(Cover picture courtesy of …It’s Always Something…)

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.

To tell you the truth, I had very serious doubts about Ascend as I was reading.  Things weren’t going the way I expected (and wanted) them to and it really looked like things were going to turn out badly.  By badly, I mean it seemed like it would turn out to be the last act of Tosca.  Amanda Hocking really does know how to manipulate her reader’s emotions and since I’m not usually very emotionally involved in a novel, this was a refreshing change!

Wendy surprised me constantly, but in good ways.  Her temper that often flared up in Switched?  Controlled.  Her trying to put love before duty in Torn?  Gone, for the most part.  Wendy has finally matured as a character and in Ascend, she becomes the Princess everyone knows she would be.  She thinks with her head, but also allows her heart to guide her.  She knows that her duty to all of Trylle supersedes the own longings in her heart.  Very, very few female protagonists in YA are like this and that’s why Wendy is one of my new favourite heroines.

The final battle felt a bit rushed to me, but then again, I tend to lean more toward books in the 500-600 range (the Trylle series doesn’t surpass 350).  Still, what happens at the end makes sense and Amanda Hocking really did work hard on building up the suspense.  You know how the climax is also called The Darkest Hour in writing circles?  Well, the climax of Ascend really does deserve that title.  The ending was satisfying and the best part was that it was not perfectly happy.  There’s nothing I hate more than a completely happy ending.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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