The Morning Flower

The Omte Origins #2

by Amanda Hocking

New York Times bestselling author Amanda Hocking returns to the magical world of the Trylle with The Morning Flower, the second book in the Omte Origins arc.

Welcome back to the kingdom of the Omte—a forest realm where secrets and danger, human nature and ancient mythology collide.


Where truth is stranger than fiction.

Searching for answers to her own shrouded origins, Ulla Tulin’s journey of exploration takes a sudden turn when Eliana is kidnapped. Turning toward the Omte capital instead of the institute where she hoped to learn the truth about her identity, Ulla must put Eliana’s welfare before her own—a sacrifice that will present all new dangers to them both.


When history is still unwritten.

Ulla never expected that once she arrived she’d discover the identity of a Skojare man who crossed paths with her mother—a man who could very well be her father. Given the man’s connections to the Älvolk, a secret society tasked with protecting the location of the First City, Ulla is soon dispatched to Sweden to find him.


One woman will dare to go wherever fate will take her…

Now Ulla, along with her maybe boyfriend Pan, finds herself on a desperate race against time to locate her kin—who could very well pose a danger to her kingdom. Nobody and nothing is as it seems as she penetrates the dark heart of the Älvolk…all the way to the secret Lost Bridge to the First City, where an unknown future awaits for Ulla and her kind.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Young Adult Fantasy, Audiobook

352 pages, Paperback

First published August 4, 2020

About the author

AMANDA HOCKING is the author of over twenty young adult novels, including the New York Times bestselling Trylle Trilogy and Kanin Chronicles. Her love of pop culture and all things paranormal influence her writing. She spends her time in Minnesota, taking care of her menagerie of pets and working on her next book.

Several of her books have made the New York Times Bestsellers list. Her zombie series, The Hollows, has been adapted into a graphic novel by Dynamite. She has published over twenty novels, including The Kanin Chronicles, the Watersong quartet, My Blood Approves series, the Valkyrie duology, and Freeks .
For more info about her and her books, here are some other places to check out and ways to contact her:

Website: www.hockingbooks.com
Amazon Author Page: Amanda Hocking
Patreon: Amanda Hocking
Instagram: @amanda_hocking
BlueSky: AmandaHocking.bsky.social
Threads: @amanda_hocking
YouTube: aehocking
Facebook: Amanda Hocking Fans
Etsy: Hocking Books by Amanda
TikTok: @amanda_hocking
Goodreads: Amanda Hocking
Spotify : Amanda Hocking

Reviews

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this one hoping for a little more action/excitement. I was more forgiving of the lack of that element in the first book because it's a lot of setup on the world and plot in general but I really needed to see that progression in the sequel, and through the first two thirds of this book I did not. The Morning Flower was actually set up quite the same as the first book in terms of very little progression until the end. Again with this one, the plot and world are interesting but I can't help but to be left feeling like a lot of the search for answers and rather mundane details could be condensed greatly in the first 2/3 of this story. It drags. It made it hard for me to fully get into and that's not what I want in a sequel. It's a lot to wade through to get to the excitement, just to end on another cliffhanger.

Even other sub-elements like the romance are basically non-starters. When done well a 'will they or won't they' can be fun and torturously exciting. Ulla and Pan or even the hinted at spark of attraction with Jem-Kruck just never had that integral draw. The desire to see either happen at all never fully formed for me. The characters were so apprehensive and not fully into it that how in the world could I as a reader be? Surprisingly I think a lot of this book was meant to be a slow progression to more between Ulla and Pan but their lack of passion and outward interest definitely fed into mine and I just didn't end up caring one way or another.

I was really hoping book one was an exception and not the rule and unfortunately that proved otherwise for me here. While I would like to see what happens next in the story, it's just not enough that I am content waiting to reach the end of another novel to get a little further.

I received an arc of this book from Wednesday Books via Netgalley and this is my honest review.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amanda Hocking knows how to finish her books... WITH MAJOR CLIFFHANGINGS!!!!

I really liked this second book in the Omte Origins series. Loved to find my favorite characters once again, loved to see the new adventures of Ulla, trying to find her family...

All laced in folklore, the world building of this series is amazing. There is a lot of work in there, and it shows.

Can't wait to know what will happen in book 3!

Many thanks to Wednesday Books for the complimentary e-copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Sandi Hudson · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I began reading The Morning Flower I didn't realize it was the 2nd book in a series. Oopsie! It's unfair to the book and the author to rate the story based on that so after I go back to the first book, I'll probably come back to revise my rating.

Without any background or history the storyline was extremely confusing, although it became more familiar during the progression. Trying to find a kidnapped child entrusted to her care, Ulla also becomes entwined in finding out about her own heritage and the mysteries of First City. The romance seemed sweet and naive if a little awkward.

I'm sure this will be a worthy read if I just go back and get the foundation I missed in the first book!

