Sunday, January 31, 2016

Switched

I'm going to talk about a book that was very surprising and left me with so many feels! Switched by Amanda Hocking. I've never read a book written by this author, so I was really curious to how I was going to feel about it... 

Wendy Everly was only six-years-old when her mother tried to kill her. She was so convinced that Wendy wasn't hers, that she was a monster and that she'll only mean trouble. Ever since that day her older brother Matt and her aunt Maggie have been taking care of her. Making sure their mother can't lay one finger on Wendy ever again. 
It isn't until years later that Wendy finds out that her mother might've been right all along. Together with Finn Holmes, Wendy tries to find out exactly who she is in a world she never knew existed. But she's not sure she wants to be a part of it...

First of all, I want to say that Amanda Hocking really left an impression. She really surprised me with this book in a way I never thought it would! I've had other books on my reading list by her, but never dared to take one with me in the bookstore. It wasn't until some weeks ago that I decided it was time to discover a new world that a new writer created... And God, I was left in awe! 

The first character I want to discuss is Wendy. I have to say that in the beginning I thought it really was a very weird name. I'm the kind of reader that always looks at the names of the main characters and their age, etc. But when they tell you the meaning, it isn't that weird at all. The meaning of it makes this so special! But that's not the only special thing to Wendy...

Wendy herself is special and who she really is made me speechless. I never saw this coming and I just closed the book, and thought about it. I've never read any book where the main character is that. And first I had the same reaction as Wendy, I was shocked! But then so many pieces fell into place and I started to understand that it isn't as I had thought. As for her characteristics, she's really stubborn and does get irritated very fast by strangers but on the other hand she's also very insecure. Insecure in a way that she feels like she doesn't belong. And those are all a consequence of her mother! Her mom told her she was a monster and she shouldn't be here and that's why she got so insecure in the first place. I really liked Wendy a lot, I had the same reactions as her, I'd do the same actions as her, so I really felt connected with this character! 

As for her brother, he's so cute! He's quiet some older but since the day where her mother tried to kill her, he's been really caring. You could really see that they have a special bond and that they'd never leave each other's sides. What I liked most about Matt is that he really is the protective guy. When Wendy says the name 'Finn Holmes', Matt really starts to doubt about what this boy's intentions are. You really see that he is the older one of the two and I really adored him from the start! Especially because he tries to protect her from their mom and tries to make Wendy feel like she belongs. 

Finn is like Matt, in my opinion. He'll take care of Wendy and stand by her in this new world but that's because of other reasons. I did like his presence a lot, he tries to understand Wendy and also tries to make her belong. So I do see the resemblances with her older brother. Still I felt like he was different in other aspects! 

He isn't like Wendy, he's something else and it's really well explained in the book. That really made me think about where he might be in the hierarchy of it all and what his relationship was with other characters in this new world. If I have to choose to which character surprised me the most, it'll be Finn. You'd never expect anything with him because he tries to hide what he thinks or feels. But he is really protective and will go to the end of the world to save the people that he cares for. 

Now the plot... The awesome plot! This book developed itself surprisingly different than I had in mind. I never thought it would be like this, my thoughts didn't even come close to what this all meant. So it sure did have the surprise factor! 

I did think that the mystery to who Wendy is was discovered really soon. And as in previous books, it just happened without any lead to it. Finn is there, Wendy is there and boom we know who she is! It all happened so fast and at a very fast pace that in the beginning I was doubting if I'd ever finish it or even would buy the second book in this series. But no panic! It was only to this certain part that everything went at a high pace, which I think is a little sad but then again the rest of the book made up for it! 

I can't really tell all that much other than you keep getting surprised. When I thought I new everything there has to be known, there was another bewilderment to for example one of the characters I didn't talk about. But the biggest surprise next to who Wendy is, gave me the most feels... in a negative way.

There comes a character which was really important because it also supports the story line and I hated this character. I'm sure that was how it was supposed to go, I'm  a 100% certain of it! I just hated it and felt irritated by it because this character had so much influence on the other characters their behavior and characters! But I was really keen on the presence of this character because it made the story even better! It created the feels in this book. 


Just one thing that I didn't like is that Matt and Maggie, her aunt, are forgotten really soon in the book. Wendy discovers a new world and leaves everything else behind so also her family. I was heartbroken by it, I didn't want Matt to leave... I just loved Matt so much! And then there doesn't come any more attention to them which I think is really, really sad! 

The end battle was epic, the characters were absolutely the bomb and I want the second book in this series right now! If I wasn't convinced of Amanda Hocking, I am now. Her style is fluent and isn't difficult to read. The story really captures you and makes you want to read on. It also wasn't a really thick book so you can easily read it in one day. I really recommend this book to all of you if you want a big surprise! And when I mean big, I mean really big and something very special!

“Maybe that last part was the proof that my mother was right. They only gave, and I only took.”

No comments:

Post a Comment