Book being reviewed: Switched
Author: Amanda Hocking
I give this book:
4 out of 5 owls.
Possibly 3.5 owls.
I can't make up my mind, as usual.
When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven years later, Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. She’s not the person she’s always believed herself to be, and her whole life begins to unravel—all because of Finn Holmes.
Finn is a mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her. Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken…though it has more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she’d ever admit. But it isn’t long before he reveals the truth: Wendy is a changeling who was switched at birth—and he’s come to take her home.
Now Wendy’s about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that’s both beautiful and frightening. And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she’s meant to become…
Finn is a mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her. Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken…though it has more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she’d ever admit. But it isn’t long before he reveals the truth: Wendy is a changeling who was switched at birth—and he’s come to take her home.
Now Wendy’s about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that’s both beautiful and frightening. And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she’s meant to become…
Switched is truly an interesting read. I took an entire Saturday and blew right through this book. Some would say I wasted the day away, but did I? I think not. This book was worth it.
The book revolves around mythical creatures known as Trolls, or the Trylle as they prefer to call themselves. Rather than being the ugly creatures we've come to know, the Trylle in Switched are stunningly beautiful. They have a hierarchy system with the Queen being the head honcho, and the higher you are up on that system the more powers you'll likely have. Now, where the Trylle are similar to the ugly Trolls of legends, they take from others to gain for themselves without remorse. They switch out their own babies with a baby born in a rich human family, which is how they make their money. It's evil and they have no respect for their human counterparts at all.
The book revolves around mythical creatures known as Trolls, or the Trylle as they prefer to call themselves. Rather than being the ugly creatures we've come to know, the Trylle in Switched are stunningly beautiful. They have a hierarchy system with the Queen being the head honcho, and the higher you are up on that system the more powers you'll likely have. Now, where the Trylle are similar to the ugly Trolls of legends, they take from others to gain for themselves without remorse. They switch out their own babies with a baby born in a rich human family, which is how they make their money. It's evil and they have no respect for their human counterparts at all.
The lead female in the book, Wendy Everly, was a girl I enjoyed getting to know. In some ways she was your typical teenage girl, like the ones we've come to know in most paranormal YA novels, but the girl knew how to throw a punch. Literally. She wasn't afraid to fight to defend herself, and she didn't back down from a fight by expecting everyone else to save her. Of course she had her Trylle gift of persuasion, but that wouldn't necessarily come in handy during a hand-to-hand fight when Wendy still doesn't quite understand everything about her gift.
Wendy always knew something wasn't right with her as she grew up, she never fit in anywhere and she could never connect to the other humans around her. Her "mother" tried to kill her when she was six simply because she knew Wendy wasn't her daughter. The only two people in her life that accepted Wendy unconditionally was her Aunt and her brother Matt. Then Finn came along and completely turned Wendy's world upside-down. He introduced her to a whole knew world, and deep down, Wendy knew that's where she belonged. She had to choose between staying with her Aunt and Brother, or go with Finn and find out who she was born to be.
I absolutely adored Finn. Being very mysterious, yet never being able to tell a lie to Wendy because he promised her he wouldn't, he was always so sweet and very considerate of her. To be honest, I have having a difficult time finding a flaw in him. Anything he did that irritated me always had to do with what he thought was best for Wendy, I couldn't very well stay irritated with him because of it. Very swoon-worthy, for sure.
This book was all over the place, but in a good way. The plot flowed easily enough, it just seemed to jump around a lot. Usually I don't like reading a book like this because the jumping around can leave a lot of holes, but it worked. Somehow. And my reasoning behind the possible 3.5 owls is because I didn't like where the book ends. You know we've all been there, not liking the way a book ends. And now I'm itchin' to get my hands on the next book to see what happens next. With that aside, truthfully, Switched was a very entertaining read, and I would easily recommend it to any of you paranormal YA lovers.
Have you read Switched? What did you think?
Wendy always knew something wasn't right with her as she grew up, she never fit in anywhere and she could never connect to the other humans around her. Her "mother" tried to kill her when she was six simply because she knew Wendy wasn't her daughter. The only two people in her life that accepted Wendy unconditionally was her Aunt and her brother Matt. Then Finn came along and completely turned Wendy's world upside-down. He introduced her to a whole knew world, and deep down, Wendy knew that's where she belonged. She had to choose between staying with her Aunt and Brother, or go with Finn and find out who she was born to be.
I absolutely adored Finn. Being very mysterious, yet never being able to tell a lie to Wendy because he promised her he wouldn't, he was always so sweet and very considerate of her. To be honest, I have having a difficult time finding a flaw in him. Anything he did that irritated me always had to do with what he thought was best for Wendy, I couldn't very well stay irritated with him because of it. Very swoon-worthy, for sure.
This book was all over the place, but in a good way. The plot flowed easily enough, it just seemed to jump around a lot. Usually I don't like reading a book like this because the jumping around can leave a lot of holes, but it worked. Somehow. And my reasoning behind the possible 3.5 owls is because I didn't like where the book ends. You know we've all been there, not liking the way a book ends. And now I'm itchin' to get my hands on the next book to see what happens next. With that aside, truthfully, Switched was a very entertaining read, and I would easily recommend it to any of you paranormal YA lovers.
Have you read Switched? What did you think?
From one book lover to another,
happy reading,
