I have very mixed feelings about Torn by K.A. Robinson. I thought it sounded interesting in the blurb but as soon as I began I felt like this one was falling into the New Adult formula. You know, the one where the main character has faced a ton of challenges in their short life but they have overcome and are better for it. Everyone in this book is gorgeous and smart, there is a love triangle, and the supposed “bad boy” (who has tattoos and piercings by the way) is just misunderstood and Chloe is going to be the one to make him change his ways.



The thing I couldn’t resolve was why everyone loves and wants to be with Chloe? She wasn’t likable at all for me. First she was very wishy washy and when Drake says he can't be with her, she just jumps into bed with Logan….really? On top of that, once she made the decision to be with Logan, she “accidentally” sleeps with Drake and just avoids facing what is really going on. I found her to be annoying and in all honesty, I didn’t really like anything about her.

Chloe’s friendship with Amber and Logan was really only addressed on the surface – they were there for her when her mother was not. I also found that Amber confusing – she was supposed to be Chloe’s best friend but they clearly had secrets and when everything went down, she sided with Logan. I couldn’t see why that was the case as they didn’t really come across as closer friends – unless she was just siding with who she thought was the wronged person.

Drake is the token bad guy and because he has tattoos and piercings, Logan immediately considers him an asshole. He immediately catches the eye of Chloe and they are drawn to each other. Honestly he was just meh for me. He is presented as this man whore who never plans to settle down and mysteriously Chloe is the one that has changed him. I don’t buy it – he apparently had reasons for never wanting things to change but all of a sudden she makes him realize he needs something different…hmmm. I needed to know why and I just didn't get it.

I’m also not a big fan of Logan. Yep, he is the protective BFF and I know he was supposed to be leaning toward jealousy of Chloe’s relationship with Drake but he just comes across as someone who wants to control what she does and who she sees. Between the two guys, I’m not sure I liked either of them and usually one will stand out more to me as the better choice. I think in this case it was more because I wasn’t on the Chloe train.

This was a quick read and although I didn’t love this, I didn’t really hate it either (Now I'm being wishy washy). For me, the characters are what really makes a story stand out and because I didn’t really like any of them, I found myself not really enjoying this story. This may be a case of “It’s not you, it’s me” so if you find yourself enjoying the New Adult genre, you might enjoy this. This is a series and the way Robinson leaves this one, you know some major stuff is going to go down - I might just check it out to see what happens.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy.