Review: Torn Away by Jennifer Brown

Title: Torn Away
Author: Jennifer Brown
Publisher: Little, Brown BYR 
Release date: May 6th 2014
Pages: 288
Genre: Young Adult contemporary
Source: NetGalley - I received a free galley of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!
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Born and raised in the Midwest, Jersey Cameron knows all about tornadoes. Or so she thinks. When her town is devastated by a twister, Jersey survives -- but loses her mother, her young sister, and her home. As she struggles to overcome her grief, she's sent to live with her only surviving relatives: first her biological father, then her estranged grandparents.
In an unfamiliar place, Jersey faces a reality she's never considered before -- one in which her mother wasn't perfect, and neither were her grandparents, but they all loved her just the same. Together, they create a new definition of family. And that's something no tornado can touch.

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I've read a couple of Jennifer Brown's books and liked some, but thought others were only okay. That's why I'm so happy I gave her another try with Torn Away - this is most definitely my new favorite Jennifer Brown book! It's short, but it packs a hard punch. Torn Away is an emotional, heartbreaking but hopeful novel, and I absolutely loved it!

For some reason, I had expected Torn Away to begin right after the tornado kills her family, the focus being on the aftermath with maybe a couple of flashbacks to what actually happened. But the novel begins on the day of the tornado: it starts out as any regular day, which is really hard to read about because we already know what is going to happen. Then, we get to be there along with Jersey through this horrible hurricane. Even just reading about it, I was terrified. Of course I've seen TV coverage and pictures of natural disasters, but it's never felt as real as while reading this book. We, along with Jersey, get to experience the complete devastation of her neighborhood, which is both scary and heartbreaking. And worst of all, we wait along with Jersey for her mother and sister to come home, even though we already know they won't. Jersey's denial for the first day or so after the tornado, and heartbreak once she finds out what happened, are so real that I cried on pretty much every other page.

And then, when you think the worst is over because she is finally reunited with her stepdad... Wrong. The terrible events in Jersey's life are far from over. I know they're all struggling with their own stuff, but I couldn't stop myself from hating pretty much every person in Jersey's life. Her stepdad, grieving the loss of his wife and daughter, says he's incapable of taking care of Jersey and sends her off to live with her biological father... who happens to live in a house full of horrible people. Jersey's father, his wife, their daughters, cousins, and grandparents... Everyone but her aunt is simply horrible, and their insensitivity to what Jersey is going through continued to astound me. Whenever I thought things couldn't get any worse for Jersey, the people in her life would let her down again. I felt so much sympathy and heartbreak for Jersey and anger towards pretty much everyone else.

Thankfully, she somehow gets out of this horrible situation and goes to live with her mother's parents, whom she has never met because they disowned her mother when she had her baby. While these grandparents also had their faults, I loved them so much for finally at least trying to help Jersey. While this part of the story isn't filled with terrible events the way the first two are, it is no less heartbreaking. Living with her grandparents, Jersey begins to really grieve the loss of her mother and sister, and she attempts to somehow put her life back together. Jersey's feelings are so raw and honest that I, again, spent most of my time reading with tears in my eyes.

I really don't have much to criticize about Torn Away. The only small thing I didn't like is the hint of a romance towards the end of the story; I just thought that was really unnecessary and felt kind of forced. And it also bothers me that the girl on the cover looks so skinny, when that doesn't fit the descriptions of Jersey in the novel. But obviously, these are just really small things, and everything that matters is exceptionally well-done in Torn Away.

Torn Away is such a powerful story. Jersey is a complex, strong, inspiring character, and her story is heart-wrenching. This novel broke my heart so many times, but it didn't fail to provide some hope towards the end. I absolutely loved it, and I can't recommend it enough!

Review: Perfect Escape by Jennifer Brown

Title: Perfect Escape
Author: Jennifer Brown
Publisher: Little, Brown BYR
Release date: July 10th 2012
Pages:352
Genre: Young Adult contemporary
Source: Bought 
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Kendra has always felt overshadowed by her older brother, Grayson, whose OCD forces him to live a life of carefully coordinated routines. The only way Kendra can stand out next to Grayson is to be perfect, and she has perfection down to an art -- until a cheating scandal threatens her flawless reputation. Behind the wheel of her car, with Grayson asleep beside her, Kendra decides to drive away from it all -- with enough distance, maybe she'll be able to figure everything out. But eventually, Kendra must stop running and come to terms with herself, her brother, and her past. With undeniable grace and humor, acclaimed author Jennifer Brown explores OCD, the pressure for perfection, and the emotional highs and lows of a complex sibling relationship.