[R ♥]

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a review copy. All opinions are my own.

instagram | goodreads

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Amanda Hocking. She never lets me down! Great book everyone should try her series. All of them!

[Kelly (Diva Booknerd) · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the Omte Origins series, we hear more about the origins of the trolls and their Scandinavian heritage, their history tightly woven among the Viking folklore. The mythology and legends of children's fairytales coming to life was beautiful and I hope it might lead the way to future series' set within this magical world.

It's been quite a while since a series has captivated me so entirely and that's one of my favourite aspects of Amanda Hocking's writing. They're entertaining reads and I inhaled both books within days. Being back in the Trylle world was lovely and although the Omte Origins series features an entirely new community of troll, characters and storylines, it was comforting to be back in a world I was familiar with. The Morning Flower, the second Omte Origins instalment is wonderfully adventurous, a beautiful exploration of folklore and culture, of lost cities and found family.

[Julie - One Book More · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Morning Flower, the second book in The Omte Origins, picks up where The Lost City ended. Ulla and Pan are traveling to New Orleans, the Omte capital, to learn more about Ulla’s birth parents. They also want to find out about the First City and Eliana who was kidnapped at the end of the first book.

One of Amanda Hocking’s strengths as a storyteller is her ability to create these intricate worlds that are detailed and vivid. This story, for example, delves quite deeply into troll history, which I found fascinating. As Ulla learns more about her birth parents and her history, the reader learns so much about the various troll communities across the globe (and possibly beyond?) and their relationships, or lack of, with each other.

This is not a fast-paced or action-packed story. Instead, it is a story about a young woman’s journey to find herself. Ulla has always felt like she doesn’t belong, and she still feels this way. In searching for her identity and finding out about her history, she might gain a sense of belonging and self. Though there are parts that feel slow, the intriguing mystery of Ulla’s parentage, as well as the mystery behind Eliana’s kidnapping, pushed me to finish the story.

I would be remiss if I didn’t discuss the love story since that’s usually my favorite part. Unfortunately, Ulla’s actions were frustrating. Just when it seemed like they were moving forward in their relationship, Ulla would back off or hesitate. Her relationship with Pan has so much potential, but Ulla’s indecisiveness puts their romance on the back-burner. She has a lot to deal with and argues that a relationship wouldn’t be wise. However, I predict that Ulla won’t be able to resist Pan’s unwavering support and devotion for long!

The last third of the book was faster paced than the rest of the story, and there are several surprising revelations. I’m curious to see how this affects Ulla in the next book. Thanks so much to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

[Jan farnworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this second novel we continue to follow Ulla on her hunt to find her parents and along with this a quest to find the quirky Eliana which we met in book one. These kind of stories always hook me cause their a mystery to be solved and usually it involves something way bigger then what we thought.

The world building for this series is phenomenal and i really can see myself as we travel to find the lost city. I hurt for Ulla as she uncovers things about her mom and farther that were complete out left field. We don’t learn much about Eliana or even see her on this part of the adventure.

I really love how this series is playing out but now i sad cause i have to wait tell January 2021 to see how it all ends.

[Kai (CuriousCompass) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars! The Morning Flower is a rich, decadent, fascinating sequel that not only improves upon the first book in retrospect, but also brings in a lot more callbacks to previous books in the franchise and brings things full-circle in many regards. It's going to be hard not to totally nerd out over this one, but luckily, I've got one of my handy bullet-point Table of Contents lists to keep this (mostly spoiler-free) review focused! Let's go:


-Fulatrask
-Road Trip/Throwback
-Crystal Kingdom Connection
-Scholarly
-A Deeper Conspiracy
-Omte & Stereotypes
-Ancient History
-Soft Romance
-Finding Heritage
-Uncontacted Tribes
-Expanding World
-PLOT TWISTS GALORE
-Answers Raise Questions
-Time Dilation?


Fulatrask

Our novel opens with a return to Fulatrask, the Omte capital hidden in the swamps of Louisiana. Last seen in Crystal Kingdom when Brynn and Konstantin visited to request Omte help during the Kanin Civil War...we all remember how well that went, right? :/ But this time around Ulla and Pan are the ones heading to the swamps, and they're rubbing elbows with locals during peacetime, not royals and politicians during wartime...it's a wholly different experience and it was fascinating seeing more of this locale! The entire opening half of the book was so absorbing, partially due to the setting, and partially due to the Ulla/Pan/Rikky trio.

We get to visit The Ugly Vulture on-screen/on-page for the first time, too! The bar where the last Omte king was killed in a drunken brawl. It was a great gem and felt like the best kind of fanservice. The entire affair reminded me a lot of Crystal Kingdom, which makes sense, considering...

