Monday, June 4, 2012

Torn - Trylle Trilogy #2 - Amanda Hocking



After several weeks in Förening with her mother, the queen, Wendy has had enough. Her mother shows no signs of emotion or love to her. The only thing that seems important is that Wendy becomes the perfect princess in as little time as possible. No room for her own personality. Everyone tells her she is supreme, but she has seen very little of that. Even Finn left her, perhaps that's the most painful of all.
She decides to join Rhys to leave for the human world. Rhys has actually nothing to say about this decision because wendy used Persuasion to get him to go with her. Once in her former ancestral home, the reunion with Matt has two sides. On the one hand, Wendy's overjoyed that she returned to her brother and that he need not worry anymore, but on the other hand, she has to explain that his real brother is Rhys and Wendy is not even family at all.
Was it a good idea to leave Förening behind them after that last attack of the Vittra? Wendy soon starts to regretted her decision.

I looked up the word Förening and apparently it is the Swedish word for "order", "organization", "club". Ok, that's a disappointment. If you want to create a fantasy world you must ensure that the names of the cities / characters / habits / ... are original come from your imagination. What's the use in picking words from other languages? It seems like Amanda Hocking just hadn't enough inspiration to come up with something cool herself, to invent new names. I now see a Swedish girl in my head, reading the book and whenever the word Förening comes up, she asks herself why they use the word "Club" for their city.

(SPOILERS)
The book itself was a pleasure to read, just like the first one. It is a book that you can read in a day, simply because it is easy and because the story does appeal. We continue in this second part of the Trylle with the same story, but the author delves much deeper into the feelings of Elora, the Queen, and Wendy's future as a princess. The Vittra play an important role, because they are inextricably linked to Wendy's past. It was certainly interesting to see the other side of the "troll" view, the more evil side. That there are also real, ugly trolls walking around I frankly found a bit hilarious. That Vittra are infertile, that's one thing, but that they regularly give birth to monster, hmmm.
What felt a little like an overload were all the romantic escapades of Wendy. At one point she must try to find a balance between 3 different guys. Pfieuw, what a difficult life, that of a princess.
Somehow I regret that the relationship with Finn is getting worse, but maybe it's just as well. Finn seems to think his job is much more important than his love for Wendy, which would make me quite pissed too. 

I'm really looking forward to the third book, perhaps because I see a war coming in the Trylle future. Let us hope that it is well written and not faint replica of another epic battle in better Fantasy Books.

Here's the book trailer for you guys:




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