Series: Trylle, #1
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Publish Date: January 3rd, 2012
Source: Book Swap
Goodreads

3/5 – Meh

Synopsis: 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… -Gooreads

Thoughts: In the world of self-publishing, everyone has heard the name ‘Amanda Hocking’. She’s the YA author that did what many of us now aspire to do, made a great living through her YA stories. I was excited to finally read one of her books, but in the end found myself to be a little disappointed. I love the premise of this book, and I loved Wendy’s roll in the story, but I was just left feeling like I wanted so much more from this story.

I read the version of Switched that was released by St. Martin’s Griffin and includes some edits from the previous version, so I shouldn’t even connect this with Hocking’s groundbreaking work in self publishing. Still, it felt like there was a lot to be gained from professional editing here. Not that the copy-editing was bad. The cover is great, and it read like a professional YA book but there were some pacing issues and dropped plot points.

There was one area where Wendy had a major disagreement with her mother. They make this huge deal out of it, but then the matter is settled ‘off stage’ and wrapped up with one line to get us caught up. Blah.

Also, it felt like the only point in the book with any real action or tension was the climax. Yes, there was conflict all over, but very little felt like it actually mattered how the issue was resolved.

I know I sound a bit harsh, and I did enjoy this book. It just felt like the introduction section of a book rather than a story with any meat to it. I love the direction it’s heading and despite all of my yammering, I’m sure I’ll pick up the second book eventually to see what happens now that all the rules of this world have been established. It almost felt like this could be reduced to a prequel novella, but it’s hard to say for sure without reading the rest of the series.

The writing was clean and funny at times, and I really enjoyed all of the characters. Wendy was especially great, and I loved her attitude. I wasn’t all that interested in the romantic story-line and am kind of hoping her attentions shift to another character. I rarely ever get my way in these kinds of things, but I can dream.

Overall, a solidly middling read. Worth checking out if you have time or an interest in changeling mythology.

You can visit Amanda Hocking at her website, here.

Buy Switched by Amanda Hocking
@The Book Depository

Second Opinions
@Bart’s Bookshelf
@Tumbling In Books
@Compelled by Words