Road Trip/Throwback

The novel opens with Ulla and Pan on a road trip to Fulatrask, just like Crystal Kingdom opened with Brynn and Konstantin on a similar one. How time flies. I truly enjoyed the fun trips in this novel. There are two trips that essentially split the book in half, with a brief visit back home to the Mimirin separating them. The road trip with Ulla and Pan in the beginning really threw me back to the past with Brynn and Konstantin, and the second one to Sweden threw me back to Ice Kissed, when Ridley and Brynn had their first mysterious and tense stay in Storvatten! The throwbacks don't stop there, though...

Crystal Kingdom Connection

The Morning Flower revisits a lot of plot threads from the book Crystal Kingdom: The comparison between the road trips is undeniable, but we also revisit the Fulatrask Royal Palace, Queen Bodil and her son (and his vulture), and are reunited with Bekk Vallin, the one Omte who *did* help Brynn during the Kanin Civil War, all in this book! It truly felt as if we were seeing more of the effects of the Kanin Civil War play out. We were sheltered from it in book one because Ulla is more focused on her own personal life and the happenings at the Mimirin, but here she's traveling to places and meeting with people who are much more closely effected by the fallout of that war. It has further evolved the current emotional and social connections between the tribes, and the situation between the Omte, Kanin, Vittra, Trylle, and Skojare is still tense from the entire thing...

Scholarly

Like I mentioned in my review of The Lost City (or at least, I think I did) Ulla is a much more scholarly character, with scholarly friends. She's an intern. Her pals are assistants, researchers, students, etc. In the Trylle Trilogy, Wendy was a royal heir, a princess, a politician, and add a dash of the chosen one trope in there for good measure. Contrast that with The Kanin Chronicles, where Brynn is our action girl war hero, a lethal soldier dedicated to her kingdom. And now we've got Ulla, a scholarly, nerdy, bookish type who relies more on her brain and books to get things done, fully rounding out the perfect trio of main characters each designed to show us a different side of this world.

Ulla and her friends must rely on their access to ancient archives, files, books, catacombs, and legends and folk lore to get to the bottom of this mystery. They use blood testing and genealogy and try to piece together webs of ancestry and history and are sometimes thwarted by the worst villain of all...bureaucratic red tape!

But seriously, I love our cast of nerds who must rely on study, research, cleverness, and politely requesting the right documents and interviews up the chain of command at their university in order to get the right information to try and save the day. Go books!

A Deeper Conspiracy

But when there's a deeper conspiracy afoot, it's hard to know who to trust. The leaders at the Mimirin are clearly bullshitters out for their own good. They know more than they're letting on, and despite running a prestigious university and research institute, they seem to be more in the business of gathering information than sharing it. At least with new interns and lackeys who are asking the right questions about the wrong things...

Ulla and her friends are working to get tiny pieces of a larger puzzle, and it often feels like all their clues are disjointed and don't fit together right. I love it! This is how a conspiracy should *really* feel. It's bigger than one person. It's spread across multiple different events and when the people who know about it only know bits and pieces, it gets even harder to put them together; many of the people involved in these past events don't understand them in their full scope themselves, from lost cities and confusing history, culture clashes, mistranslations in old books, royal families trying to keep their clandestine drama secret, and people who were involved have spread out around the globe, too. Many trying to actively distance themselves from their past; not answer questions about it.

Put that all together and you have one huge conspiracy that spans multiple countries, continents, and troll tribes, along with a timeline of hundreds if not thousands of years? It's going to be a huge, jumbled mess to put it all together, and the patterns that do emerge can be confusing themselves. It truly felt like a web of conspiracy and ancient mystery were evading our heroes, and I was obsessed with it every step of the way, to the point where I could not put this book down because I HAVE TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON!

Omte & Stereotypes

It's a common trope in fantasy or even urban fantasy to have monster hunters putting down races of mythical creatures and holding extermination views but have it justified because, well, they're just mindless beasts, right? That's in effect here with the Omte to a degree: the prejudice against them is justified because they're ugly and surly and grouchy and kinda dumber than the other tribes, right? So why not look down on them? We've been told repeatedly across two previous trilogies that the Omte are big, dumb, and slow, but what if that's not the case?

All my life I'd been hearing about how all the Omte were so ugly, and I'd been repeatedly told that I should feel "lucky" for being attractive "by Omte standards." I'd always thought it was a shitty backhanded compliment to begin with, but now I was seeing that it wasn't even true. I wasn't "hot" for an Omte--I was average at best.

It was the strangest feeling. I should've been saddened to learn I was even less attractive than I thought I was, that there were plenty of prettier girls than me, like Rikky and Bekk, but it was actually a relief.

Even in school, I had been taught that the Omte were dumb, ugly, and violent. These were "facts" that had been repeated to me over and over. By teachers, by peers, by nearly every piece of troll literature I'd ever read. I'd been led to believe a negative stereotype about the Omte, my tribe, myself.

And now I had to wonder, how many other things had I learned about the Omte that weren't true? About other tribes? About humans?"

