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| Ascend (Trylle Trilogy #3) by Amanda Hocking Published by St. Martin’s Griffin Publish Date: April 24, 2012 336 Pages Source: ARC from Publisher |
Wendy Everly is facing an impossible choice. The only way to save the Trylle from their deadliest enemy is by sacrificing herself. If she doesn’t surrender to the Vittra, her people will be thrust into a brutal war against an unbeatable foe. But how can Wendy leave all her friends behind…even if it’s the only way to save them?
The stakes have never been higher, because her kingdom isn’t the only thing she stands to lose. After falling for both Finn and Loki, she’s about to make the ultimate choice…who to love forever. One guy has finally proven to be the love of her life—and now all their lives might be coming to an end.
Everything has been leading to this moment. The future of her entire world rests in her hands—if she’s ready to fight for it. –(summary from Goodreads.com)
My Thoughts: I started reading Ascend almost reluctantly, but only because I couldn’t bear the thought of this series coming to an end. I loved every word of Switched and Torn and I knew without a doubt that I’d love the final book in the trilogy as well…I just wanted to hold onto these characters for as long as I could! I read it and, you guys, just as I thought – I loved it. Ascend is a fantastic conclusion to a fantastic series.
1. The Characters. By now, Wendy has settled into her role as Princess with a fierce and confident sort of poise. The anticipation of her future role as Queen causes her to make an even stronger and more pronounced presence within the royal business affairs. Wendy conducts meetings, makes decisions, and demands respect – which I love. She’s a strong voice! Wendy is no longer the girl we met in Switched and her character development across this series has been awesome. (I love a strong female main character!) She is still surrounded by her lovable and fun-loving band of friends within the palace, and they all play a huge role in the ending of this series.
Finn has always been my pick for Wendy. While he was not quite as large a presence in Torn (not to mention his behavior wasn’t what I wanted), he is back with a large role in Ascend (thank goodness!). Loki is back as well, and I must say that I am a little bit shocked at how much he grew on me in this book. He plays a tremendous role and I think it will shock some people in more than one way! Tove is also present, acting as Wendy’s sidekick and most trusted advisor.
And yeah, King Oren is all over this book as well. Of course he is! It’s the end of the trilogy!
2. The Mythology. We’ve spent the entire first two books coming to know and understand the mythology of the Trylle. We’ve also come to learn much about The Vittra and how awful evil powerful corrupt different they are from Trylle. Okay, it’s really just King Oren, but still – The Vittra are the bad guys in this tale. I tell you, troll mythology is awesome. Ascend pulls everything together from the first two books and wraps it up neatly in perfect packaging, with a nice bow.
3. The Power. Remember that power that Wendy, Tove, and the others have been working so hard to build up and perfect for the past two books? Picking up and moving things with their minds, controlling the wind, hearing thoughts…things like that? Well THIS BOOK is the where we see all that practice pay off. I predicted after reading Torn that we’d see Wendy’s powers play a big role in this book and BOY WAS I RIGHT. She is awesome.
4. The Romance. Oh boy. So you know from the summary that Wendy has fallen in love with more than one boy, right? And as luck would have it, both of these boys love her back. I have been firm and solid in my pick for Wendy since the beginning of Switched, friends, but I have to admit that I came close to being swayed. These guys are fantastic. I am one of the few bloggers that I know that loves a well-executed love triangle, and this is a great example. Amanda Hocking made my heart flip, flop, speed up, and skip beats as I agonized over Wendy making her decision! I have to admit, I was a little shocked at how things played out…but it was executed so well and I think everyone will be pleased.
When I finished Torn, I literally had NO IDEA where Hocking was going to take this series. There are a million things that I love about what she did with it. As sad as I was to be reading Ascend (because the series was ending), I was also thrilled and excited. I turned the pages fast. And ultimately, as I expected, this ending DID NOT DISAPPOINT ME. Ascend was full of action and magic and romance – and I just happen to love all of those things!
Y’all, I can’t impress enough upon you how much I want you to pick up this series and give it a try! It’s SO MUCH FUN. It’s well-written and the pacing is fantastic. The story is exciting and the characters – all of them – are developed well. And the world-building is great. I was so attached to these trolls, friends. I still am. I feel like I know Wendy and her friends – like they’re my friends too. The Trylle Trilogy has been so much fun. I’m so sad this series is over but I know for certain that I will be reading more of this author’s work.
**I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion and review. I received no compensation for my thoughts. Thank you St. Martin’s Press!
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| Switched, Torn, Ascend by Amanda Hocking |
- You must be at least 13 years old to enter.
- Deadline for entry is midnight April 28, 2012.
- This contest is open to Everyone!
