Torn - Cat Clarke

"Alice King is expecting the holiday of a lifetime when she sets off with her classmates on a trip to the Scottish wilderness, but she's not exactly prepared for an experience beyond her darkest nightmares.

Alice and her best friend Cass are stuck in a cabin with Polly, the social outcast, and Rae, the moody emo-girl. Then there's Tara - queen of mean. Powerful, beautiful and cruel, she likes nothing better than putting people down.

Cass decides it's time to teach Tara a lesson she'll never forget. And so begins a series of events that will change the lives of these girls forever.."

Torn by Cat Clarke follows the story of Alice King after she returns from an adventure trip to Scotland with her classmates, following an experience that will change the course of Alice's life forever, along with her best friend Cass, social outcast Polly and emo-girl Rae. The four girls do all they can to move on with their lives, but with betrayal, love, lies and insanity in the way, the future doesn't look bright for any of the four girls.

Anyone who has read my review of Undone by Clarke will already know that I'm a massive fan of her work, so naturally I was beyond excited to finally be able to pick Torn up. With Undone easily being one of my all-time favourite books, I knew there would be a lot to live up to, but thankfully Clarke did not disappoint. What I love most about this book is just how gripping it is. From the very first page Clarke sucks you in, enthralling yet terrifying you at the same time with her writing style and ability to perfectly capture teenage interaction, and the real struggles teenagers face today.

It's clear that Clarke has no issue with placing her readers in awkward and uncomfortable positions, burdening you with the darkest thoughts of the protagonist and forcing you to ask yourself what you would do in their shoes and, in terms of Torn, that's a pretty frightening position to be in. But that's what's so effective about the story. Everything Clarke writes is so real. The story is so well dominated by dark and twisted themes such as betrayal, death and the consequences of all our actions, no matter how big or small. Clarke's stories provide something different to the YA genre that isn't based on superficial relationships and impossible situations and that's what makes Torn so relatable.

For me, guilt is the mother of all emotions. It can derive from any action or thought and it can, at times, be horrible to deal with. I'm in no way trying to pass off guilt as a mental illness, or even trying to compare it to one, but it was so compelling to see how Clarke used guilt to emotionally unravel her characters and, in some cases, drive them to the point of self destruction. As a reader, you're provided with so many different aspects of guilt that you get an understanding of fluidity. You have characters trying all they can to ignore and bottle up their guilt, characters trying to redeem themselves and rid their guilt with 'good' actions, characters suffering with anxiety and constant dread and then you have characters who are so consumed by guilt that they destroy themselves as a result. Clarke so tragically manages to capture real, human issues.

I love how Clarke never seems to write perfect characters, they're all flawed in some way and, no, I'm not talking about the pathetically trivial YA flaws like being too curvy or not beautiful enough, I'm talking about real flaws. All of her characters mess up and do bad things, with the root of all their issues going deep. Everything they do we all do as well. We all act without thinking. We fight and argue. We love and deceive. And because of that all of her characters are so easy to relate to, so I was constantly finding aspects of myself in all of them. So, whilst some may assume that the novel is a black and white story about bulling and cruelty, the consequences of it and seeking revenge, I see it more of a story that highlights the imperfections of all of us, showing that just because someone does wrong by you, does not mean you can too do wrong by them and then try to come out as the hero because you were merely seeking revenge. Thus, I find it easy to assume that Clarke is saying nobody is just good or just bad, and those are the kind of characters young readers need, which is why I'm so thankful for Clarke. Not at any time during this novel did I find myself rooting for the hero or the villain, because there simply isn't one of either.

Finally, without giving any spoilers away, it's great that Clarke highlights that life isn't a fairytale. Things go wrong all the time and whilst most of them are fixable, some things aren't; they're permanent and we have to pay the price for that. And whilst the ending might be a little bitter sweet for some, simply because it's both an open and close-ended narrative, I for one loved it and am not ashamed to admit that Clarke managed to reduce me to tears once again.

Ultimately, this is a story about troubled love, secrets, lies and friendships tearing at the seems. It steps over the typical YA girly narratives of hallway cat-fighting between the social outcast and 'Queen B(itch)' by taking a much deeper and darker root, showing that sometimes there is no hero or villain to root for.

I give Cat Clarke and Torn ★★★★★

Divergent - Film Review

"In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris learns she's Divergent and won't fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it's too late."

On the whole, I found myself quite content with this film. I mean, it wasn't quite on the level of other YA franchise films such as Harry Potter or The Hunger Games, but it was far better than its predecessors, such as the abysmal Beautiful Creatures. I was glad to see that the writers and director stayed as close to the book as they could, including so many recognisable quotes where they could and not straying too far from the book's narrative. However, I did at times feel as if the pacing fell a little flat, which is mainly due to the fact that some scenes couldn't be included in order Lionsgate could attain that all important 12A rating, which is disappointing.

Considering the film was created on a minuscule $85 million budget, the graphics and CGI were pretty impressive. I found myself taken aback by just how much detail had been put into creating the dystopian city that is Chicago as it was both beautiful and haunting. It's easy for a dystopian film to be quite generic but there was just the right balance of destruction and futuristic elements to give it a believable feel, so on the whole the setting was so much better than I imagined possible.

Although the pacing of the film did fall a little flat at times as previously stated, I did find that much of the more intense, action scenes were far more exciting to experience than in the book. It felt very much like the director, Neil Burger, tried as best he could to push the boundaries of the 12A rating to create an exhilarating atmosphere, adding a little more brutality than Veronica Roth did in the book.

What I did find a little disappointing with the film however was the execution of the characters. It felt very much like some characters were seriously underdeveloped whilst some were developed in completely the wrong way, Peter Hayes for example. Peter definitely didn't come across as the brutal yet desperate individual doing all he can to survive initiation into the Dauntless faction from the book, he was more like an annoying fly that you can't keep away from your food. I also wasn't particularly impressed by Theo James' portrayal of Four as room for him to express the character was pretty restricted, even his so called 'chemistry' with Tris seemed a little forced so I'm hoping he'll do a far better job in Insurgent.

Despite this however I was really impressed by Shailene Woodley's performance. As an actress I was totally unfamiliar with prior to this film I wasn't sure how well she'd cope, but she blew me away during the climax in particular. It's clear that she has a real understanding of Tris Prior's character and I can see why people are heralding her as Hollywood's next 'big actress'. I was also really pleased with the ending. As a book fan it can sometimes be frustrating when an adaptation strays from the source material, yet with this film I was pleased they shook it up and altered it slightly because it made it more exciting to watch because although I knew what the ultimate outcome would be, I didn't know what the process leading up to it would be.

Ultimately, this an adaptation that offers much in the way of excitement and action, yet has the tendency to fall flat at times with some characters feeling irrelevant to the narrative compared to their stance in the book. If you'd like the read my review of the book also then click here to do so.

I give Neil Burger and Divergent 7/10.