I read the original Trylle trilogy back in 2012 (I even reviewed it! Please ignore how amateur it was). I absolutely loved it - Hocking created a magical world embedded within, yet hidden from, our own. The characters were feisty and the narrative addictive.

The magic of her world is on full display in The Lost City. Ulla, a half-breed troll of unknown origins, begins the book in Northern Canada (Nunavut, if you're curious). Already, we're sucked into the story through Hocking's lyrical, yet straight-forward narrative that quickly throws us into the world of trolls and myths. As I knew a lot of the history from my memory of the Trylle series, it wasn't too hard for me to digest the different branches of trolls, with there even being a callback to the Trylle series in one of the first few chapters. However, there are a lot of info-dumps. There's lots to absorb when it comes to the history of the trolls, and I think a big part of this method of world-building is driven by the fact that Ulla, our MC, is diving into troll history and studying her own origins. As a result, this information is necessary in order to understand their world as much as it is to understand the character. As such, I appreciated the short-chapter format the story is told in, as it definitely helped make the story more manageable and easy to process.

Ulla's journey to self-discovery made this book very relevant to current events. In a time of protests against sexism, racism, among other major societal issues, The Lost City takes on some of these issues and makes them both fantastical and topical.

"It was more than a tad, honestly, and it was the kind of thing I'd heard used a hundred times to dismiss me. Because I was Omte, and everyone knows they're the dumbest of the tribes. Because I'm a half-breed, and everyone knows that mixed blood makes them weak and stupid. Because I'm from Iskyla, and everyone knows that only the unsophisticated and naïve live there.
Because I'm female.
Because I'm asymmetrical and overweight.
Because I'm blond.
Because I'm an orphan.
Because.
Because.
Because."

I felt that quote in my bones, and I was very surprised and pleased to see these topics being addressed. Throughout the book, we continuously get to see Ulla crash through the stereotypes attributed to her and I absolutely loved that.

Beyond Ulla, the development of the secondary characters was fantastic and  how each one had a chance to grow with the story and its events. Similar to the original Trylle trilogy, there were moments where I wanted just a little more depth with the characters and with the story, but this is only the first book so I guess there are plenty of chances to get everything I want in the upcoming sequels!

All in all, it was fantastic jumping back into this world and I had so much fun with this new cast of characters. I'm curious to see where this series leads!

Plot: 4/5
World Building: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Writing: 3.5/5
Pacing: 3.5/5
Overall: 4/5
GoodReads: 3.8/5

eARC obtained via St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. Quotes taken from advanced proof and may not match the final book.

<i>arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

I had zero expectations going into this book as I wasn’t entirely sure what it was about beyond a new book in the whole Trylle and Kanin universe. Once I realized who we follow, I was super interested in where the story could go but sadly I was disappointed.

This was just boring to me. There really wasn’t anything happening until the last 10% of the book and even then we’re left with more questions and honestly the same questions that we’ve had since page 1. The characters all seemed super flat to me too and the small romance aspects I didn’t care about at all. I found myself skim reading at times which I never like to do.

I do think book 2 will be a lot more action packed so I will be giving it a try.

I was really glad to see an ace character in this though!

Overall, this one just didn’t do enough for me plot wise but I do really hope that’ll change in the sequel.

2/5 ⭐️

TW: baby abandoned

**Review will be posted on my blog on July 14, 2020**

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

I heard of Amanda Hocking years ago but I have never read her books. When I got asked to join the blog tour, I jumped at the chance to finally read one of her books.

My Reactions:

My Attention: It had my attention but it took me a few days to read this book, which isn’t a bad thing.

World Building: Wow. This world she created is so detailed, and it’s build into our modern day society. I mean it’s so detailed that at the end of the book she lists the history of Troll monarchies.

Writing Style: the pace of the story is slow but it reads like a mystery – despite that, I was so engrossed in this fascinating world that Ulla lives in.