- Following this blog is not required, but appreciated!
- After the contest is over and the winner is contacted, the winner will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen via Rafflecopter.
About Asheley
Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.
You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.
Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!
EEEEEE! I absolutely can't wait to read Ascend! I read Torn a couple of weeks ago and really loved it. I thought Torn was even better than the first book. I'm really glad you enjoyed Ascend, Asheley! Super excited to read it!
As for the covers, wow that is really hard to choose! I LOVE ALL THREE but I think my favourite one is Torn's cover. I love the snowy background and the white and blue colours. Absolutely gorgeous!
Thank you so much for the giveaway, Asheley and awesome review! ♥
I think I prefer the cover on Ascend. All three are very eye-catching and look great together. However, Ascend represents the end, the coming-togethfer of all the separate volumes. I think I must like it when all the loose ends are bound up in one book! Especially if it's a happy one.
The Switched cover is my favorite. It's really beautiful!
Thanks a lot for the giveaway.
I like the dress on the Switched cover, but I like the Torn cover better. 😀
Thank you!
I like all of the covers. They have that fantasty/mystery look to them. If I had to pick one, SWITCHED is so bold and stands out for me.
Glad you liked it! In my case I'm in love with this series. I love all the characters and Finn, of course, is my favorite one. : )
The covers are breathtaking! For me all of them are gorgeous… so it's difficult to pick just one, specially because those are my favorite colors. Red, Blue and Green.
Anyways, thank you so much for the giveaway! : )
Torn is my favorite cover!! I don't want this series to end! Why??? I just can't help to feel a little sad! But I still need to read Ascend! So, im really REALLY looking forward to devour Ascend! Thank you for the giveaway! (ileana-rafflecopter)
I love the Torn cover the best xo
I really love the cover, all the are pretty and I like the writing of the author!
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The series has always been one of the ones I watch for because of the covers, and I have to say Ascend takes the cake. (even though they are all so gorgeous* *drools on keyboard*
Lilian @ A Novel Toybox
I happen to love the first cover of the series, Switched. I don't know why really–since they all look good– but this one stood out for me. Maybe because it has what looks like flowers on it and I love flowers. Maybe it is also because the first book is the beginning of the story, where everything started. You can't have the end without a beginning. Wouldn't make sense, at least to me.
I haven't got the chance to buy the series or read it, though. I remember one day I was looking for books, having already devoured all the regular published ones from the library and I was running out of places to go, but then I got a message from an author who had decided to self-publish her book, Life's a Witch. I had never heard of self-publishing at that time. I was interested and looked for authors doing well in the self-publishing world and found Amanda Hocking!
I knew then and there I had to read the series and her new series coming out.
I love all of Amanda's books and this series is no exception! My favorite of the book covers is actually Ascend and the others are beautiful too, but I think I like the UK covers better.
I love the torn cover that blue just pulls you in!
Troll mythology?! TROLL MYTHOLOGY?!?!? I've never even heard of that before & now I'm dying to read it!
I think I like the red cover the best, just because red is my favorite color & it's such a pretty cover…
I love all of the covers and am super excited to read the last book. I want to KNOW who she ends up with!!! I'm glad you liked it 😉
Haley@www.passingthepages.blogspot.com
All the covers are beautiful, but my favorite is the book cover for torn. Not only is my favorite color blue, but the cover is really gorgeous. To me it really stands out! Thanks for the giveaway! 🙂
I LOVE the cover for Torn!! It's so surreal, calm, yet mysterious. 😀 And I've always loved blue and the sky. Heh, thanks for the giveaway!
Hi! Thanks for this giveaway! I want to read this series, sounds so nice!!! The covers are beautiful, but my fav is Switched, I love th flowers around the main characters and the castle in background: Ascend reminded me of Alice in Wonderland, in a way!
Proserpine
Proserpine @ Proserpine Craving Books
My favorite cover is the first one. I love the red in the cover. I don't think we see a ton of red in YA covers…Plus the whole setting is gorgeous!
all covers really look amazing!! i love them all, i think my fav. is torn's cover, since it is blue and has snow, two of my fav. things 😀 but i have to say good job for the author, the book covers really stand out and have caught my attention and interest, since i havent read or seen this series before, now i ll definitely look more into them 😀
thanks for the giveaway!!
All the covers look great. I like Torn.
I think I like the Switched cover the best, because it reminds me of fall 🙂
I have to say the Switched cover is the best for me. I love this trilogy!!
Pavan
I think that that all of them have a beautiful cover!!! I can't wait to read this series I have heard so many great things about them!!!!
i've read it and i love it can't believe she married to that guy .if you want to know she's marrying who read it and you will love it