Ancient History

The Omte, their history, and the history of all troll tribes is far more strange and ancient than we may have been led to believe, because just like humans don't entirely understand our origins, just the overall basics, the same can be said for trolls. How exactly did they emerge? How did they evolve differently from other human species? These questions are brought up as the web of conspiracy grows deeper and deeper, taking us much further back through time than anticipated. The ancient secrets of the troll world may soon be revealed, and the anticipation lingers throughout this novel, with what hints and tidbits we do receive only being that much more enticing.

Soft Romance

"When you're around, things don't seem quite so bad. Like even if things get messy or difficult, you'll be there to offer advice or make me laugh... Sorry, I'm rambling."

"I like it when you ramble."

Ulla and Pan are cute as fuck. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I honestly have a huge crush on Pan because I imagine him as a cute sort-of thotty Instagram model I follow. >.> It helps that he's so sweet, and he's not prone to being weird or aggressive or possessive. He doesn't exactly feel like a boy next door type, either though. There have to be more nice guy character archetypes than that, but I don't know what you'd call his. Studly prince charming? Yeah. He is technically a prince, too. An outcast half-human unclaimed bastard one, sure, but he's still technically a prince.

He relaxed back down on the bed, content with just holding my hand. "I would follow you anywhere, and it's worth whatever risk there is."

"You're so cute when you're all high on Alvolk medicine."

"I'm always cute," he joked.

"That's true," I agreed with a laugh, and he yawned loudly. "You're tired. I should let you sleep."

"Stay with me until I fall asleep." He tugged at my hand. "Please."

I WOULD DIE FOR THEM OKAY? T.T

Finding Heritage

Ulla is ultimately on a quest to find her birth parents and her heritage. No matter how large the conspiracy grows or how much the world she inhabits becomes at stake, this quest started with her parents for her, and it will always be a question that haunts her until she is able to learn where she comes from, who her family is, and what their history is. Ulla is trying to reclaim her culture and heritage, like a lot of people who have been given up as babies. All she has are hints, but to her, understanding her life and where she's going to end up means trying to glean some answers about her past. It was a touching story I think a lot of people will particularly relate, especially anyone who has been in the position of trying to find their birth parents, or adoptees who were raised outside their culture of origin and feel cut off from it.

Uncontacted Tribes

The quest leads Ulla and Pan to some uncontacted tribes, which I thought was particularly brilliant! We've had the five troll tribes since, well, 2009? 2010? Around there. To learn there could be more hidden, uncontacted tribes out there is an amazing, jaw-dropping plot twist! It makes perfect sense, and Ulla does in fact compare it to reading about human uncontacted tribes in old copies of National Geographic. Some tribes and communities are more reclusive than others, and some of them have good reasons, from immunity and diseases, to culture, to their tense history with outsiders, and more. Bringing this into the troll world richens it immensely in my humble little opinion.

Expanding World

And a LOT of this novel is about expanding the world of the trolls and the franchise in general. It's the final trilogy in a trilogy of trilogies, so it makes sense for Amanda Hocking to be pulling out all of the stops for this arc in the series. There are some really surprising developments in here that I think should both surprise and delight longtime fans of this world who have the history of the previous two trilogies to go on.

PLOT TWISTS GALORE

Speaking of surprises, hoooo boy, did this book have a lot of them! I was particularly shocked by some of the twists later in the book that happen in such quick succession it left my head spinning. It was like Amanda Hocking one-two punched me upside the head. And I thank her for that!

Nothing will ever be the same. And I'm not just being melodramatic. No matter how this information comes back into play going forward, it changes everything for some of our main characters. Considering the character who reveals this info may have ulterior motives, I'm keeping in mind he may be lying or engaging in wishful thinking, but I'm partial to the idea he was telling the truth. Only book three will reveal for sure, but hot damn if it didn't make me shout and throw the book down to pace my room in shock.

Well played, book. Well played.

Answers Raise Questions

Like all great mysteries and books, the answers to our questions come with even more questions in tow, leaving us with only half a picture, told from a biased perspective. Now we have more to go on than ever before, BUT the stakes are raised, AND we have no clue who to trust, who is telling the truth, or if they're telling the whole truth.

Time Dilation?

My theory? Time dilation! I don't know where exactly these people are coming from, and I don't know what their motives are, but I do know whether the bridge in the First City leads to another dimension, or another planet, it almost certainly involves time dilation, like in season 7 of The 100. This portal of sorts is messing with time, and that makes me worry for what Eliana's going through, God knows where.

IN CONCLUSION The Morning Flower had everything I could have wanted and more. It felt like a very transitional sequel and a sort of 'getting there' book, but without feeling at all like filler. It was full of genuine revelations, developments, and character exploration that made it all so worth it. It's probably more of a 4.5 than an outright 5, but this is my review, so I can round up ratings if I please, and for this book, I certainly do!

