Switched by Amanda Hocking

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Source: ARC and Finished Copy from Publisher
Series: Yes, #1 of 3
Buy It: The Book Depository
Challenge: Free Reads, Debut Author Challenge

When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn't until eleven years later that Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed - a world both beautiful and frightening, and Wendy's not sure she wants to be a part of it.

     I remember seeing this book on the nook store about two years ago.  I also remember being shocked to find out that it was a bestseller and it was self published.  I never read it, until now.  The book has been picked up by Macmillan, edited, and reprinted.  When I heard Amanda Hocking's story I definitely wanted to give the book a try!  I even wound up meeting her (more details on that soon!).  I struggled through the first half of the book but, I'm glad I kept reading!
     One thing Switched definitely has going is variety.  I have never read a book about trolls. ever.  I absolutely loved having a new subject to read about instead of the same old paranormal with different character names!  I also really liked the folklore in the book.  I learned that the folklore in the book was all Scandinavian, which I've also never read about before.  I also enjoyed that the one of the love triangles was very subtle.  Another thing I enjoyed was that there was no "insta-love."  Wendy slowly discovered her true feelings for each of the love interests in the story.  Switched was also a very quick and easy read.
     I actually really didn't enjoy the first third of the book and thought that I really wasn't going to like it.  I thought that Wendy was extremely annoying in the beginning and I hated that she had zero self confidence.  The story seemed a bit weird to me.  Luckily, the book definitely improved.  I can't explain exactly how it got better but, it did.  I guess the action, love, and wendy's self confidence all increased!
     As for the characters, the story was definitely driven by them.  I didn't like a lot of them at the beginning but, Amanda did make all of the characters grow throughout the book and I wound up liking almost all of them.  For example, I hated Finn and Wendy in the beginning but, I really liked Finn by the end of the book and I think Wendy definitely improved.  As for Rhys, I loved him from the beginning, although I was a bit confused about his age at first.  I really liked his boyish feel and how sweet his relationship with Wendy was.  I also loved what you find out about him in the middle of the book!  I really loved Willa because she was there for Wendy as she got to know her.  She definitely gets the "Good Friend Award!"  I hated Elora but, I think that was supposed to happen! :)  I really liked the mysterious feeling of Tove and I hope to see more of him in Torn and Ascend.  Even though they played small parts, I also loved Maggie, Matt, Garrett, and Rhianon.  As you can see, there were definitely a lot of characters but, they all turned out to be very interesting!
     Overall, I definitely enjoyed Switched a lot more than I thought at first.  I struggled through the first part of the book but, I'm very glad I didn't stop reading!  I wound up really enjoying the end of the book, especially with all of the action!  I'm really looking forward to reading Torn and Ascend!  Make sure to give this book a shot and while your at it, lookup Amanda Hocking's amazing success story!
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