Bringing the Heat: none – some VERY mild flirtation

Crazy in Love: none so far

Creativity: the world Hocking has built is so rich, it makes me want to read the other series she’s written

Mood: impressed but also wish there was more

Triggers: prejudice towards half breed species, for example Omte/Human, Troll/Human

My Takeaway: Ulla is trying to find out who her parents are and in the process finds out way more about the world she in live and the people in it.

What I Liked:
*The world building is very imaginative and creative. Unfortunately I never read any of the other series before The Lost City. I love how the trolls are explained as if they are a different race of people, with their own tribes. The detail about the tribes, their histories and characteristics was like I had just discovered this in a history book or something. They seem real!

*This paranormal world is an alternate Earth where trolls exist. Their neutral space is called the Mimirin, where Ulla is headed to do work and research to find out who her parents are. Mimirin is a whole city where scientific research is being done to find out more about the Trolls. It was fascinating to me.

*Ulla is an interesting character. Personality wise, she’s open-minded and always gathering information. She’s not rash and very level-headed. Ulla hasn’t had the best education with her upbringing but she makes up for that with determination. She’s on a quest to find out who her parents were. While on this quest though she deals with some challenges and makes friends along the way.

*There is an array of characters, some who are mixed Trolls like Ulla is. One character named Eliana is a total mystery for most of the book but she’s a big part of the story. I liked Hanna, Ulla’s charge and Dagny who is an ACE character. Pan is an ally and maybe a romantic interest as well? We shall see as the series continues.

Things That Made Me Go Hmm:
*There is a lot of information to digest, especially for me, because I come into this series very new and never having read any other book set in this world. So even thought it was slow going – I still enjoyed it. But really I think reading the other series before this book is a must.

*This story reads like a mystery. I just wished we got to discovering more about Eliana a bit quicker. She was quirky with her lost of memory but sometimes it was frustrating.

Final Thoughts:
Overall, the thing that impressed me about this book is the writing and world-building. I was lost in the world and I loved learning about Trolls and the differences between them. There are many unanswered questions, since this is only book one of the series but I do wonder about what Ulla will find out about herself and Eliana. I look forward to reading more books from this author.

Ulla Tulin has always wondered who her parents were. After being left at an inn as an infant, Ulla has found that has never felt quite at home among the Kanin and Trylle trolls. When the chance for an internship at the Mimirin arises, Ulla jumps at the chance to be able to look into the archives to find her parents. But there are hidden secrets in the Mimirin, secrets that even Ulla could never have imagined.
The Lost City began with a promising premise and an interesting main character. Then… nothing happened. Most of the book is focused on Ulla going through the troll archives and reading the legends of the troll people. I was very impressed with Hocking’s world-building skills, but all of the information and terms about the trolls became just too much to retain. I lost interest pretty early on into the book and waited for things to get interesting. There were many times when I wanted to give up on the book entirely.
The Lost City does have its good points. I really wanted to know more about where Ulla came from and who her parents were. Also, the troll universe that Hocking created is unique and very imaginative. The issue lies in the plot. It was like being on a rollercoaster that flatlined the entire time. There were no thrilling descents, just slight climbs that will hopefully fuel more speculation into the sequels to come.
While I am still curious about Ulla’s parentage, I don’t think I will continue reading The Omte Origins series. One book was enough for me.

This was a wonderful read. There were many elements in this story that fit wonderfully together. The troll lore and magical realism were well done and interesting. I loved how the characters interacted and how the subject matter reminded me of one of my favorite authors Sarah J. Maas.

The beginning was a little confusing to me and I didn't really understand how it fit in with the story. It seemed like the start to an epic fantasy and not the urban fantasy that I was reading.

Still, I enjoyed the book and read it in two days.

My review will go live on the Book Confessions blog on 7-8-20

I have been a fan of Amanda Hocking and her writing for years. Especially her Trylle and Kanin series. So, needless to say I was very excited to learn that she was writing another trilogy set in her Trylle world, the last one.

