Overall, I enjoyed this book and I'm keen to read book three and find out how it all wraps up. It's so easy to read, it has pop-culture references and the commentary is hilarious and relatable.

I unfortunately forgot to download the e-book on my kindle before it was archived and haven’t read book 1 yet, so I wasn’t able to read and review it (on time). Since I Must give a star rating, I’ve given it 3 stars to stay neutral/in the middle. Sorry to the publisher for not having gotten around to actually read it. I never request a book without the best of intention to read it and review it, since I know how important it is to the authors in particular. But sometimes life happens and/or reading preferences change so much that you just don’t always get around to read a certain book anymore, even though at the time of requesting I was definitely planning to actually read it of course.

This book has been collecting dust on my NetGalley shelf for ages, and I've felt so guilty about it. But today, I learned of some of the violently racist things a Wednesday Books employee has been spouting and thought it was time to clean house on here.

I will be reviewing this book on Goodreads and Amazon at a later date since the author has absolutely nothing to do with this. But I will not be promoting any books from Wednesday Books, St. Martins Press, or other related Macmillan imprints.

Anyone who tolerates racism is not okay with me.

Give me more!!! I was ready for this one.
Again. I'm pretty sure I was refreshing Netgalley for days waiting for this to be ablento request.

You could not pull me away from the Trylle world if you tried. I mena I know eventually I'll have to. There's only one book left.
But I couldn't wait to see whatbwas going to happen to Ulla.
She had been so relatable in the forst book. And I loved her just as much in this one.
Plus as we traveled around the Omte world. It was so intriguing. In previous series of this universe. That was always such a mystery and almost a little scary seeming. And seeing it in such a new light was exciting

"The Morning Flower" by Amanda Hocking is the second book in the "Omte Origins" series, following the adventures of Ulla Tulin, a half-Omte, half-human girl with the power to control the elements. In this book, Ulla travels to the Omte capital city of Elvarden to continue her journey to find her father and learn about her heritage.

Hocking's world-building is rich and immersive, with descriptions of the different cultures and traditions of the various races that inhabit the world. Ulla is a strong and relatable protagonist, and her struggles with her identity and her place in the world are central to the story.

The plot is fast-paced with many twists and turns, keeping the reader engaged and invested in the story. The romance subplot adds an extra layer of intrigue. Overall, "The Morning Flower" is a well-crafted young adult fantasy novel with engaging characters and an immersive world. It's a highly enjoyable read that will leave readers eager for more. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a thrilling and magical adventure.

I absolutely love everything by Amanada! This one was no different. I really enjoy the different take on Trolls and all of their origins. There was a lot of world building in book 1 so I was disappointed that there wasn't much action in this the second edition of the series.

I connected with the characters and their plight. Ulla just wants to know where she comes from and who she is. Haven't we all been there? So, the world starts to unfurl, and all new troll communities are exposed.

I cannot wait for book 3! I will always recommend this world to anyone looking for a different spin on already conceived myths and creatures. This series is very YA and falls into several tropes but is still a solid read.

All right, as second books in a trilogy go, this one was pretty decent. It did a good job of expanding even more on the worlds of the Omte and the Skojare, which was really nice. I also feel like we see things getting more complicated for Ulla as she tries to piece certain details of her past together. Her search for answers does actually wrap up some dangling threads from the first book, while opening up more mysteries to be solved in the third and concluding novel.

What I continue to say for Amanda Hocking’s books is that they are quick reads, easy to fall into, and pretty entertaining. And I’ll always marvel at how quickly she can write the stories. Plus, there’s the fact that she writes the whole trilogy or quartet before publishing them, so they come out with a very short span of time between them. These books are excellent for binge reading.

But, after having read so many series by Amanda Hocking, I do feel that so many of them feel so similar. They follow almost the same story beats of action or information revelation. There’s a comfort in stories being the same. It makes the books easy to pick up when dealing with a reading slump. But, there’s also something to be said for books that start off feeling similar and then have a moment or two that catches you completely off guard and surprises you.

I wish I could say that happens with the Omte Origins trilogy, but in the two books of the trilogy I’ve read and reviewed so far, it has been a good and enjoyable read, but predictable.

