The Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking // Discussion

My friend Jade needs to stop getting me into books. I had a TBR set and then she made me read the first book of this series and then I literally stopped everything to read the other books in the series.

I finished reading the Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking, or the Trylle-ogy as I like to call it because I'm so witty. I slightly fell in love with this series. It's definitely not my favourite series ever, there were some faults I could find with it but it kept me hooked the whole way through. It kept me on the edge to the point that I read the whole trilogy in 2 days. This is an urban fantasy series but there are also many contemporary aspects to it which I love because the best fantasy books are the ones that read like a contemporary. This was also a self published series but it was eventually picked up by a publisher which I thought was cool.

Non-Spoiler 

This is about Wendy who's always felt like she never fit in wherever she went. She's had a lot of trouble in schools where she's kept getting expelled and she just doesn't get it. Her family life also really screwed up when her mother tried to kill her when she was six because she didn't think she was her daughter. But then everything changes when this guy Finn turns up and tells her that she is a Trylle. A Trylle is a troll (not the green, creepy goblin type; they still look like humans) but they prefer to be called Trylle. And the Trylle have this practice within their culture that when a Trylle baby is born they are swapped in exchange of a human baby (called a mansklig in their world) coming from a rich family so that when the Trylle baby comes of age the Trylle can use their trust funds. So suddenly Wendy is thrust into this life of being a Trylle and not only that she's Trylle royalty, being next in line to be Queen! She suddenly is just craving to go back to the life she already had and hated.

I love the characters in this novel. Everything about them differentiates them from each other which I love. Sometimes fantasy novels have a way of having their characters clumped together in terms of their behavioral attitudes because of the situation they are put in, but these characters are all different in many ways, from the way they handle situations, from the way they speak, etc.

Wendy is a great character! She's such a great royal too. She's very kind and she's got a good heart which is seen throughout the whole trilogy. Her character development is written so freakin effortlessly yet in a structured way it's like...how. In the first book she's quite defiant and upset that she's been thrust into this situation, despite her life at home. She really isn't enjoying herself as a princess. She's annoyed at the traditions that are apart of the Trylle world and how they're so unfair and how the other nobles are really not interested in changing these things about their world. So Wendy is just annoyed because everything is unfamiliar and she's missing having some friends and family around. But by the time the third novel comes, Wendy has accepted that she is destined for this life of being a Queen. And in accepting this she's also accepted that she has the power to change things. She's become more refined and she's not as childish but at the same time she still stands up for what she believes in and doesn't take shit from anyone. I love that by the third book when people tell her she can't do something she's just like "well sorry last time I checked you weren't next in line to become Queen were you?" Like yes Wendy you tell em'. Good job Amanda Hocking for your great character development.

I have to say despite the fact that the books have kept me quite hooked throughout, looking over it now the ending of the first and second books ended very suddenly. The first book she was annoyed and then she was like "Right I'm going to go and do this now." and then she just did and the book ended. And the second book ended so unceremoniously I did that thing people do in movies where they flip right to the end to make sure they've not missed out on something. It ended without a cliffhanger or some sort of thing to signal that something is going to go down in the final book. It was like BAM it's ended and I am left feeling empty. Looking over the book now that I've read it, I've also realised that the second book really didn't have that many significant events. For the most part, Wendy was just walking around her mansion, stuck in a love triangle. However, although there were not really any big events, the second book was more of an information book. It gave us a lot of information on the history of the Trylle and some of the Trylle characters but obviously the downfall of this was that the book wasn't that eventful. That being said it didn't suffer from 'second book syndrome' and there were some pretty big events in the first half of the books. The third book however was almost perfect in my opinion. Everything came to a close perfectly. It ended in an unexpected way I have to say because this last book had be guessing the whole way through.

Spoiler 

I feel the desperate need to talk about all these characters because I feel so strongly about them.

Matt: I love Matt because he really cares about Wendy and he's not fazed by this new world that he's been thrust in. He's stayed true to himself regardless. I love how he told Willa off when he first met her too.

Rhys: Gosh this kid is just so sweet. I have no idea how someone who is in his social class would still remain so friendly to those around him who treat him like shit.

Willa: When Willa was first introduced I definitely thought she needed to be taken down a few pegs. She slightly got on my nerves but she was nice enough to Wendy for me to assume she wasn't all that bad. But when she and Matt start getting along (which was so predictable) you can tell that her eyes really open up to the prejudices in her world.

Duncan: At first I thought Duncan was really annoying but as the series went on I found that he was really looking out for the well-being of Wendy as a person rather than as his duty. He's the court jester of the series and I love it.

Finn: If I am honest I was really rooting for Finn and Wendy in the beginning. I liked that Finn was a quiet brooding character but by the end of the second book he was just getting on my nerves. He was angry that Wendy was flirting with Loki but then when she wanted to be with him he was like no I can't. I just wanted to run him over with my car. I didn't really feel sorry for him when Loki and Wendy became a thing because he kind of deserved it. After all it came down to the fact that he chose duty over love. And Loki had MUCH MORE on the line here...like his life so I'm not feeling especially sorry for Finn.

Tove: Talk about a good guy. He's married Wendy even though he is gay. And I love that he's concerned about her anyways. Like yes Tove. I am rooting for Tove to get his happy ending.

Queen Elora: I think a lot of people 's opinions on Elora changed through the series. The first book she's very much unemotional and distant from Wendy. She speaks to Wendy more as a colleague than she does a daughter. But then about mid-way through the second book she begins to be more maternal which I love. Her and Wendy eventually build their mother-daughter relationship to something really substantial.

Loki: Yessssss Loki! I thought Loki was the freakin greatest ever. He really loves Wendy and I love that he loves her and he just doesn't care about anything else. Go Loki go. Also he's such a charmer I can't even blame Wendy for falling for him.

Aurora Kroner: The more this woman talks the more I wished the Vittara killed her.

Matt and Willa were really interesting to me because it was really cool that she changed her perceptive on her own world because of him. I also noticed that Willa became less pretentious and uptight when she and Matt started hanging out. It was really refreshing to just see Willa relax and behave like a normal young adult rather than a noble. Also she totally had it coming when Matt told her to get her own water.

The one thing that Amanda Hocking did really well was the progression of growth in terms of opinions in this book. I love that Wendy did not take anyone's shit. She was very adamant on the point that everyone was doing a terrible job at running the kingdom and now that she was in charge she was changing things. And that progression of how the kingdom was being run and the politics of the kingdom was done really well.

I hope everyone who has read this discussion goes and reads this trilogy because it is really worth the read.

Much Love

- E