1.5 stars
This is a book I probably would've liked in my teens. A YA paranormal romance with simple writing. Unfortunately, all of those things contributed to my dislike of this book.

What I liked:
1. it was an incredibly quick read. I finished it in just a couple hours

What I didn't like:
1. The writing: To say the writing was simplistic would be generous. It just wasn't good. There was no subtlety at all, and it was incredibly repetitive.

2. The 'plot': This was incredibly weak. Yes it loved fast, but nothing happened. NOTHING. There was no point whatsoever to this book. The climax was seriously underwhelming and then the book just ended, with no sense of closure, but also not a cliffhanger. It was just abrupt.

3. Characters: Wendy was straight-up annoying. Her whiny attitude just got on my damn nerves. She was also not very intelligent, regardless of the fact that we are told that Trylle's are supposed to be very intelligent. Finn was completely one-dimensional. Willa and Tove were interesting, but completely under-developed. And Elora was needlessly obnoxious.

4. 'You're-not-like-other-girls' a.k.a 'Chosen One' trope to the point that all the male characters seem to be attracted to her above others.

5. The romance: It was so forced. Just, no. How can she say she's in love with him when he literally avoids telling her anything.

Which leads us to my biggest aggravation...

6. Stringing out 'reveals': I counted 8 different instances in this book where a character flat-out refused to answer Wendy's questions...for NO DAMN REASON.

Keep in mind, I didn't start counting the first time I noticed it, so there may be others. And there is literally no reason. She is told that she has to 'act like a princess' but isn't actually told what that entails. When she does something 'un-princess-like' she is berated by her mother and Finn but when she asks for clarification on why it was wrong she's told, "You'll find out later." or something along those lines. This is some lazy freaking writing right here. The author is basically pointing out the fact that Wendy is being kept in the dark for no reason and is refusing to address it. It makes no sense whatsoever. One example off the top of my head actually happens more than once. Wendy is told that Rhys is a mansklig. When she asks what that is, no one will tell her. She and Finn hang out with Rhys and Rhiannon one day, but when Wendy falls asleep watching a movie and Rhys' house, Finn and her mother freak out and Finn tells her she can't hang out with mansklig...as if she's supposed to know that when he tells her NOTHING. It's ridiculous. Another instance of this is when they have guests for dinner and Finn tells her she needs to dress 'like a princess' and be on her best behavior because the guests are really important. She asks why and he says, "That's a story for a different day." WHY?! Why is it a story for a different day? There isn't even a real reveal later on that discusses it, so I'm not sure why it was some big secret.

A conversation between her and Tove literally went like this:

W: What do you know?

T: Have they told you?

W: Told me what?

T: Well, if they haven't told you, I'm certainly not going to.

And then it's dropped and never revisited.

😡😡😡😡

Oh man, this book is just not well-written at all.

7. The justification given for the switching is really weak. If they really wanted money couldn't they persuade the rich to give them money? No, instead the install their offspring into wealthy homes and steal their children...why the fuck should I root for these people.

8. There is no world-building to speak of.

I will not be continuing in this series.

EDIT: I read some reviews of this book and saw comments that said the next two books get so much better...it wasn't enough for me to actually want to read them but I did go and look at spoilers reviews to see what happens and I'm so glad I made the decision I did. Life is too short to read shitty books.