"A funeral without a body is like a wedding without a bride, or a groom."
This is my second read of Torn and I still ended up feeling like I've been punched in the gut.
From the moment Torn starts, we are told about the mystery surrounding Tara's death and while the details surrounding her death are revealed quite early, they become more murky, disturbing and messed up as the story progresses.
The characters in Torn might be stereotypical, there's the mean girls, the emo chick and the social outcast, but the way that they act and the emotions that they go through are real. None of the characters in Torn are likable. They are flawed and their actions are disturbing. However, while I felt like screaming at the characters to just do the right thing, I understood why they weren't doing it. The characters in Torn might not be likable, but their stories are extremely compelling. A lot of it boils down to the fact that Cat Clarke is able to get into her characters heads and shows how every little thing that they go through impacts them.
I'm extremely conflicted about the romance in Torn. The relationship between Alice and Jack, Tara's little brother, is destined to fail from the moment that it starts because Alice played a role in his sister's death, but they have one of those cute first-love teenage romances. The romance isn't special or unique, but every moment that Jack and Alice were together made me worry because I was just waiting for her to tell him the truth.
The best part about Torn is the analysis of grief, guilt, anxiety and human self-preservation as well as the emotional effects and consequences of the characters actions. Ghost Tara was an interesting manifestation of Alice's trauma and guilt.
I understand that Torn is mostly about Alice dealing with the events that occurred, the aftermath and the choices that come with it, but I didn't like the open ending. I wanted to see the consequences of Alice's, Cass's, Polly's and Rae's actions.
Cat Clarke is not afraid to put her characters through the most. Torn made me confront disturbing situations. Torn put me, the reader, in an uncomfortable situation. Torn made me think. Torn is filled with powerful, raw and painful emotions that tore me to pieces.
"Maybe this is how madness works. At first you're worried you're going crazy, but in the end you don't even care. You embrace it; it's the only thing you've got left." (Alice King)