It is cool to see Ulla learn a bit more about who she is and where she comes from and such. And I do like that with each series set in the Trylle world we’re learning more about the different troll groups. There are definitely similarities between them all, but there’s also enough differences to give a little bit of uniqueness, which is nice.

With the reviews for this trilogy coming to a close, it makes me wonder what is next for Amanda Hocking. Hopefully more books, and maybe even books that aren’t set in the Trylle world.

Ms Hocking has a large following at my high school library and I buy all her books. They circulate well and I rarely see them once I get them.

After reading The Lost City, I was excited to read this book tolerance what happens to Ulla. However, this book really seemed like a filler because not much action happens in this story. It seems like it mostly setting it up for the third book. Thus, this novel does not really hold on its own snd is not as good as The Lost City! Still, this is still a creative fantasy filled with a lush world-building! I recommend this for fans of Anne McCaffrey!

This follow up to The Lost City was even more enjoyable and fun!

This book is all about Ulla’s journey to discover her identity, and as you’d expect she does a bit of traveling to get those answers. I really enjoyed how much this book built upon the world.

There were some great plot twists in this as well, and the burgeoning romance was sweet and nicely slow burn. Looking forward to seeing what happens in the third book!

I picked this up for the first time last year and couldn’t get into it, I had lost my cousin to covid so put it down to that but I picked it up again recently after being in a huge reading slump and I still unfortunately couldn’t connect with it.

*posted 9/23/21

I was left with so many questions at the end of Lost City and really it was just... eh? While I can’t say that I love this book, I will say that it was a step up from the previous one. That being said, I still had many of the same issues with this book as a previous one.

One of my issues with the first book was that the characters felt flat to me. That’s still pretty much the same here. I didn’t see any real growth for any of them and they had a pretty static personality. They didn’t display a range of emotions that made them feel real. Nothing ever seemed to bother them. It was them always being positive or happy (maybe occasionally drunk or tired) but nothing else. It made it hard to connect to them or care.

Ulla still had many of the answers to her questions handed to her or presented from someone else. By that I mean someone else would discover a clue instead of Ulla. Now, this wouldn’t bother me if she was carrying her weight and also discovering more information, but that wasn’t the case. Ulla was usually the one hitting dead ends. I just wanted her to be more of a driving force in this mystery.

Although, I will admit that we got a lot more answers to our questions in this book than in the last one. Like in the first book, they mostly come at the end. Again, it wouldn’t bother me as much if we got more clues along the way but the only other clothes we were given felt so small that they were practically insignificant. It made the story feel slow and dragged out.

The ending, however, moved pretty fast. All the big questions were answered but I didn’t feel any satisfaction getting them. The twist was interesting, but predictable and it wasn’t really enough to make up for the slow pacing and underdeveloped characters.

Overall, this book was marginally better, but it’s still needed to work.

I love that Amanda has returned to Trylle.

What I like best about this novel is that it is set in our current day, and Amanda writes like she's a mix of Holly Black and Dhonielle Clayton with humorous and sweeping honey filled descriptions.

The Morning Flower is super slow and definitely has signs of second book syndrome. Not much happens - even when being compared to The Lost City, where not much happens either - but the events seem to all have a purpose. I guess I'll have to read the last book to see if that's true.

I still love these characters and the Omte world, even though I haven't read the original series. The Omte Origins works pretty well as a standalone series, so I'd say you don't even have to read the Trylle series.

This book is slow, but I still liked it.

A great return to a fascinating world! I really enjoyed reading this book and Amanda's writing. It made me want to read more about the world and her characters.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Great plot, Great writing.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

THE MORNING FLOWER is the second book I have read in this series and I was hoping more something more. I must say though, the author's ability to create a world and all its facets is superb. However, this one didn't grip me or make me want to read the final installment which I am sad to say.

This was on par with the first book in the series, and still a fun time! It kept me engaged throughout and I enjoyed myself, though it just doesn't stick out enough for me to think of it when I'm recommending something. It's good and fun, but not where my mind goes when people ask me for recs.

Book one left me hanging and wanting more and book two did not disappoint at all! I can’t wait to continue this series!

I loved the first one and this second installment did not leave me disappointed at all... even with a cliffhanger! I can’t wait for the third book.