I will admit it kind of starts off slow, and keeps with that pace for most of the book. It is definitely more of a slow paced read. Not a lot of action going on. That made it a little bit more difficult for me to keep interest while reading. I usually need lots of action to keep me interested while reading. I definitely feel like the previous Trylle and Kanin books had more of a fast set pace, and more action happening, than The Lost City does.

I love the characters, though. The humor and funny lines are one of my favorite parts about The Lost City. And I very much enjoy Amanda Hockings’ writing.

Ulla, being an orphan, is on a mission to find out who her parents are, and in tern more about her heritage. This is the reason she’s taken the internship at the Mimirin. For this reason, there is a lot of information to be learned in this first book, the things about Ulla’s past and the Trylle’s past in general. I feel like this has a lot to do with the slower pace of The Lost City. Even though this is a spin off from the Trylle and Kanin series, we are learning a lot of new information about their world, then we previously knew before.

There are some brief glimpses of loved characters from both the Trylle and Kanin series, but The Lost City is mainly focused on Ulla’s journey.

Overall, I enjoyed it. I wish there had been a little bit more action, but it was an enjoyable read and I am looking forward to reading The Morning Flower and continuing Ulla’s journey, and discovering where it leads.

I had not read any of the Tyrelle books but had read the Kanin chronicles and loved them.so thought I would try this new series. I was so bored up until 80%. There was no action and no romance. The chemistry between Pan and Ulla was non-existent. The ending was intriguing so I will read the sequel to see how it ends.

Ulla Tulin was abandoned to strangers and raised hidden due to her mix troll blood. She manages to get an internship at Mimirin which is a prestigious institution where she hopes she will be able to figure out who her parents are. It is not as easy as you might think to find her parents when she keeps hitting dead ends and information is kept from her. Then she get's involved helping a girl named Eliana who can't seem to remember where she is from and what she is doing there. Eiliana is also different and has special abilities. This will develop with Ulla being lead on a different path and away from Mimirin in order to help Eilana.

It was a good read and a good spin off to the Trylle trilogy. I felt the book was the foundation to what in the next books will build upon. Here you are meeting the characters and their back story. You get hints of a potential lost city as per legend. So if you are excepting a lot of action you won't find that here. It is a slow ride and you just have to enjoy it. I did wish the book had at least lead us to the lost city. Overall not a bad book just not one of my favorites.

I liked Amanda Hocking’s Trylle series when I read it in 2014 but I didn’t read the Kanin Chronicles which followed it. Seeing that The Lost City is set the world of Trylle, I was looking forward to revisiting that fantasy world. Nevertheless, this novel didn’t quite meet my expectations. The pacing was off and the character development was somewhat haphazard. It’s part mystery (What are Ulle and Eliana’s bloodlines and how are they different from the other trolls?) and part romance (Ulle and Pan, Ulle and the mystery man.) There is some suspense as to who are the good guys and whose motives are questionable. However, it’s not until the last few chapters that things start to pick up and the story ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. The Lost City basically sets the stage for the rest of this series. There is enough intrigue that I’ll continue with the next book in this series when it comes out.

I was throughly surprised by the complexity of this world. As a reader of epic fantasy I enjoy, relish in fact, in character driven stories that are also in rich worlds. Upon deeper digging, I found this part of a larger world, I'll be exploring soon. In this part one the stage it setting for what promises to be an extremely fantastical series. I'm huge on characters, so that even the secondary characters had backstory and their own drives made my heat happy. The threads are wound together in such an intricate web of intersecting lives, and differing motives, with a natural magic system and a governing system that served the story tension. The pace had a nice ebb and flow, a bit lazy in places that allowed you to swim along before the current picked up again, making it possible to read for long stretches and lose yourself as readers are want to do.

I was so excited to see there is a part two coming soon. I'm waiting eagerly to step into this world again. Fantasy fans are in for a treat with this story. Highly recommended.

In an original mix of fantasy and reality, secrets abound and open up to what promises to be an interesting series.

