Review: Torn by Erica O'Rourke

Torn
Author:Erica O'Rourke
Release Date: June 28, 2011
Publisher: Kensington
Torn Trilogy Book #1
ISBN:   0758267037
ISBN13: 9780758267030
Genre: Young Adult
Review Copy Source: Publisher 

Everyone has secrets.
Even best friends.
Swirling black descends like ravens, large enough to block the glow of the streetlights. A dull roar starts like a train on the 'L', a far-away rumbling that grows louder as it pulls closer, until it's directly overhead and you feel it in your chest, except this doesn't pass you by. Verity, white-faced and eyes blazing, shouts through the din, "Run, Mo!"
Mo Fitzgerald knows about secrets. But when she witnesses her best friend's murder, she discovers Verity was hiding things she never could have guessed. To find the answers she needs and the vengeance she craves, Mo—quiet, ordinary, unmagical Mo—will have to enter a world of raw magic and shifting alliances. And she'll have to choose between two very different, equally dangerous guys—protective, duty-bound Colin and brash, mysterious Luc. One wants to save her, one wants to claim her. Which would you choose?

The book starts out emotionally with Mo waking up in the hospital after being attacked to find out that her very best friend is dead.  That sets off events that reveal that Mo didn't know Verity quiet as well as she thought she did and Mo is determined to find out what exactly is going on. I enjoyed the characters in TORN. Mo was a "good girl" and got sick of it so she finally starts doing things for herself which causes a bit of friction with the family she thought she knew. Mo has two love interests, Luc who is a mystery in itself. She doesn't quite know which or whose side he is on but she is attracted to him all the same. Colin is a protector and determined to keep Mo safe, not only because its his duty to do so but because he falls for her pretty quickly. Mo quickly finds out that she will have to play a big part in saving magic for magic users even though she doesn't have any magic herself. She is put in danger multiple times and has a hard time trying to figure out what path she wants to take. The pacing of TORN was done really well, I had no trouble turning the pages eager to find out what would happen next. I did find that some parts of the book came off kinda whiny but it was minor and was easy to overlook. All in all TORN had some good mystery, a hot guy love triangle and likable characters. Book two TANGLED is expected in February of 2012.

I gave it 4/5 stars