Review: The life of a shifter can be hard.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 28, 2012
Torn by Dean Murray could fit into a couple of different genres especially when you take into account it's sister book of Broken.  It fits best into YA and paranormal romance.  The story follows Alec and his group of shifters in their daily lives as they try to survive the advances of their rival pack led by Brandon.  Alec's life is a constant struggle as his pack is weaker just trying to survive while Brandon's is full of sadists that will kill innocents for fun.  The most interesting aspect is the way the shifters work.  Their are two levels of shifter, the first is where the person changes from human to animal form the second is called a hybrid, which is much more like the werewolves most people are familiar with.  Oh and it's not a good idea to call them werewolves to their faces, they don't like it.Torn and it's sister novel Broken tell the same story through different viewpoints.  This book gives a much better look into how the society of the shifter's works, but leaves several things unexplained dealing with Adriana, the new girl in town.  Since the town's population is closely monitored and controlled by the two rival clans any questions about the new people can lead to a tip in the power balance and potentially cause fatal trouble to Alec.The book is well done with the unique spin on shifting being a huge positive in my eyes.  Although the paranormal romance isn't really my thing, I was entertained throughout this book.  I will say that my understanding and appreciation was magnified after reading Broken as well though.  This is a far cry from Dean's Guadel Chronicles though it is still some quality work.Review copy provided by the author.