Torn Away by Jennifer Brown
Pages : 288
Genre : YA, contemporary fiction
Stand alone
My Rating : 4.5/5
About the Book :
When her town is devastated by a tornado, Jersey loses everything. As she struggles to overcome her grief, she’s sent to live with relatives she hardly knows-family who might as well be strangers. In an unfamiliar place, can Jersey discover that even on the darkest of days, there are some things no tornado can destroy?
My Thoughts :
Often times on writing forums I see the same advice pop up : if your characters are flat and undefined, throw some obstacles at them. See how they react, and they will tell you who they are.
Well, Jennifer Brown certainly took that advice to heart. When the book’s summary tells you Jersey lost everything, it’s not a metaphor. She lost everything. And because losing your house and your family isn’t enough, she then has to go live with unknown and unpleasant (understatement of the year!) relatives. Her story is scary and tragic and lonely and enraging, too.
This book broke my heart and made me so extremely sad (which is a testament to how well it was written, in my opinion). The first few chapters are immensely scary. I’ve never been anywhere close to a tornado, but I felt like I was right there with Jersey, hiding in the basement while nature destroyed everything around. The scenes after the tornado almost felt post-apocalyptic, which I imagine is pretty close to how it feels for people living through these disasters.
And then the grief; I felt it through every page.
Light is so sparse in Jersey’s dark days. She has very little to look forward to, and yet she struggles from one day to the next, constantly trying to fight and make her situation a tiny bit better. Her grief is immense, and it isn’t until close to the end that we finally sense a small sliver of hope.
This is a story of tragedy, scary for its realistic depictions of disaster and grief. I loved it for how human it felt, and true to life, too. Jennifer Brown conveys emotions with a lot of talent here, and though I had read and enjoyed her work before (with Hate List), Torn Away has definitely made me a fan of hers. I can’t wait to read more from her (though I am not yet ready for another such emotional ride!)
Torn Away is available now! Thanks to Little, Brown Books for generously providing a e-copy of this book!
