Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking Review

Today I am reviewing the Trylle trilogy. I have decided to review the entire trilogy in one post. The reviews may contain spoilers. I hadn’t heard much about this trilogy when I picked the first book up in Tesco but it sounded quite interesting and I thought I would give it a go. I really enjoyed this trilogy and I am glad I picked it up. On a side note I just wanted to mention the covers of these books, they are so beautiful and I love the colour combinations. 

Switched by Amanda Hocking

My Rating: 4

Goodreads Rating: 3.89

Published by: Tor

Pages: 328

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance

Switched is the first novel in the trilogy. Wendy’s mother tried to kill her when she was younger as she claimed that she had been swapped at birth. Wendy meets Finn who explains to her that she was swapped at birth and she is in fact a Trylle (troll) which explains her ability to influence people’s decisions. As part of Trylle tradition babies are switched with human babies. Wendy discovers that she is part of the Trylle royal family and there is some unrest in the Trylle and it is up to Wendy to put a stop to it. I thought the idea of using trolls was very interesting and unique. I thought the way that Amanda Hocking had thought about all the different customs and traditions was very good. Trolls is a unique character choice for a novel I don’t think I have read any other books about trolls and I really enjoyed it.   

Torn by Amanda Hocking

My Rating: 4

Goodreads Rating: 4.04

Published by: Tor

Pages: 324

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance

Wendy is overwhelmed by the new changes in her life so she decides to run away however when she is kidnapped and realises she is closer to her enemies than she first thought she must make some difficult decisions. Wendy struggles to decide between two guys; Finn and Loki both are people that she can’t be with. Ultimately she must make a decision that will save her people. I liked this book as you get to learn more about Wendy’s past and who her parents are. We learn that Wendy is very powerful and both her parents are royal but her father is the king of the Vittra who are her enemies. We also get to learn more about the Trylle politics which are very complex and interesting to read about. I really enjoyed the development of the relationship between Wendy and Loki although it was a bit disappointing that her and Finn can’t be together. 

Ascend by Amanda Hocking

My Rating: 5

Goodreads Rating: 4.08

Published by: Tor

Pages: 326

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance

Ascend is the final book in the trilogy and it did not disappoint. At the end of Torn Wendy become engaged to her friend Tove in order to protect the kingdom. They have a great friendship but they are not in love they are getting married purely to protect the kingdom. Wendy becomes queen in this novel after her mother dies and a battle between the Vittra ensues. I was really pleased with how the character of Wendy developed offer the three books. Wendy’s relationships were also very interesting in this book. The relationship between Finn and Wendy was finally ended and she ended up being with Loki which I did not see coming but I was very happy with it.

I really enjoyed this trilogy and unlike a lot of trilogies I enjoyed all the books.

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

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Ticker by Lisa Mantchev Review

Ticker by Lisa Mantchev

My Rating: 3

Goodreads Rating: 3.44

Published by: Skyscape

Pages: 273

Genre: Science fiction, Steampunk, Fantasy, Young Adult

This is not a book that I would normally pick up to read, but I was given it by a friend so I thought I would try it out. Despite it being a book that I wouldn’t normally pick I thought that it wasn’t too bad.

This is about a girl who has a clockwork heart. When Penny nearly dies a surgeon called Calvin Warwick implants her with a ‘Ticker’ and she is the first ‘Augmented’. It is soon discovered that Warwick committed many murders as part of his research for the device and he is put on trial. On the day of the trial Warwick escapes from jail and Penny’s parents are kidnapped. Penny enlists the help of her brother, friends Violet, Sebastian and Marcus.

The idea of having a ‘Ticker’ was very interesting but I found that the book had a lot of technical descriptions about machines and other inventions which I found a bit tedious. The character of Penny was not a character I could relate to and I found her very annoying; she was very rude to every one and seemed very obnoxious. The love story between Penny and Marcus was slightly annoying as well, ever since we are introduced to Marcus there is a clear interest between the two but Penny is extremely rude towards him and when they do get together at the end I didn’t really care about it. When reading some books you end up wanting characters to end up together but in this case I wasn’t really interested. This novel was pretty short and the pace was quite quick so it was pretty quick and easy to read.

Overall the plot was a very interesting idea and I thought the book was pretty good. It could have been better written and I feel that the characters could have been developed more. I don’t think I will read anything else by the author as personally this genre is not for me. If you are a fan of the Steampunk genre and enjoy lengthy descriptions of machinery then you will probably really enjoy this.

