Erica O'Rourke

FROM AMAZON: As a Walker between worlds, Del is responsible for the love of her life—and the fate of millions—in this thrilling sequel to Dissonance. As School Library Journal raves, “O’Rourke brilliantly builds an intricate and complex alternate science-fiction universe…fans will be longing for the next installment.”

Del risked everything to save Simon, and now he’s gone, off in another world with no way for Del to find him.

She’s back at the Consort—training to be a Walker like everyone in her family. But the Free Walkers have other plans for her. This rebel group is trying to convince Del that the Consort is evil, and that her parents are unwittingly helping the Consort kill millions of people. The Free Walkers make Del the ultimate promise: if Del joins their fight, she will be reunited with Simon.

In agreeing, Del might be endangering her family. But if she doesn’t, innocent people will die, and Simon will be lost to her forever. The fate of the multiverse depends on her choice...… (altro)

There is so much wrapped up in Torn that it's not exactly easy to review. A bit of murder, lots of magic, and a love triangle that is messy and intriguing. Add it all up and you have a book is equal parts contemporary fiction and paranormal fiction. Pretty amazing combination wouldn't you think? Sadly I'm honestly still stuck on how I feel about this book.

Maura is a fairly strong character overall, but it was tough for me to like her at the beginning. As a reader I saw that Erica O'Rourke was working to create a character that could grow into her own. Maura's inability to feel strength comes from many sources around her, including her own family hiding her in the shadows and keeping secrets from her. However there were times when she bordered on whining and it really bothered me. Once she broke out of her shell, and found her inner strength, things between us were much better. I finally felt a connection to her at the end of the book.

In terms of romance, there's plenty of steam between Maura and the two men she comes into contact with. Delicious love triangle anyone? Luc and Collin are two sides of the spectrum. Luc is charismatic and self-assured, while Collin is quiet, stoic and reserved. To be honest I thought the two of them were perfect foils for the two parts of Maura's life. If I were in her shoes, I'd have just as much trouble choosing as she does. I'm still not a hundred percent sure if her interest in both of them makes sense but it is Maura's life, not mine.

The world building in Torn was rather good. The magic is explained well, and I enjoyed the way that it was attached to the elements. My only complaint here is that I would have liked a better glimpse into the people behind the magic. The Arcs are mentioned a few times as the keepers of the magic, but never fully fleshed out. Even Luc, who is an important character, doesn't have much back story in terms of his abilities. I hope that in the sequel there will be more explanation of the world Maura has been dropped into. That was what really held my attention, and kept me wanting more.

My feelings for Torn are just so mixed. I feel just as lost as Maura at this point. What I can definitely say is that this book kept me reading until the last page, which means a lot. I am definitely looking forward to book two, to see if the things I missed are explained there. As a complete package, this was a good introduction into Maura's world. I now wait to find out what happens next.… (altro)

Hmm (or should I say, hmn?). I'll admit it: I had never heard of this book, but I specifically read it because [a:Susan Dennard|4499623|Susan Dennard|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1394447133p2/4499623.jpg] mentioned that she thought this was an example of a love triangle done really well. I'm generally somewhat love triangle neutral--I don't always want one, but I won't walk away from a book that has one. But ones that are done well, I do find genuinely interesting. Notably: [b:Clockwork Angel|7171637|Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, #1)|Cassandra Clare|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1433094123s/7171637.jpg|6674837], and a double love triangle in [b:An Ember in the Ashes|20560137|An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1)|Sabaa Tahir|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417957944s/20560137.jpg|39113604], from recent memory.

But for a while, the love triangle wasn't much in play--which I think makes sense, as O'Rourke was setting up the world and, because Mo didn't really know about it, there was a bigger learning curve. But I think that was actually the part of this book that felt the most least satisfying; I didn't always follow O'Rourke's logic regarding the Torrent prophecy and necessary steps, and the solution at the end seemed kind of out of nowhere and didn't really make sense to me, either.

The love triangle, though, was good. It only really kicks off maybe two-thirds or more into the story, but it's not annoying; they're two good guys who represent different choices and different worlds. I'm afraid that the foreshadowing is lending itself toward Luc, but I think I personally like Colin more. But hopefully O'Rourke will keep the twists coming so it's not so straightforward.

I don't really like written dialects or accents, even when done well, so that might be one thing I didn't love about Luc, hahaha. But overall, I liked seeing Mo grow throughout the course of the story, and I found the romance believable and interesting, even though it's not necessarily of the subtle variety I usually prefer.… (altro)