Torn by Cat Clarke (Young Adult)

22nd December 2011, Quercus

378 pages, paperback

Review copy

Themes: death, school life, mean girls, revenge, embarrassment, doing the right thing, grief, lives, love, illusion of life, some gore, some strong swearing, teen romance, tissues needed. 

Summary from Quercus

Four girls. One dead body. A whole lot of guilt. 

Alice King isn't 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...

Nayuleska's thoughts

I don't like Alice that much, but I do admire the choices she ends up making. She's a good person really - she just needs to realise the world is bigger than the bubble around her. Unlike some characters whose names I won't mention, I needed a tissue early on in the book. The plot revelations were rather shocking, especially as I got closer to the end. This thought provoking read gets 9/10 from me. 

Make sure you check out Cat's website to learn what her favourite food is - and about her books. 

Suggested read 

There's heaps of mystery, intrigue and mega plot twists in Cat's debut novel, Entangled.