I cannot wait for book three and my hopes are that we get an Ulla/Brynn/Wendy team-up to close off the franchise! (I am so desperate for new Wendy scenes and content you have no idea. WHERE is my Vittra/Trylle queen? I need her to save everyone. In fact if her and Brynn were here they'd just threaten everybody into spilling the beans, and then the story would be over in seconds.)

Highly recommend this whole franchise! 1 Trylle: Switched, Torn, Ascend. 2 Kanin: Frostfire, Ice Kissed, Crystal Kingdom. 3 Omte: The Lost City, The Morning Flower, The Ever After.

[Toya (thereadingchemist) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Morning Flower picks up right were The Lost City left off. Following the kidnapping of Eliana, Ulla And Pan are headed to the Omte capital in search of answers about Ulla’s parents as well as to figure out what exactly happened to Eliana.

Where The Lost City is more action focused, The Morning Flower focuses more on Ulla’s personal journey to understanding herself. The Morning Flower still boasts the intricate world building that Amanda Hocking is known for, but we really dive deep into what it means to be Omte and the history of that tribe. I thought it provided a greater insight into this tribe that up until now has remained a huge mystery within the troll kingdoms.

I don’t want to give anything away, but there are definitely a lot of revelations in this book that I didn’t see coming. This book does end on quite a cliffhanger, but I can’t wait to see how this trilogy wraps up in the end.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing an advanced listening copy. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.

[Lisa Mandina · Rating 5 out of 5]

So this is the second book in this series, and while I had planned to read it this summer right after I read the first one, The Lost City, as I keep mentioning, my reading/reviewing schedules just don’t follow my plans. This second book ended on a major cliffhanger! Fortunately I do have the third book to review already, but again, I haven’t been able to get to it as soon as I would have liked. But since it doesn’t come out till January, I do have it scheduled in next month to read in time for it’s publishing date. I plan to give it its own post too since I’ve got it scheduled in like I did with the first one. I love that this one went down to Louisiana for a lot of the story. It was neat to once again see the trolls in different areas of the world. There was a big twist, but I wondered if it was true as I read, because I just didn’t know if I could trust the different people in the story. All I know is that I’m excited to get to this one next month to find out who was telling the truth and fix that cliffhanger!

Review first posted on Lisa Loves Literature.

[Alyson Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book: The Morning Flower
Author: Amanda Hocking
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Wednesday Books, for providing me with an ARC.

I just going to be honest. This book clearly had middle book syndrome. Amanda’s second books usually feel this way. She does a great job at building up in the second book and uses the third book to bring everything home. I am not worried; I’ve read a lot of Amanda’s other books and she always manages to deliver on her endings. I’m just saying that you really shouldn’t expect to have all of your questions answered from the first book in this one. However, don’t worry, this book is still well down and well worth the read.

The Morning Flower picks right up where The Lost City left off. Ulla and the gang are still trying to find Eliena and learn about Ulla’s past. Ulla is still morphing into a strong and brave young woman. We see her develop deep bounds with the characters and see just what she will do to protect those who she cares about. We get to see her and the others travel throughout the troll world and see how their bonds grow stronger. This is something that I have always loved about Amanda’s writing: the deep bonds between the characters. Sure, we have romance, but I really enjoy the friendships. I like how even those who weren’t close at the beginning of the story grow to being close. Does that make sense?

The worldbuilding is amazing. No, you don’t have to read the other Trylle books to understand the world; you do have to read The Lost City first. I have been reading about the Trylle for a while now and I must say that the more I read, the more I like the world. Amanda has built world hidden from the modern one. This world has the perfect mix of magic and human technology. Yes, this books are low fantasy and have a soft magic system; if that is not your cup of tea, then don’t waste your time. I really like the mix of the old and new. Plus, adding in a little Norse mythology is just great. It just makes the magic system seem that much more real and ancient.

I also like the fact that Amanda’s books pick right up where the previous one in that ARC left off. Since her book series are published so close together, you really don’t need a recap. I like that we get right back into the thick of things and get the plot moving. The way that she manages to loop everything in together is great; very few authors are able to pull it off. It honestly feels like each book is TV episode, which makes it so easy to binge her books.

Anyway, I had a great time reading this. I can’t wait for book three, which I don’t think has a publication date yet. The Morning Flower comes out on August 4, 2020.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/aoTEI568Lwg

[Permanently_Booked · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I’ve heard when it comes to Hocking’s trilogies is that she has a starter novel that brings you into the world and background, a middle book that details the journey and then a final climax that completely gives readers the ending they look for. This is my first trilogy by her and so far it is sticking to that course.

The first book was definitely a starter for me and now this is more depth into the journey for the golden ticket so-to-speak. This novel picks up right where the first left off and you do need to read the first book to understand this one. Ulla is still on the hunt for her birth parents and the kidnapped Eliana. What she learns about herself along the way paves the road for book 3.