  

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

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This Charming Man by Marian Keyes Review

This Charming Man by Marian Keyes 

My Rating: 4

Goodreads Rating: 3.73

Published by: Michael Joseph

Pages: 676

Genre: Chick Lit, Romance, Contemporary

This book is told from the perspective of 4 different women and how one man has affected their lives. Lola is a stylist who lives in Dublin but when the news comes out that her boyfriend is engaged to another women she can’t cope with her job so she goes to her friends uncle’s cottage to so she doesn’t have to see her ex-boyfriend. Marnie is battling an alcohol addiction and Grace her twin sister is trying to help her. Alicia is engaged to Paddy de Courcy one of Ireland’s top political figures but is their relationship really as happy as it appears.

I have read a few Marian Keyes novels and I really enjoy them. This did not feel like a Marian Keyes novel as there were some very heavy topics explored within the book such as domestic abuse and alcoholism. However, I quite enjoyed reading a little something different and I thought that it was well written into the story. I enjoyed how she managed to successfully combine the four women’s stories as they were all connected.

I enjoyed seeing the different women’s point of view however I did not enjoy the writing style. To make it clear that parts of the book were told from the point of view of other characters Keyes changed the writing style for each one. This wasn’t too bad however I really disliked the style of writing chosen for Lola as it was like diary entries and I am not really a fan of those.

I felt that this book really portrayed domestic abuse quite successfully and didn’t try to glamorise it in any way. You could clearly see how it affected the women involved and how it doesn’t affect everyone in the same way. I found that you could really understand why these girls stayed with Paddy for so long as he was written so well that he almost convinced me that he didn’t mean to hurt them. I have learnt a lot about domestic abuse from this book and I can see how women can end up staying in those relationships for such a long time.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. If you are looking for a light-hearted chick lit book then this one isn’t for you. There are moments of humour but there is a lot of heavy going topics, but I thought that it was very good.

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

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Perfect Timing by Jill Mansell Review

I have read a couple of Jill Mansell books and I have really enjoyed them. They are very light hearted books and I really enjoy reading these types of books. 

The story is about Poppy who meets a guy on her hen night, she feels that she has known him her whole life and they arrange to meet but Poppy does not go. Poppy realises that she can’t marry her fiancé. After leaving her fiancé Poppy moves to London and she moves into a house with Caspar (who is an artist) and Claudia. Poppy finds out that her dad isn’t actually her father and tries to find her real dad. The book follows what Poppy gets up to after moving to London.

I really enjoy these types of books as although the plot line can be predictable at times it is stille very enjoyable to read. I find that I really connect with the characters and I want to find out what happens to them. You don’t just get a Poppy’s story but you get to explore the other characters as well something which I really enjoyed. All the characters get a happy ending, Claudia meets the love of her life someone that she never thought she would fall for. Poppy meets her real father and she also meets Tom again and moves in with him. Despite being in love with Tom things don’t turn out too well for Poppy. Poppy does find love in the end and she gets her happily ever after.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. I really enjoy reading Jill Mansell’s books as they are light hearted and usually they have a happy ending.

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

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Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

Today I am going to be sharing my views on Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding. I am going to say something that I don’t normally say but I preferred the film to the book.

The book seems to just go on and on and I feel very little sympathy in the book for Bridget. In the book she is very annoying and always seems to be moaning about problems that are pretty small. Some people like this has they say it shows a ‘real’ person who they can relate to however I did not find that could relate to Bridget at all.

When I watched the film I enjoyed it because it was very simple and easy to follow. I really enjoy watching rom-coms so I did like the film although it wasn’t the best I had ever seen.  Obviously the film is a lot shorter than the book so they had taken out the boring bits from the book. When I was reading the book I really struggled to get through it. I found a lot of things seemed to be repeated and I did not like how above every diary entry it talked about weight and calories. I don’t think it was necessary to have this all the time. Bridget was obsessed with her weight and men, I personally feel that these are not important and I would have preferred it if the author had made Bridget happier with being single as her constant whining about not having a boyfriend was annoying and completely unnecessary as you don’t need a boyfriend to be happy.

Usually I enjoy reading these sort of light hearted romance books but this one was really boring. I did not like Bridget at all and as I result I was too interested in her story. I have the 2 other books in the series which I will read as I have them but I can’t say that I am looking forward to reading them. I’d suggest watching the film as it is a lot better than the book. I gave this book 2 stars out of 5 on Goodreads.

Have you read this book what did you think of it?

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

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