Switched (review)

Stubborn, cold, and emotionally distant, seventeen-year-old Wendy has never felt comfortable with other people, so it makes sense to her when a strange boy named Finn tells her that she is fact a changeling and a member of a troll tribe. Her journey to her true homeland brings about many revelations including that she is to be the future Queen of the Trylle nation and, more disappointingly, that her mother in this world is, like her human mother, both unpleasant and possibly murderous. Originally self-published as an e-book, this trilogy opener immerses the reader almost immediately in the land of Trylle, dispelling any notions of stumpy-legged lurkers under fairy-tale bridges and instead offering up a compelling picture of an otherworldly race at the brink of extinction in a sumptuous, decadent setting. The main obstacle here is Wendy herself: she begins the book as a competent, if somewhat detached, narrator and devolves into a helpless, angst-ridden parody of herself whose sudden need to be emotionally involved with people she has just met (when she has otherwise never wanted to get close to anyone, including her adoring brother and caretaker aunt) feels more convenient than natural. If readers can overlook this rather obvious flaw, they will be rewarded with an intriguing political plot that threatens to change the Trylle dynasty for good and a deliciously steamy romance with Finn, who ranks pretty high amid the genre's pantheon of brooding bad boys. We're always looking for the next vampire/zombie/fairy trend—who would have thought it would be trolls?