Torn Away
Jersey Cameron has always loved a good storm. Watching the clouds roll in and the wind pick up. Smelling the electricity in the air. Dancing barefoot in the rain. She lives in the Midwest, after all, where the weather is sure to keep you guessing. Jersey knows what to do when the tornado sirens sound. But she never could have prepared for this.
When her town is devastated by a tornado, Jersey loses everything. As she struggles to overcome her grief, she's sent to live with relatives she hardly knows -- family who might as well be strangers. In an unfamiliar place, can Jersey discover that even on the darkest of days, there are some things no tornado can destroy?
In this powerful and poignant novel, acclaimed author Jennifer Brown delivers a story of love, loss, hope, and survival.
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Community Reviews
See this review and more on my blog, Lilybloombooks
I keep thinking back to the first time I saw Torn Away pop up on my feed. It was something, at the time, that I didn't think I was ready for, emotionally. No clue why - just a nagging feeling that I would not handle this book well.
And well, I was right.
There are not many books that make me cry. I am not talking about tearing up, one tear sliding down the cheek cry. I am talking full-blown out ugly crying. With every chapter, I found myself holding my breath or having to pull my car over due to the emotional punch Torn Away had. This book had a vice grip on my heart from start to finish - and after as well.
Jersey's life is literally Torn Away, and the things that she goes through is just.. heart breaking. Losing her family, abandoned by her step-dad and shuffled around from place to place. During all of this, she was never really able to truly grieve for what she lost. It was difficult to read/listen to and I kept thinking about all the people who have lost close to everything due to a natural disaster. Jersey was real to me - not a fictional character whose story I was immersed in.
What I admire about Jersey the most is her strength. Feeling utterly alone, she could have easily succumbed to the pain and not fight to take her life back. But she didn't. Even when the ugliest of people were trying to knock her down further, she stood up and fought.
Another aspect of the novel that really made me think was what we define as everything. Jersey lost her family, and ALL her material things - even those items that we hold close to our hearts. But is that everything? What defines EVERYTHING? Do we lose hope? Do we lose love? Do we lose our dreams? Do we lose those memories?
Torn Away is one of the most emotionally packed, tragically beautiful and thought-provoking novels I have read in a long time. This is my first Jennifer Brown book and I promise it will not be my last.
I keep thinking back to the first time I saw Torn Away pop up on my feed. It was something, at the time, that I didn't think I was ready for, emotionally. No clue why - just a nagging feeling that I would not handle this book well.
And well, I was right.
There are not many books that make me cry. I am not talking about tearing up, one tear sliding down the cheek cry. I am talking full-blown out ugly crying. With every chapter, I found myself holding my breath or having to pull my car over due to the emotional punch Torn Away had. This book had a vice grip on my heart from start to finish - and after as well.
Jersey's life is literally Torn Away, and the things that she goes through is just.. heart breaking. Losing her family, abandoned by her step-dad and shuffled around from place to place. During all of this, she was never really able to truly grieve for what she lost. It was difficult to read/listen to and I kept thinking about all the people who have lost close to everything due to a natural disaster. Jersey was real to me - not a fictional character whose story I was immersed in.
What I admire about Jersey the most is her strength. Feeling utterly alone, she could have easily succumbed to the pain and not fight to take her life back. But she didn't. Even when the ugliest of people were trying to knock her down further, she stood up and fought.
Another aspect of the novel that really made me think was what we define as everything. Jersey lost her family, and ALL her material things - even those items that we hold close to our hearts. But is that everything? What defines EVERYTHING? Do we lose hope? Do we lose love? Do we lose our dreams? Do we lose those memories?
Torn Away is one of the most emotionally packed, tragically beautiful and thought-provoking novels I have read in a long time. This is my first Jennifer Brown book and I promise it will not be my last.
