K.A. Robinson is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling
author. I purchased Torn (Bk#1 in the Torn Series) because it has high reviews
on Amazon. Torn has received several 5 star reviews with a few 1-4 star
reviews, leaving it at a current average rating of 4 stars. This book was
packed full of action with several scenes, instead of a few lengthy ones,
making up the 352 page book.
Torn:
Chloe hasn’t had the easiest
childhood. With a mother who was absent most of the time, she practically had
to raise herself. Determined to start a new life and leave her demons behind,
she heads to West Virginia University with her best friends Amber and Logan. On
the first day of classes, she spots a student who takes her breath away. Drake
is a pierced, tattooed bad boy, and no matter how hard she tries to fight it, he’s
all she can think about.Drake has never cared about anyone other than himself, but when Chloe takes the empty seat next to him in class, he is instantly drawn to her. Drake is left wondering whether this girl can take his cold, womanizing heart and alter him forever.
Falling for each other was never a part of their plan, and when it happens, things do anything but fall into place. Long-hidden feelings are revealed and friendships are tested to the brink as Chloe and Drake become helplessly entwined in each other’s love.
When I started this blog I promised myself I would never
write a bad review. Writing a novel is an amazingly hard thing to do no matter
the quality. If you don’t believe me give it a go yourself and let me know how
it worked out for you. With that said Torn (Bk#1) and Twisted (Bk#2) are not
bad novels so please don’t misunderstand this review. There were, however, certain
aspects that bothered me about both novels. The storyline was semi-unique and I
couldn’t help but notice a staggering number of similarities between the Torn
Series and other novels I’ve read.
It has been well established that I am a huge fan of the
Thoughtless Series by S.C. Stephens. Since I have read the Thoughtless Trilogy numerous
times I am exceptionally familiar with the characters and plot. For that reason
I will use Thoughtless as my comparable book in this review.
I felt as though Torn had a similar storyline to Thoughtless
(Bk#1 in the Thoughtless Series). Drake, from Torn, personified the local bad boy rock star with a
history of womanizing much like Kellan Kyle from Thoughtless. The dynamic
between Chloe and Drake was also incredibly similar to that of Kellan and Kiera’s.
Both couples had a secret love affair which, in the end, resulted with the female
lead character cheating on her boyfriend and naturally both “destined couples”
were kept apart due to the male leads emotional unavalability and relationship inabilities injunction
with their capacious sexual history.
Before I started blogging I’d spent a great deal of my time
following popular authors and investigated their spoken and written advice for
aspiring authors. Abbi Glines, a big time YA and NA genre author, said that
every time she writes a book she researches current popular releases to see if character
names are similar to that of the novel she’s currently working on. The purpose,
of course, is to avoid situations where her novel is read comparatively to
another.
To me this is an incredibly important action all authors
should take. For avid readers, such as myself, it can be really difficult to
disconnect yourself from books you love. The intense drama and creative writing
of each book sticks with you even after you’ve finished a novel, constantly
leaving you comparing the writing and descriptive styles of different authors.
In an elementary sense it’s like saying you can’t know what dark is without
knowing light or you can’t know bad without knowing good. You can’t know a
novel that lacks depth or creativity until you’ve read an exquisitely constructed
story that speaks to you.
Separate from the parallel qualities Torn has to other
novels, is the writing itself should be critiqued.
I love dialogue. Dialogue to me is as important to the story
as a character’s inner thoughts. Torn does deliver on dialogue, but in my
opinion it lacks depth within each thought. There is a fine balance between
both and I felt like Torn seriously fell short in conveying the mindset of each
character. Expanding the reasons behind words and actions is greatly important.
Of course, this theory also has the propensity of failing in the opposite way
as well. Some novel’s characters spend too much time in their heads without
developing full relationship between individuals.
Twisted:
Chloe and Drake have soldiered through a heartbreaking love
triangle and are finally within reach of their happily ever after.
Unfortunately, their demons have come out of the dark with a vengeance, looking
to destroy them. Chloe’s abusive mother enters back into her life with an evil
plot that sets off a chain of events no one could ever have anticipated. To add
to their distress, a relentless, conniving ex reappears determined to tear the
couple apart through any means necessary. The extra strain pushes Chloe and Drake
to the brink, bringing out their greatest weaknesses and putting them up
against old but powerful addictions.
The foundation on which their love was built is crumbling
beneath them. What are they willing to give up in order to stay together?
Twisted (Bk#2) has a multitude of different dynamics some of
which I still noticed similarities to other novels and some of which didn’t.
For instance, Drake in the Torn Series goes on tour, just like Kellan in
Effortless (Bk#2 in the Thoughtless Series). The female main character continues to be extremely insecure,
like Kiera was after Kellan left and again, just like Kiera, Chloe can’t join
Drake on tour because of personal commitments. Each of these main
characters/couples still have an insatiable connection in which no other person
can satisfy.
The point of my comparisons is not to call plagiarism or copyright issues into question. In fact, most authors rarely have time to read books because they are much to busy working on their own. All I'm suggesting is that there is a window of time where one novel will have to compete with another because of plot similarities. The tatted bad boy who is in a rock band is trending right now. For that reason alone you want to make sure your characters are completely unique.
The point of my comparisons is not to call plagiarism or copyright issues into question. In fact, most authors rarely have time to read books because they are much to busy working on their own. All I'm suggesting is that there is a window of time where one novel will have to compete with another because of plot similarities. The tatted bad boy who is in a rock band is trending right now. For that reason alone you want to make sure your characters are completely unique.
As a whole I would give this book 3 out of 5 stars. I haven’t written this review to bash K.A. Robinson for her writing endeavors. In fact, it’s just the opposite, constructive criticism is important the improving your own writing and publishing process.
I think it nothing short of an achievement to write two, going on three, full novels. So many readers, finish books thinking “I could have written that better myself.” Sometimes it’s true, but generally most don’t realize how hard it is until you’ve attempted it yourself. Until then it’s hard to truly be able to appreciate the skill it takes to conceive several characters with consistent thoughts and mannerisms from nothing, get into their heads and create fictitious life events to tell their story.
Even though I wasn’t taken with Torn (Bk#1) I still read Twisted (Bk#2); however, it’s unlikely I’ll be reading book #3 when it’s released,
but I did consider it a great learning experience.
I also want to note that since being picked up by Atria Publishing, an
imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., the Torn and Twisted covers have been revamped. I love them!
Torn (Bk#1)
Twisted (Bk#2)
Torn (Bk#1)
Twisted (Bk#2)
OLD
NEW