Shortly after her birth, Ulla was abandoned at an inn by a woman, who only left her first name. Years later, Ulla is a happy young woman, who has worked hard and made many close friends and even found something like family. Still, she wonders about her true origins. As a troll, she lives among the magical race, which living mostly separate from the modern human world, is slowly going extinct. In hopes of helping her research, she lands an elite internship in one of the magic world's most renowned centers. As a troll of mixed blood, she's grudgingly welcomed. As her research reveals more secrets than answers, and a strange girl runs across her path, Ulla begins to believe that there is much more to her and the magic world than they are being taught.

I've read a couple of this author's works before—some I've enjoyed more than others—but I'm always amazed by the variety of tales she tells. In this one, her imagination definitely takes flight and develops a rich world, which offers all sorts of possibilities for a series.

The first chapter does a great job at allowing the reader to immediately gain sympathy for the main character and launch into a gripping beginning. It has a true, fantasy world beginning with the inn and a warrior suddenly appearing at the onslaught of a storm. While the tension and mystery is immediately set, the tone hangs toward family and warmth, allowing the reader to become familiar with Ulla and her life first. Although an orphan, she's not to be pitied and actually has a very lovely situation...which I found refreshing. It sets the foundations for a rich series.

The introduction of the modern human world kind of threw me for a moment. The first chapters have Ulla living among the other trolls (which has a very normal, human atmosphere), but then, mentions of McDonald's and shakes suddenly came in. It created a surprising world, and that's not bad. While the modern world is there, it dangles more like a shadow on the sidelines and never really touches the tale in this first book. It will be interesting to see if that remains the case in the rest of the series. But the idea definitely makes the characters easy to relate to and brings familiar items like internet although the setting is actually heavy on the fantasy end.

Ulla's past and the secrets it brings with it are the main tension drivers in these pages. While there are a few light action scenes (and I do mean light), the pacing in this one is driven by Ulla's research and, even more, by those she meets. Something is always happening, which made me constantly curious as to what would happen next. But there were moments where the pacing slowed a bit, and I found myself breezing over a few paragraphs, or a page or two. Still, I didn't want to lay the book down either because I was very curious as to what Ulla would discover next.

The characters are rich in this book, which is probably what made it such a lovely read. It's clear that not everyone can be trusted, even though it isn't obvious yet who Ulla should really beware of. But each character has their very own personality and quirks, making it easy to grab a few favorites and be unsure of several others. In any case, there is a lot to come and it appears that it will be quite the adventure with all sorts of surprises.

Ulla has always wanted to know where she is from. Since she was abandoned as a baby and raised by strangers, she has very limited clues to help her in her search. Her greatest chance to find her mother and information about her family comes when she is accepted into an internship program at the Mimirin. She will work for free for most of the day and have the opportunity to search their archives after her shift for personal research. She learns early on that there is a chance her mother is connected to the Omte royal family. Some may feel that is a good thing, but since the royal family is very private, Ulla finds her research blocked at every turn. Will Ulla find out anything about the mother that left her behind? What distractions will she need to overcome during her search?

The Lost City is the first book in the Omte Origins series. This is a companion series to the Trylle series, yet readers can fully enjoy this story whether they have read the other two series or not. Hocking has taken the world she has already built in the previous stories and captured a new storyline that is easy to love. This story kept me pulled inside the entire time and I can’t wait for the next book, The Morning Flower, set to be released in August 2020.

This was good but most of the time I was just... bored. I think I probably should have done a reread of the other two series before reading this honestly...

Full disclosure: I skimmed some chapters around the middle so I could get to the end faster.

The Lost City was not the best reintroduction to Hocking’s work, personally. I loved her earlier stuff, Trylle included, but I didn’t connect with this book. One thing I did like was the chapter lengths–they were all pretty short and easy to read and made it so the pace held steady and was pretty fast throughout the story.

Everything else was not the best. There were a lot of info-dumps and telling-not-showing paragraphs which were super evident due to how short most chapters were. The characters were also kind of flat? They had their own personalities, but the dialogue didn’t help much with how stilted it was at times.

