Review: Torn by Stephanie Guerra

This book followed Stella, a normal girl who lived in Illinois. She befriends the new girl, Ruby, who is wild and a complete polar opposite of Stella who is a good-girl with good grades. She quickly finds herself in a tough situation when Ruby begins dating a older guy. Stella is unsure what to do (you may say she's torn, haha..) and finds herself struggling about whether to ignore it or try to take action.

This book was very real. It had great description and very developed characters. I could get into Stella's head, and see the realistic reasons for every  action she took. I may have not totally seen understood why she skipped school so often, but that was the only thing I puzzled over. Stella was a perfect protagonist for the role she played in this book. Ruby was so wild and out-of-control, her presence flowed nicely in contrast to Stella. And it coincided with the drama of the guy she was dating, Kenneth. Don't even get me started on Kenneth! He's so creepy, and sketchy, and the writing portrayed that so perfectly it was really easy to get into the storyline with him there.

The only con about this book was probably that it lacked a climax. There are more dramatic scenes than others, but there was no real turning-point. I do love how the book ended though, solving everything nicely but still leaving a few question marks in my head.
I recommend this for book fans of realistic-fiction ya, friendship, and finding yourself in a bad relationship.

Hardcover (263 pages) published April 1st, 2012 by Marshall Cavendish.