Tween Review: Torn by Erica O’Rourke
Author: Erica O’Rourke
Book: Torn
Release: July 2011
Series: Torn Trilogy 1
Reviewer: Desi
Source: Kensington Teen
Purchase: - Book DepositoryEveryone has secrets.
Even best friends.
Swirling black descends like ravens, large enough to block the glow of the streetlights. A dull roar starts like a train on the ‘L’, a far-away rumbling that grows louder as it pulls closer, until it’s directly overhead and you feel it in your chest, except this doesn’t pass you by. Verity, white-faced and eyes blazing, shouts through the din, “Run, Mo!”Mo Fitzgerald knows about secrets. But when she witnesses her best friend’s murder, she discovers Verity was hiding things she never could have guessed. To find the answers she needs and the vengeance she craves, Mo–quiet, ordinary, unmagical Mo–will have to enter a world of raw magic and shifting alliances. And she’ll have to choose between two very different, equally dangerous guys–protective, duty-bound Colin and brash, mysterious Luc. One wants to save her, one wants to claim her. Which would you choose?
“I woke up to the smell of Lysol and the end of the world. In my defense I didn’t know it was the end of the world at the time. I didn’t know anything, and it was better that way. There’s a reason people say ignorance is bliss.” page 1 Torn
So begins the story. Mo (Maura) Fitzgerald is just a normal, introverted seventeen year old, that is looking forward to her senior year and her plans to move to the city with her best friend Verity. Mo has everything to look forward to and her whole life before her until she wakes up in the hospital-sore and barely able to move with confusing memories and even more questions. As her mother and tough guy Uncle Billy rush in to see Mo, her worst fears are confirmed-her best friend died in the attack.
Everyone wants to know who is behind the attack-the cops, her family and a mysterious young man named Luc who appears and disappears like a hallucination. Mo isn’t sure what’s real and what’s not and vows to uncover the truth and punish Verity’s killer or killers. But there is a catch…her Uncle Billy thinks that the attack on his niece is personal and hires a good ole’ boy to body guard her in the form of the young and handsome Colin.
Mo’s quest for answers leads to more mysteries and forces her to face some hard truths not only about her best friend, but about her family and most importantly herself.
Set in one of my favorite cities of Chicago with a few detours to New Orleans (I know how it sounds), the author did a good job of incorporating the city’s landmarks and conveying the feeling of Chicago and the various people that live there. Chicago is such a historic place and has such a strong cultural foundation that influenced the city brick for brick…and I would know since half of my family is a part of the diverse culture. O’Rourke captured the characters and made them believable Chicagoans. From the Irish immigrant business man with ties to organized crime, the Catholic schools and churches and parishioners, the young builder moonlighting as a bodyguard as a favor, to the neighborhood and the small business diner with all it’s regulars- all these little details are what kept me going.
I found TORN to be a quick and enjoyable read. I thought it would be darker and was expecting more romance than there actually was based on the back cover blurb. There definitely was some romantic scenes but it wasn’t the main theme of the book. In fact, I kept looking for it in each chapter and was a little disappointed–not in the story, but in my preconceived notion of it. That being said, I liked what was there and will definitely be on the look out for the next book in the series as there are many mysteries left unsolved.
Also Reviewed By: Moonlight Book Reviews – Smexy Books –
Sounds good! I will have to check it out.
[...] Mo Fitzgerald knows about secrets. But when she witnesses her best friend’s murder, she discovers Verity was hiding things she never could have guessed. To find the answers she needs and the vengeance she craves, Mo–quiet, ordinary, unmagical Mo–will have to enter a world of raw magic and shifting alliances. And she’ll have to choose between two very different, equally dangerous guys–protective, duty-bound Colin and brash, mysterious Luc. One wants to save her, one wants to claim her. Which would you choose? Read her review Here [...]