The world building has not let me down yet. Hocking has a beautiful mastery that depicts the Troll world and the different tribes. What I would love to see is a detailed map in the hardcover editions. Besides that though is the descriptive detail of each scene that pulls you in and lets you sit beside Ulla and her friends.

I can’t say too much about this one without giving away details from Book one. I am a little disappointed that this one didn’t have as much excitement as the first and I kinda lost my connection to the characters. I am not sure if it was due to lack of action or the amount of time spent in the journey. I am still looking forward to seeing how everything comes together in the end.

Thank you Wednesday Books and Amanda Hocking for the opportunity to read both books in this trilogy so far. All thoughts are solely my own.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the sequel to the Omte Origins series a bit more than the first book. I feel like it’s because this book had *more oomph* — if that makes sense. The relationship between Ulla and Pan is better developed and actually discussed between them in a very mature, commendably responsible way that I rarely see in fictional relationships. While the characters themselves don’t come across to me as super complex, their fierce loyalty to one another really makes the book for me.

I enjoyed getting to see more insight into this world. The mysterious magical elements felt darker (where I feel like the envelope wasn’t quite pushed enough in the first book). However, I still had some of the same issues of the worldbuilding feeling vague and intangible. The different cultural groups for the trolls were further explained and seem to be like a microcosm of our society. However, I think the lack of interaction between the troll world and human society prevented the narrative from really *going there* with this concept.

Comparable books:
The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu
Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd
Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell

***I received an e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

***My review is also posted on my blog!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Morning Flower is the second book in the Omete Origins and it was great. Ulla took the internship at the Mimirin to find out where she comes from but the search has been slow but not unexciting running into a troll fairytale character and meets Eliana, a mysterious girl who comes from mysterious origins and is a troll but not who goes missing is certainly exciting but things get really amped up in this story. Ulla gets some of the answers she's looking for but those answers only lead to more questions, possibly dangerous questions.

Ulla and Pan have grown close, I like how he is there for her in friendship first then maybe romantically, really these two need to get their act together. Well, Ulla and Pan set off to Louisiana, to an Omete city to look into a clue Ulla found about her mother. Ulla may be part Omete but she was never really around the trolls, she grew up in Iskyla, in the outer regions of the troll world, and then worked for Finn's family in Trylle so the only thing she knows about the Omete is what the other trolls have taught her. After visiting the Omete city, deep in the swamp of Louisiana it seems that the trolls have let their snobbery and prejudices color their look on the Omete, yes they are huge and aren't asymmetric but they are far from the ugly bloodthirsty oafs that the other trolls make them out to be. The Omete trolls are kind, open, pretty, and just as smart as the other trolls. Ulla had this certain outlook about who she is because she is Omete and now she knows the truth about them and it warmed her heart.

Ulla learns some surprising things in the swamp but nothing that she thought would help her but when she returns to the Mimirin and has a conversation with Jem-Krek who was last seen spiriting Eliana away it opens up whole new avenues for her to search which leads her, Pan, Dagny, and Elof to Sweden to search for the first troll city. There they expect to find clues to who Ulla is, make scientific discoveries, and find Eliana. How Amanda tied everything together was genius, I read the story and it made sense but for the life of me I can't figure out how she did it. The story tied so perfectly together with all these clues that just sort fit and need a little something to put them together. I have some major questions about what is happening at the Mimirin, like why are they interested in Ulla? Why are they fitting the bill for this trip? Finally, what is it exactly that they want to know?

In Sweden, Ulla found the answers she was looking for even if they weren't what she expected but something shady is going on in Sweden, and the people that she meets there are unlike anything else. I wish Ulla could have had happier answers to her questions but more important questions have come up. Things get very magical and all twist turny by the end of this story. Things are complicated and I never expected the ending I got but things are still being kept from Ulla and she is determined to find out what they are.

The Morning Flower is filled with magic, mystery, and family drama. There are plenty of shady characters roaming about and I may have even more questions than Ulla. I really hope Ulla gets her happy ending in Ever After, the final book in the series.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE MORNING FLOWER continues the OMTE ORIGINS story as Ulla continues to search for her heritage and for the missing Eliana. She and Pan travel to Louisiana to see if they can get some answers from the Omte, though most of what they learn are dead-ends. Children's fairytales seem to keep popping up, but how they fit into the larger picture is not yet clear.

As the story builds, we do learn more about the mythology and the connections between the characters, as well as Ulla's own ancestry. That being said, the book does have the feel of an in-between book with plenty of running around and a cliffhanger ending.

What I loved: This book moves at a good pace, and it is easy to read within a day, without any sections that are weak-links in terms of pacing. The mythology and history of trolls is really interesting, and I really enjoyed the inclusion of the children's fairytale books. The world is fleshed out even further, and it's woven within our own. This is highly readable and character focused without a ton of action, so it feels more like talking to a friend, which has its own appeal.

