is a sweet story. Hocking has captured a believable and realistic teenage heroine. She's captured appropriate action, adventure, and even romantic tension. For those reviewers who say the teenage angst is overblown...I would disagree. I work with teenagers for a living and the internal and external dialogue is actually quite realistic for the age group. Perphaps not ALL teens think this way, but the ones I work with quite often do. Many teens - especially girls with abusive backgrounds and lack of a stable parent figure like Wendy - DO think and act this way, althought many of them would be hard pressed to publically admit it.

I've given Switched four stars, not because it isn't excellent, but because I save my five star reviews for books that are out of this world wonderful or books that really speak to me emotionally. This one is excellent, but it is not the definition of perfect. There are a few typos, but they are easily overlooked.

Overall, excellent book. Excellent and believable plot. An overall wonderfully creative and engaging book. Nice job, Amanda - I'm off to purchase #2 in the series and I am looking forward to discovering more.

Fantastic Fantasy!
Hey!

Switched was one interesting book. I loved the story. Every new development was exciting and fun and left me wanting more. The whole plot line is supposed to be a mystery, and I don't want to spoil it for anyone so I'll make this a little vague.

Wendy is a teenager who has, as she puts it, anger-management issues. She also has odd eating habits, odd hair, and an odd way of getting what she wants. Most people think this has to do with what happened to her when she was younger, because her mother tried to kill her as a child. Throughout the book, Wendy is thus struggling with the knowledge that she is hard to deal with, cold, and distant with people. And now that she's moved to ANOTHER new town, ANOTHER new school, with ANOTHER new house, she has promised her brother she's going to try to make this place work and not get in as much trouble. She tries making friends, and so is connected with two boys, one being her love interest with a secret, Finn.

My favorite elements in this story were:

- The Chosen Paranormal Element: I don't want to give away what Wendy is, but it's super rare to read a story about them. It was very cool to see something new and different come out in a story, instead of the same old vampires, werewolves, or fairies (Don't get me wrong, I like some of those, but...they get tiresome after the hundred or so novels you read about them).

- Wendy's Emotional Damage: I think this was dealt with both with subtlety and finesse. You can really believe that Wendy has been emotionally hurt, and that her life has been extremely impacted by that damage.

- Wendy's Tough-Girl Personality: No damsel-in-distress here. No matter what is happening, whether she has an annoying popular chick giving her grief, two kidnappers trying to subdue and capture her, or an all-out battle engaged around her, Wendy is always trying to find a way to at least help take out the bad guys. Wendy doesn't wait around to be saved, she gives it everything she's got to save herself.

- The Romantic Interest: NO LOVE TRIANGLE!! YAY!!! I am beyond sick of love triangles. She loves one guy, that guy loves her, they have issues that make sense, and the teen angst doesn't go on forever. Wendy doesn't just whine over the fact that their romance seems impossible, she goes out and tries to get the man she loves anyway.

- The Quirky Viewpoint: This author has an interesting way of looking at things. There are several lines in this book that I find completely perfect, which is rare in any book. I love her point of view and would continue reading just to hear more of the way Amanda sees the world.

What I Didn't Like:

- The Ending: It sucked! It was a cliff hanger, nothing had been really settled, Wendy was doing something both stupid and annoying, and it left me unsatisfied and listless. Fortunately there's a sequel. Unfortunately, there's a sequel to that sequel, and it isn't out yet.

- The Runaway Syndrome: Seriously, it's a 257 page book and yet Wendy manages to run away from home four times, not to mention running away from the situations and conversations she dislikes about six times. About the only thing Wendy doesn't run away from is a fight, which isn't always a good thing.

- The Powers: While they sound really awesome, and seemed really cool, they weren't really integrated into the storyline very much. Neither were they fully explained. I was very disappointed not to see these used more in the story, and Wendy's powers never got to grow at all either. Very early in the story they discover one of Wendy's powers, talk about how she has to train it for the rest of the book, but never seem to get around to the actual training. Maybe Amanda Hacking tackles this issue in the next book in the series.

Anyway, that's what I thought of Switched. It was a beautiful story, that I adored. I would have given it five stars if the ending hadn't been so disappointing. The rest of the book had me completely mesmerized, but the last chapter just didn't deliver. Even a cliff hanger can be alright, but the ending just left me vaguely annoyed. While I still want to read the next book, that ending stunted my desire a little bit, which was just too bad. The rest of the book had been thrilling and exhilarating, and I couldn't wait to see what was next. Now, I want to know what happens but I'm not so die-hard HAVE to know as I was before.

Hope that helps and have a great day!

Luv ya,
Tashi :)

Thoroughly Enjoyed it!
I had seen this book every now and then but was not familiar with it nor was I familiar with the author at all. And the first thing I usually do is read the reviews and see if it is worth a buy - and of course reading a sample of it on my Kindle. This was worth the buy and the a good read. I know she has a vampire series as well, but this one was really great - take a break from the vampire genre.

In a nutshell, Wendy feels that she does not belong - in fact her own mother felt the same way that she nearly killed her daughter. After she receives a visit, to her bedroom at night no less, from the newer student at her school (Finn Holmes) she finds that there is a reason she feels she doesn't belong and the things that seem to happen when she's around...

Don't worry, I won't spoil it for you - gonna have to read and find out.

I am not really a fan of books written in the first person, with the exception of one (White Oleander, Great book by the way!) this one I actually didn't mind at all. I didn't care for Twilight (sorry Twilight fans) simply because I couldn't care for the character because she was...to put it simply...annoying. That's just me though!

I do like how she developed her characters, even the ones that don't have such a big part in the story.

I did spot a few errors, but not enough to completely annoy me - but then I'm not a true grammar person. I will be getting the next book fairly soon (I read the excerpt and I have to know what happens with Wendy). Highly recommended.