Switched by Amanda Hocking

US cover

Release Date: Jan. 3, 2012 (UK: Jan. 5, 2012)
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (UK: Tor)
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Series: Trylle #1
Pages: 336
Buy: Amazon / Book Depository / Fountain Bookstore
Description: Amazon
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…

UK cover

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of years, you’ll probably know Amanda Hocking as the biggest self publishing success ever. No joke.  That’s right, she proved that even without an agent and publishing deal, you can still be successful and of course now, her books have been bought up and published in print by Macmillan/Tor in the UK and St Martin’s Griffin in the US.  Go Amanda!  I have to admit that I was curious to know what all the fuss is about, especially as she is a self made millionaire so the book must be REALLY good, right?  No pressure there Amanda.  I have to say that overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the book and read it in a day which I think speaks for itself.

Whilst I love traditional fairytales, I’m not a huge fan of YA books about fairies but not to worry, as this is not one of those books. This book is about trolls. Yes, you read that right. Be prepared to throw out your preconceived ideas of trolls as hideous creatures because the trolls or “The Trylle” as they are known, are both beautiful and gifted with magical abilities. My favourite Trylle? Well, it’s got to be Finn of course. I adore characters that have a sense of duty and often fight against their own feelings. * SWOON*. Needless to say, that I really enjoyed the developing relationship between him and Wendy. One thing I liked about Wendy, and this might sound a bit weird, is that she has such a normal (yet arguably old fashioned) name which was inspired by one of my favorite children’s stories – Peter Pan. Wendy is the main character and the girl caught up in the middle of everything. She’s always known that she’s a bit different and thanks to Finn, she’s now discovering why.

I need to say at this point that I also had soft spots for Rhys as the goofy, innocent guy and Tove, the mysterious guy with extraordinary abilities and I DEFINITELY want to see more of him in future books.

Stand out scenes for me are towards the end of the book and I really enjoyed the ball scene. Maybe because The Slipper and the Rose was on over the festive period but I kept picturing the royal ball from the movie where Cinderella makes her grand entrance. If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s a little old now but still cute and worth watching.
 
I have to admit that Switched is one book I’d wish I’d had the sense to read ages ago as disappointedly, Amazon have taken down the cheap kindle versions that were available. The good news however, is that the print copies are beautiful and I adore both the UK and US versions. In the UK, you might notice that there are two versions – the cover is essentially the same but with orange or pink as the predominant colour. There is no difference in the content as far as I know but the pink cover is marketed as a YA book.

I really enjoyed the concept of Switched and whilst the idea of a changeling isn’t exactly original, I’ve never read a story about trolls before so you have to give her that. I loved the book enough to pre-order the next two books in the series entitled Torn (1st March, 2012) and Ascend (26th April, 2012) and I can’t wait to see what happens next!