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This book sounded perfect for me. I love reading both about road trips and about sibling relationships (rather than romance, for once!), and I was excited to see how Jennifer Brown would handle the topic of mental illness. Sadly, Perfect Escape didn't quite live up to my admittedly high expectations - there were plenty of parts that I enjoyed, but for such a character-driven novel, I don't think the character growth was strong enough, making this only an okay read for me.

I never really connected with Kendra. She just seemed very whiny and melodramatic, and I couldn't understand her reasoning. There's a lot of telling and not a lot of showing, making Kendra a somewhat underdeveloped character. It especially bothered me that we don't find out about the full extent of the cheating ordeal until the very ending -  the revelation is underwhelming, but finding out about it earlier might have made it easier for the reader to understand why Kendra chose to run away. I get that we're not supposed to like Kendra at the beginning and that the point is to see her grow over the course of the novel, but the character growth is not strong enough to carry the story. What she discovers about herself and her relationship with Grayson is not developed enough and without further exploration, it didn't feel real to me. Since Perfect Escape is laid out to be a very character-driven story, this lack of character depth really impacted my enjoyment of the novel. 

I also wasn't impressed with the Zoe-storyline. Once Kendra "kidnaps" her sleeping brother and leaves for their impromptu road trip, she has to figure out where they're going and decides they're going to visit their old friend Zoe in California. Zoe's family moved away because her parents didn't want her interacting with mentally-ill Grayson three years ago, but Kendra harbors hope that they will be reunited happily if they only make it to her new house. What happens in regard to Zoe is entirely predictable and underdeveloped, and I didn't really see the point in it at all.

I did really enjoy the individual storylines, though. I'm impressed by the way Jennifer Brown handled the issue of OCD. Having read Corey Ann Haydu's OCD Love Story just a couple of weeks ago,  I was excited to read another author's take on the topic. Perfect Escape added an interesting perspective, since we get to read about the mental disorder from someone close to the the person who has OCD, rather than the person himself. The portrayal of OCD and the way it affects both Grayson's and Kendra's lives is honest and eye-opening.

The roadtrip storyline is good, too. Kendra and Grayson's road trip has a different feel to it from most road trips I've read, just because the OCD adds a whole new dimension to this type of story. As always with road trip stories, I enjoyed all the random places they discover and people they meet along the way. Rena - the girl they pick up along the way - is a fascinating character, and I wish we had gotten to know even more about her life.

But despite my enjoyment of these secondary storylines and smaller parts of the novel, I couldn't actually love it. There isn't a whole lot of action, which I'm usually fine with because I love character-driven stories, but because the character growth is so underdeveloped, that wasn't enough to carry the story. The ending is very abrupt and nothing much has really changed, making it hard for me to see the point of the whole story. I love the set-up of Perfect Escape, but the writing and character development aren't strong enough to make this novel live up to my expectations.

Review: Bitter End by Jennifer Brown

Title: Bitter End
Author: Jennifer Brown
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release date: May 10th 2011
Pages: 359
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Source: Bought
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When Alex falls for the charming new boy at school, Cole -- a handsome, funny, sports star who adores her -- she can't believe she's finally found her soul mate . . . someone who truly loves and understands her.
At first, Alex is blissfully happy. Sure, Cole seems a little jealous of her relationship with her close friend Zack, but what guy would want his girlfriend spending all her time with another boy? As the months pass, though, Alex can no longer ignore Cole's small put-downs, pinches, or increasingly violent threats.
As Alex struggles to come to terms with the sweet boyfriend she fell in love with and the boyfriend whose "love" she no longer recognizes, she is forced to choose -- between her "true love" and herself.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I love books about dark topics, so Bitter End sounded perfect for me. I was expecting an emotional account of an abusive relationship, and that's what I got - but I also got much more than that. I love how many layers there are to Alex's story. I loved every part of it!

The account of Alex's relationship with Cole is great. It's very realistic, in each stage - I liked reading about the innocent way they got to know each other up until the, ahem, bitter end of their relationship. I was torn between understanding Alex and wanting to shake her to make her stop forgiving Cole - and when you know you're reading a good book when you're torn just the way the main character is. The depiction of the abuse Alex suffers is honest and real, and heartbreaking to read about.