I was intriguing by Ulla’s past, but that wasn’t enough to make the rest of the book interesting to me? I was bored through most of it and had a hard time getting through the middle, so I skimmed about 20% of the story around the 50% point so I could get to the resolution and climax of the story to see if things for better. For me, they didn’t.

I’m sure YA Fantasy fans will love this; it just wasn’t the book for me. Also bothered me that the final 10% of the novel are only dedicated to ‘tribal facts’ and the glossary instead of plot.

I want to thank Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost City is an spin off of Amanda Hocking’s Trylle Series. I’ve always been a fan of Amanda’s so I was excited to receive this ARC for review.

This book centers around Ulla who has taken an internship to find her true identity. Left in the care of Inn takers as an infant she doesn’t know who she is or who her real parents are and she has set off to find them.

Set off on this new adventure, Ulla meets Eliana, an amnesiac who she befriends and tries to help find her identity. Once she meets her strange things start happening. Her apartment is broken into and ramshackled. She keeps “bumping” into this mysterious man. There is an intruder outside her apartment.

There is a little bit of a budding romance between Ulla and a coworker named Pan. I would like to see a little more development between the two because I really like him but I have the feeling that the mysterious man will play a role here at some point too.

As the book goes on, Ulla (as well as myself) have more questions than answers. I’m not in love with the Title of this book because it’s not until the end that you even find out there is a lost city. So it seemed a little misleading. The glossary at the end was helpful to show relationships between the cities or troll communities. I’m hoping the next book will be clearer and we can see more character development.

Hocking's The Lost City is an enjoyable read, with compelling characters and the tip of fascinating worldbuilding. Her protagonists (trolls, the Scandinavian type and not the under the bridge type), live in our world just out of our knowledge, through magic and trickery. Hocking dips her toes into worldbuilding, doling out bits and pieces of an overlooked mythological system as the story progresses. While a little confusing at times, I enjoy this style of worldbuilding, rather than a huge data dump at the beginning of a story. My only gripe would be the conclusion; while clearly set up for sequels, the ending felt lackluster and seemed to come out of nowhere. I definitely will be watching for book 2, but felt the hook could have been stronger.

I love Amanda's writing and if you have not read her books now is the perfect time to dive into her books. The pacing on this one was a little slower than the rest of the books in the other series. This book was a book that drew us into getting to know the characters and expanding the world. The action just started at the very end. It definitely left me wanting more.

The Lost City was like a delicious appetizer and I can not wait for the main course and dessert. The great thing is the release of the books in this series are close together. I also enjoyed the body positive representation and asexual representation. If you have not read Amanda's books I highly recommend starting now and with any 1st book in this series.

Ulla was left as an infant and raised by a kind troll couple, she being a TOMB (troll of mixed blood). When she is old enough, she applies for and is accepted to go do research about trolls and is given the opportunity to do some research of her own on where she came from. All she knows is the first name of the female soldier who left her that snowy night. While at Mimirin, she makes friends and has many adventures, to include trying to discover who Eliana is (she literally dropped out of nowhere with amnesia) and why she is different.

I think this just wasn't my cup of tea. I haven't read any of her other books, so it's possible there's a disconnect with trying to learn who the characters are? The story felt really slow. I was never sure where it was trying to lead, and therefore it never fully captured my attention. There is so much history and background about the trolls that bogged the story down for me as well. I do appreciate that it was clean, though!! I may try the next book just to see if there's more to it, but while it was ok, it's not my favorite. But, I'm hit or miss when it comes to fantasy, so this just happened to be a bit of a miss for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an ARC for my honest opinion!

What a lovely gift to return to this world I fell in love with so many years ago! Familiar world, new story. Coming of age, good plot and lots of action. The reason I will continue to be a fan of Amanda Hocking! Thanks netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love this author and the other two sets of books set in this world, so I was super excited about this book. Sad to say it just kinda dragged. I know there is a ton of history and more world building going on, but I'm not connecting with the main characters as much. Maybe it's just me and the situation the world is in at the moment so I will give this another chance. I know there is a second book coming and I'm hearing that it's more like the other books so will hold out hope.