Review: Deep and Real!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 12, 2013
Whether you are currently experiencing your teenage years now, or if like me you are way past those years, think about all those issues that you had to deal with. Now think of all the issues that you were lucky enough to have bypass you. Well Torn deals with all of those very things. The whole gamut of them are all there. It's all laid out between the pages of this book. There is school, friendships, sibling relationships, love, lust, faith, sex, drugs, rejection, rape, incest, sexuality.... And I could probably keep going and list a few more.Torn centres around a group of teenage friends and is told from the perspective of Krista. She was quite a complex character. But underneath all of those complexities was a girl trying to find her place in the world. That little niche that is hers where she can love and be loved in return.The characters in this book are all dealing with their own insecurities and issues, but they are all intertwined with each other and all of their actions having varying effects, not just on themselves but on each other as well. And that is one of the lessons that they are learning throughout the book.The character that I loved the most was Brandon. He is beautifully flawed. A boy who has endured so much. Some self inflicted, but I believe that the actions of others drove him to make some of the choices that he did. One of the things that I loved most about him was his honesty. He told it without mincing words and you knew where you stood with him. It wasn't always what people wanted to hear and at times he was very 'in your face', but it was an honesty that touched me. He was caring and loyal and so giving. He was a friend that anyone would be lucky to have.Two other characters that really stood out to me were Marc and Daemon. They were the two main parental figures although both were actually older brothers left to care for their siblings. Full of sound advice and guidance and always their to offer support and comfort. And the conversation about the Mile High Club had me in hysterics!!!And then there was that ending. It was beautiful in it's depth of feelings. But I'm greedy. I wanted more!! Not in terms of something better, but I just didn't want the book to end. I wanted to keep reading and I gladly would have, had there been more to read.For me when I was first reading Torn I thought I was going to rate it four stars but then somewhere along the way I realised that it wasn't a four star book. I was invested in these characters. The author kept me gripped to the pages with her writing. When I wasn't reading it I had been playing out these scenarios in my head of how I wanted things to go. And I was reluctant to check my kindle to to see how little I had left to read. So what started as a four star read ended up being something beyond the five stars I'm restricted in giving.Torn was at times beautiful, infuriating, harsh and there were parts when the subject matter was hard to read. But above all it was deep and real and showed just how tough those teenage years can be.5/5 Wonderful Stars!!This book was gifted to me for an honest review.