Review: The Morning Flower by Amanda Hocking

THE MORNING FLOWER

by Amanda Hocking

Wednesday Books

YA Fantasy

352 pages

COMING...

AUGUST 4th!!!

New York Times bestselling author Amanda Hocking returns to the magical world of the Trylle with The Morning Flower, the second book in the Omte Origins arc.

Nestled along the bluffs of the forested coast lays the secret kingdom of the Omte—a realm filled with wonder... and as many secrets.

When Ulla Tulin took her internship at the Mimirin, the only mystery she thought she'd have to solve was that of her birth parents. After a girl named Eliana gets kidnapped while in her care, Ulla knows she has to find out the truth of who Eliana really is—and the only way to do that means traveling to the Omte capital, the place she suspects her mother is from.

Ulla didn’t expect that when she arrived she would discover the identity of a Skojare man who crossed paths with her mother—a man who could very well be her father. When the head of the Mimirin learns Ulla's father is connected to the Älvolk, a secret society who believes they were tasked with protecting the First City and the only ones who know its location, he sends Ulla and Pan to Sweden where they find him living among the Älvolk. But all is not what it seems with the Älvolk and their urgent quest to find the Lost Bridge to the First City leaves Ulla feeling uneasy—and possibly in danger.

          

MY TIDBITS

Note: This is the second book in a series and needs to be read as such, since it picks up where the first one left off and offers basically no backstory to catch a reader up.

While the first book in the series laid the foundation of the world and characters, this second one shoots off into an ever growing mystery and brings mounting tension just like it should.

Eliana's disappearance and the desire to discover more about her own past has Ulla driving off in search of the impossible—the Lost Bridge to the First City. When she arrives at the Omte tribe, she's not sure what to make of the Queen's inability to answer her questions, but another door opens as she runs across a strange man, who knew her mother and might be her father. Learning that her father supposedly is a part of the secret guard, which protects the mythical city, she's sent to Sweden to live with the guardians there and him. But Ulla has doubts behind the true intentions of her journey and soon finds herself deeper in secrets than is safe.

As in book one, this is an imagination packed world, which gently brushes against modern reality every now and then. The characters are easy to like or hate, and yet, others sit heavily in the gray zone, making it difficult to decipher what their true intentions are. Ulla grows with every book as she struggles not only to uncover more about her own past, but also to come to terms with it. She has a few true friends at her side as well as Pan, the obvious love interest. It's fun to cheer the characters on as they stumble over lie after lie, and discover all sorts of things about this intriguing world.

The plot thickens in this second book, just as it should. There were still a few paragraphs I grazed over, but all in all, it is an engaging read. The romance slides alongside the main plot, adding a little zest without overpowering the story line...which I appreciate. Still, it's a bit too obvious for my liking, although the awkward moments fit well to Ulla's age. The new characters weren't as easy to fall into in these pages, but then, book one excelled in this area and with the increasing tension and mystery, the new characters simply aren't getting the same love as Ulla, Pan and friends.

Fantasy friends who enjoy refreshing takes on fantasy worlds and rich world building are sure to enjoy this one.

Review: The Lost City by Amanda Hocking

THE LOST CITY

The Omte Origins #1

by Amanda Hocking

Wednesday Books

YA Fantasy

384 pages

COMING...

JULY 7th!!!

New York Times bestselling author Amanda Hocking returns to the magical world of the Trylle with The Lost City, the first book in the final Trylle arc.

Nestled along the bluffs of the forested coast lays the secret kingdom of the Omte—a realm filled with wonder...and as many secrets.

Ulla Tulin was left abandoned in an isolated Kanin city as a baby, taken in by strangers and raised hidden away like many of the trolls of mixed blood. Even knowing this truth, she’s never stopped wondering about her family.

When Ulla is offered an internship working alongside the handsome Pan Soriano at the Mimirin, a prestigious institution, she jumps at the chance to use this opportunity to hopefully find her parents. All she wants is to focus on her job and the search for her parents, but all of her attempts to find them are blocked when she learns her mother may be connected to the Omte royal family.

With little progress made, Ulla and Pan soon find themselves wrapped up in helping Eliana, an amnestic girl with abilities unlike any they have ever seen before—a girl who seems to be running from something. To figure out who she is they must leave the city, and possibly, along the way, they may learn more about Ulla’s parents.

     

MY TIDBITS

In an original mix of fantasy and reality, secrets abound and open up to what promises to be an interesting series.

Shortly after her birth, Ulla was abandoned at an inn by a woman, who only left her first name. Years later, Ulla is a happy young woman, who has worked hard and made many close friends and even found something like family. Still, she wonders about her true origins. As a troll, she lives among the magical race, which living mostly separate from the modern human world, is slowly going extinct. In hopes of helping her research, she lands an elite internship in one of the magic world's most renowned centers. As a troll of mixed blood, she's grudgingly welcomed. As her research reveals more secrets than answers, and a strange girl runs across her path, Ulla begins to believe that there is much more to her and the magic world than they are being taught.

I've read a couple of this author's works before—some I've enjoyed more than others—but I'm always amazed by the variety of tales she tells. In this one, her imagination definitely takes flight and develops a rich world, which offers all sorts of possibilities for a series.

The first chapter does a great job at allowing the reader to immediately gain sympathy for the main character and launch into a gripping beginning. It has a true, fantasy world beginning with the inn and a warrior suddenly appearing at the onslaught of a storm. While the tension and mystery is immediately set, the tone hangs toward family and warmth, allowing the reader to become familiar with Ulla and her life first. Although an orphan, she's not to be pitied and actually has a very lovely situation...which I found refreshing. It sets the foundations for a rich series.

The introduction of the modern human world kind of threw me for a moment. The first chapters have Ulla living among the other trolls (which has a very normal, human atmosphere), but then, mentions of McDonald's and shakes suddenly came in. It created a surprising world, and that's not bad. While the modern world is there, it dangles more like a shadow on the sidelines and never really touches the tale in this first book. It will be interesting to see if that remains the case in the rest of the series. But the idea definitely makes the characters easy to relate to and brings familiar items like internet although the setting is actually heavy on the fantasy end.

Ulla's past and the secrets it brings with it are the main tension drivers in these pages. While there are a few light action scenes (and I do mean light), the pacing in this one is driven by Ulla's research and, even more, by those she meets. Something is always happening, which made me constantly curious as to what would happen next. But there were moments where the pacing slowed a bit, and I found myself breezing over a few paragraphs, or a page or two. Still, I didn't want to lay the book down either because I was very curious as to what Ulla would discover next.

The characters are rich in this book, which is probably what made it such a lovely read. It's clear that not everyone can be trusted, even though it isn't obvious yet who Ulla should really beware of. But each character has their very own personality and quirks, making it easy to grab a few favorites and be unsure of several others. In any case, there is a lot to come and it appears that it will be quite the adventure with all sorts of surprises.