What left me wanting more: I did like the building romance that was fleshed out a bit more in this one, though it still takes a backseat to everything else and felt a bit take-it-or-leave-it as it was not a big part of the plot. There are a few strings similar to the romance that feel like paths we wander on without resolution, but I am hoping that this will all come together in the next. Some characters who were major in the first book are pretty much left out of this one, so I will be curious to see their potential involvement in the next (as I missed them).

Final verdict: Overall, this is an engaging sequel that continues Ulla's story with a YA fantasy that builds an intriguing world. While the first book provides a foundation for the characters and place, this one continues to build on that with new mythology and lessons learned.

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
A massive thank you to Char from Pan Macmillan Aus for giving me a copy of this book to review honestly.

Okay, I've just finished it so this is all quite fresh, but I need book three now ahh!

Review:
So the book opens with Ulla and Pan going on their journey to find out more about the lost bridge/city, and also to find out more about Ullas family too.

The roadtrip/visit: I was so happy during this part of the book! We were finding clues, the relationship between Pan and Ulla was being all cutesy, there was car singing. It was good times. SOME less good times but overall my favourite part of the book for sure!

Speaking of relationships, whilst I don't mind Pan, I want more about Jem-Kruk. I've decided from the pear scene in book one that I'm 100% in love with him and the snippets we got from him in this book still have me curious about our mysterious pear guy.

The theories were coming in strong this instalment, every tiny detail we got I was like "ah huh! another clue!". I got a bit confused towards the end of the book because it felt like information that we had been building up to for so long was just being given so easily. After roughly 500 pages of clues I was invested and wanting the clues and mystery solving to continue.

The ending of this book also felt like things weren't being resolved from the main plot points of this book but instead it was being set up for the next book, so I'm curious to see how it will all wrap up.

Lets talk writing! I read Amanda Hockings Trylle series back in high school and looking at her past books as well as these current books, her writing style is just honestly so amazing. It's so easy to read, it has pop-culture references and the commentary is hilarious and relatable.

It's been ages since I've read a book that had me theorising and trying to decipher clues so that was an incredibly fun experience.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I'm keen to read book three and find out how it all wraps up.

[Julie (Bookish.Intoxication) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot thickens as we dive back into Pan and Ulla's adventures in The Morning Flower. Pages filled with complex characters, picturesque landscapes and questionable bars all lead Ulla and Pan back to Merellä, back to where it all began.

The Morning Flower takes off exactly where The Lost City ends. Making it easy to go between the two books. The Morning Flower does feel more urgent, there are more things being revealed, more characters playing big roles and more twists being taken.

Once again we see Ulla and Pan setting off on a new adventure. And although it makes for a great story, it feels surreal. How they, as well as Dagny and Elof, can simply take off from work. Drop all commitments and leave on a wild goose chase across the world.

The Morning Flower sees Ulla finally get some answers about who she truly is. But in a cruel twist she is left with more questions than answers.

Well written and engaging from beginning to end, The Morning Flower was a great follow up book to The Lost City and I can't wait for book 3!

Thank you to PanMacmillan for sending me a review copy. All thoughts are my own.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was much better in the series and has grown on me for sure. It was a lot more enjoyable and fun. The romance was awkward but enjoyable. The main characters grew more for me in this book, so that’s a plus. The new characters introduced in this book weren’t my favorite tho and were slightly annoying. That being said, overall, this book improved the series so that was wonderful. The nice part is when the story grows and the plot keeps going and the characters become better in any way, overall this book did most of that, it was a nice read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

[Laura (Bookie_mama_bear) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 2 in the Omte origins series. Loved it!! Much more happening in this one in terms of discoveries made, friendships, love & enemies.
Ulla is a delight to follow, she’s loving, brave & intelligent but in such an unassuming way. She so easy to love as a main character. The back up cast as fab too, Dagny is so dry she has me chuckling almost every time she speaks. Pan is dreamy! He’s so sweet but strong.
Beautiful description, easy to follow plot and a smattering of exciting moments. Great fantasy to get lost in.

[Salena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am very confused by these books. The first book has pretty much no set up or development so I was expecting a lot of that in this book and pretty much we didn't get any answers until the last 100 pages. There really isn't much to these books and I feel like the last book isn't going to redeem this series much.

[Cassandra Doon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book: The Morning Flower
Read By: Soft Cover
Author: Amanda Hocking
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Recommend: Yes
Spice:🌶️️
< b>Age recommendation: 16-30+ Years
My feelings:


I enjoyed the Trylle series, and was looking forward to reading this one. I wanted to go back int to he world and see where everyone had ended up:) The world I entered was completely different then the first. At first I found ti hard to get into. But as I went along I found I didn't mind it.
Book 2 is a-lot like book 1 a-lot of world set up, and not a-lot of action. Maybe in book 3? Well here is hoping in book 3.