The rest of the layers to Alex's story add a lot to the novel. There's the family storyline - I really liked reading about Alex's family's past and and her ongoing struggle with her mother's death, and I wish we would have gotten to know even more about her dad and his development throughout the novel. Then there's Alex's friendship with Zack and Bethany, another aspect I really enjoyed - I just wish we could have gotten more details on their relationship towards the end.

But even though I really liked almost every aspect of the novel, Bitter End doesn't quite make it to favorite-status because it didn't stand out enough to me. I've read a couple of books about abusive relationships, and while Bitter End does a good job of portraying such an issue, I didn't really see what it added to the array of novels about the topic already out there. Jennifer Brown says that she wanted to write about this topic because she wanted to address the 'heart' and emotions of such relationships, and she definitely did, but I feel that other novels have done so as well. That's why, even though I really liked it, Bitter End didn't stand out to me too much, and I don't think it'll stay with me long after finishing it.

Still, Bitter End is a great book. If you like contemporary YA stories about darker topics, and especially if you haven't read as many abuse books as me, you should definitely give Bitter End a try!

Review: Hate List

Hate List by Jennifer Brown
(Amazon / Goodreads)

Goodreads description:

Five months ago, Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Shot trying to stop him, Valerie inadvertently saved the life of a classmate, but was implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped create. A list of people and things she and Nick hated. The list he used to pick his targets.
Now, after a summer of seclusion, Val is forced to confront her guilt as she returns to school to complete her senior year. Haunted by the memory of the boyfriend she still loves and navigating rocky relationships with her family, former friends and the girl whose life she saved, Val must come to grips with the tragedy that took place and her role in it, in order to make amends and move on with her life.

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I'm split on how to rate this book. There were things I loved about it, and there were things I hated about it. It definitely didn't live up to my expectations, as I think this could have been a phenomenal read, considering the gripping topic.

The structure of this novel was extremely confusing. In the beginning, there was always one chapter dealing with the day of the shooting and the days immediately afterwards, and then a chapter on the time a summer later. Later, there were only chapters about the time after that summer. This would have been fine, but the novel was also split into a few "parts", even though there was nothing separating the parts from one another, content-wise. There were flashbacks to the time before the shooting in both types of chapters, and it was hard to keep all of that straight. I probably would have liked it better if the author had split it into two parts, one dealing with the shooting and the days immediately afterwards, and one dealing with the summer when she has to go back to school.

My problem with this novel is that I loved how Val dealt with the situation, but disliked what led up to it. The time before the shooting was not described realistically, in my opinion. Supposedly, Nick and Val were complete outsiders, but I thought they had a decent amount of friends – Stacey, Duce, Mason and David are all mentioned throughout the story, and while that’s not a huge amount of friends, it’s definitely not nobody. Also, Valerie talked about going to parties with Nick, which I don’t think real outsiders could / would have done.

I found it strange how much Nick (and Valerie) talked about death and suicide. Valerie saying she didn’t see what happened coming and not taking any of it seriously seemed unrealistic, as Nick talked about blowing up the school all the time, and (to me) usually not in a joking way.

However, I really liked how Val dealt with the aftermath of the shooting. Her relationship with her peers seemed realistic and I could relate to her split feelings towards Nick. I felt her confusion of not being able to see the Nick she loved as the same person as “Nick the Murderer”. As, a character, I loved Dr. Hieler and I liked his approach to helping Valerie, but I’m not sure that’s a realistic description of psychiatrist. Then again, I’ve never been to one, so what do I know? I also enjoyed Val’s relationship with Jessica, the girl she saved. The ending and Valerie’s speech were great, too.

What I didn’t like about this part of the novel was Valerie’s relationship with her parents – her mom saying “I can’t believe I gave birth to such a monster” and her dad saying he could never forgive her seemed too harsh – I understand they don’t trust their daughter anymore, but I couldn’t really imagine a parent saying something like that.

I’m not sure whether I would recommend this book – the thrilling topic kept the pages turning, but I had quite a few problems with the execution. If you’re looking for a depiction of reasons for school shooting, I don’t think this book will help, but if you’re expecting a depiction of what it’s like to deal with the aftermath of one, this book should be good. I’m not sure whether I’ll read the author’s next book, though.