Review Detail

I love it when a book surprises me. You come in with certain expectations and in the end they’re blown out of the water. That’s definitely what happened with Torn. I’d expected a gritty “issue” book, but intstead I got a realistic yet heartwarming contemporary novel, not fluffy by any means, but at the same time not doom-n-gloom.

The first thing to talk about is Stella as a main character. Number one, she’s half Mexican (diversity!); number two, she’s a practicing Catholic. Those are two things that I don’t see enough in YA; most authors seem to be most comfortable with middle class white girls who are spiritually ambivalent. So I definitely liked that Stella was different, and besides that, she was really likeable and had a fantastic personality.

Stella a great example of what it means to be a strong heroine without being “kickass” or whatever.

Stephanie Guerra is really great with her character relationships, too. Stella had a younger sister and they didn’t get along, but at the end of the day they still loved each other. Stella’s mom was caring and real, as opposed to the typical dysfunctional YA parent, and Stella’s friends were all understandably peeved when Ruby walked on the scene. Throughout this, I was struck by how real the dynamic between Stella and her friends and family was, especially as that added to the story itself.

Torn’s plot was a bit different from what I’d expected, but in a good way. It wasn’t some dark and gloomy drug addiction/teen prostitution story or anything extreme. Yes, Stella’s new friend Ruby does drugs and has a questionable boyfriend, but the entire story felt a bit more realistic and down to earth than that. Stella was a high school senior, she did high schoolish things like balancing friendships and a boyfriend and paying for college on a low income, but it was never to the point where she was laying on the bathroom floor strung out and covered in her own vomit.

So really, I think that the image Guerra painted was more relatable to most teens, and I personally loved Torn for it’s simple portrayal of teen life.

This is the kind of contemporary YA that I want to read; not all that nonsense about evil cheerleaders and “true love.” Torn is real and endearing, featuring great characters and a wonderful plot. It’s definitely a book I’ll remember.