[The Caffeinated Book Addict · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come closer to release date!

[K Whatsherface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the last book this was slow to start but overall I am invested in the 3rd book

[Bec (Aussie Book Dragon) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review first appeared on my Instagram, @booktineus, and on Happy Indulgence Book Blog.

The Good Things
+ Book 2 in the Omte Origins trilogy. Starts right where The Lost City finished.

+ We got to know Ulla and her personality more! I found her a bit bland and boring in the first book but she's more sarcastic in this one.

+ We got answers about Ulla's history and parentage. It involved more twists than I expected!

+ A bit more of a glimpse into the hidden lore and mystery of trolls.

+ Pan definitely had a bigger role, and he's fun and sassy. Elof and Dagny were also there for entertainment and info.

+ The ending was actually kind of suspenseful and I'm excited to see how everything unfolds in the final book.

The Not-So-Good Things
- There really wasn't all that much plot or world development overall. Some good revelations in the last 50 pages but otherwise... eh.

- It was underwhelming honestly.

- Lots of romance angst in this one. And it's still unclear whether there is going to be a (mediocre) love triangle or not.

- I would have enjoyed it better if more time was spent exploring new lore and unravelling the mystery earlier on rather than barely fleshing out the romance.

- Writing remains moderately info-dumpy at times, mostly in dialogue.

- It really felt like they forgot all the clues and lore they learnt in book one until two thirds of the way through this book. And then all the revelations and plot developments seemed to come out of nowhere. It was jarring.

TLDR;
Honestly, this was underwhelming. Still an enjoyable and easy read, but I was hoping for more mystery and plot development. Instead, I got romance angst and not much else. Thankfully the last quarter was good. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all wraps up in the final book next year.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jordan Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I received a free copy to read and review for Wicked Reads*

After finishing The Lost City (The Omte Origins book 1) I had hoped that maybe book 2 (The Morning Flower) would hold more appeal, but I ended up feeling just as disenchanted with the sequel as I was with the first book. I just didn’t care for it.

I really wanted to like this series and I hoped that I might find myself more enchanted with The Morning Flower, but that just wasn’t the case. The Morning Flower picks up shortly after the ending of The Lost City with Ulla and Pan on the road to the Omte capitol. Much like the first book the second book seemed to just drag itself out without anything of real interest happening for the majority of the book and then the only interesting tidbits seemed to happen in the last 20% of the book only for it to end with another cliffhanger. At this point I don’t even feel the desire to read the final book in the Omte Origins trilogy. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t find myself interested enough in Ulla or even the spark of potential between her and Pan or any other potential love interest such as, Jem-kruk. I had hoped that I might feel more enamored with Hocking’s characters by the end of The Morning Flower, but that wasn’t the case.

All in all, 3 stars for The Morning Flower by Amanda Hocking.

[Kelly Anne Blount · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press (Wednesday Books) for the e-ARC of The Morning Flower by Amanda Hocking.

This book was all that I was hoping for and more! Seriously, The Morning Flower is a fantastic second book in The Omte Origins Series!

A longer review will be posted once I digest the amazingness of this book.

Sigh, I just love everything Amanda Hocking writes! She is a genius!

Also, would it be too much to ask for three more books in the Trylle universe? PLEASE!?!

[Eleni · Rating 3 out of 5]

3

Thank you so much to Pan Macmillan Australia who sent me a free copy for review. All the opinions i give are my own, and have in no way been influenced.

I enjoyed this book more than the first book in the series, The Lost City however, I gave it a similar rating because it didn't do much for me. This sequel follows Ulla and Pan on their quest to find out Ulla's true parents, and who they were. I understood where this book was trying to go, and while it was successful in some aspects, it was very average in others.

The concept behind these books is very unique, however, I feel that the execution is a missed opportunity. The plot of this felt a little dragged out and I didn't understand why we went through a lot of the trouble and effort. The characters were better developed in this, but with the development of Pan/Dagny etc. they became slightly irritating. Ulla also didn't do a lot for me, as I felt like she sulked and complained more than needed.

I enjoy the world building in this series, and the idea behind the troll communities. I really don't like using the word tribe to describe them as I feel it's done in a careless way, and doesn't take into consideration how this wording and language may affect Indigenous tribes in real life.

There were numerous typos throughout the book, and towards the end the writing and editing became quite sloppy. I'm not sure if this book was rushed to be published and Amanda Hocking and her team simply ran out of time, or if there was little care and attention given to the details.

To be quite honest, I only read this book because it was gifted to me, and while I'm interested in the world, I'm not sure that I would buy the third installment in the series that's due to release 2021.
Once again, a huge thank you to Pan Macmillan Australia for gifting me a copy of this book.

[CR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well I called it this book two of this new spin off was beautiful!! Perfection in a story!! I loved the characters and all of the ups and downs. I need the next one like ASAP and I really need to reread the original series now as well.