Troll - Review

Troll

By: Ashely C. Harris

Published: October 6, 2015 by Kindle Press

299 pages

Source: Personal Kindle Library

(Goodreads / Amazon $1.00)

Summary:

At the age of sixteen, Abby is undergoing major household changes. Her mom is getting ready to remarry and her new step-brother is driving her insane. She is just trying to keep herself busy with school and her part-time job when a most deliciously handsome stranger moves to her little seaside town and won't leave her alone.

New arrival Wilhelm is unlike any other student at Abby’s school. His emerald eyes and tattooed body don’t truly reveal what he really is: a creature emerged from thousands of miles underground, seeking revenge, treasure, and a key that once belonged to an old enemy – a key Abby wears suspended from a chain around her neck. Why she has it is a mystery that Wilhelm will need to solve, and fast, in order to defeat a powerful mortal adversary.

As an attraction between Abby and Wilhelm develops, more creatures like Wilhelm are drawn from beneath the ground to Abby’s town; wreaking havoc as they offer Abby’s classmates the fulfillment of their deepest desires. Will Abby and her new family survive as a game of magical warfare is unleashed? Her ability to reverse Wilhelm’s bargain depends on it.

MY REVIEW:
I first requested the sequel to this book, Troll Cries, and was approved for it so I went ahead and purchased this so that I could read it first. I'm not gonna lie....the covers for these two books were very eye catching and because I love pretty covers I gave them a second glance. The story sounded interesting enough so I took a chance on them.

Does anyone else have the image of the troll from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in mind? Extremely large, strong, stupid and ugly? Haha! This is NOT what these trolls look like. Undoutedly, their true troll form is quite scary, being 7 feet or more tall. Skin like rock, eyes like gem stones. But the magic they use to shield their true form makes them beautiful in human form. These trolls feed off of the emotions of others. They entice humans with their hearts desires and when a bargain is made the human is under the control of the troll.

The story is about a 16 year old girl who experienced tragedy close to her when she was younger. Her cousin Ashlynn and best friend Leo both went missing around age 12. Having been picked on by her classmates for much of her education, she's just trying to get by and get out of high school.

Then there is the underground world of the trolls. A world where there is royalty and there are those who serve the royals. Wilhelm is the child of a royal, however can not be claimed as one, so he is what is considered a mining troll. He and others like him do the grunt work. He is stronger in his abilities than most trolls and as such, is more dangerous to those who are royal. His path crosses Abby's after the death of his mother by the hands of a knight, the trolls biggest enemy, and his search to discover what she had started trying to learn. Trolls bring about chaos and destruction. They take what they want from weak humans. Wilhelm is captivated by Abby in a way that makes no sense to him and he continues to battle what he should be feeling as a troll.

The ultimate storyline is that Abby has to learn about her destiny and how Wilhelm fits in to that.

There are several POV's throughout the story including Abby, Wilhelm, Sophia, Liz, Klaus and perhaps one or two more. I caught on to some surprise twists a little earlier than they became confirmed in the story.

I had some irritations with this book. First were all the grammatical errors. Lots of typos in the Kindle version I read.  I also felt like specific details weren't fleshed out until very late in the story. Once they were touched on, I suppose I could understand the need to keep it secret. The reader experiences the truth on matters such as how trolls are created at the same time the characters begin seeing the truth on the same things. My second irritation was that there seemed to be some inconsistencies. A troll can be controlled when its real name is used. This occurs when Wilhelm learns the first name of one of the royals. He uses the first name to exact control. However, later in the story the first and last name is used to control a troll, which would have been fine except for the fact that the same first name had been spoken to him before and no control was exacted.

Overall due to my irritations this fell in my average book rating. I will be picking up immediately with book two to see the ending of Abby and Wilhelm.

Top Favorite Quotes:
Revenge is an illusion like that: it always seems like it will make things finally feel right, but it's never truly satisfying, and the pain just increases until it boils over.

You are mine, I'm with you, and I've made you more than enough...

Language: 1 (light)
Mature Content: 1 (light)
Final Rating: 3 stars