REVIEW: Torn – Carian Cole

Torn by Carian Cole
Series: Devils Wolves #1
Genre: romantic drama
Themes: forbidden love
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He’s loved me since the day I was born.
He’s taken care of me.
He’s awakened me.

Tor. My father’s best friend.
Fifteen years older than me, he’s always been my protector. The one I should never, ever want.
But I was born to be his.

She’s always loved me.
She’s shattered me.
She’s healed me.
Kenzi. My best friend’s daughter.
I held her the day she was born, and I never let go.
She’s forbidden to me. But she’s the only one that really gets me.
We’re slowly being torn apart by everything we love.
Everything we want.
Everything we desire.

And now I want the one thing I can’t have… I want her.

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Review

Heat: ★★
Rating: ★★★

I wish you weren’t who you are…

This forbidden love romance started off strong enough. I haven’t read Cole’s Ashes & Embers series, and although this spin-off does standalone, I feel that I would have had a deeper understanding of Asher’s character in this, and his past.

I’ll start by saying that I’m a sucker for forbidden romances. I love the drama, the inevitable anguish, and frankly, I love the taboo, too. And this novel had plenty of all of that. Mixed in was a rather emotional, heartbreaking subplot, which made this a recipe for a tearjerker. And, regardless of its flaws, the strength of the story really ensured that this was an enjoyable, slow-paced read.

The characters, although interesting, didn’t quite feel fully developed for me. They occasionally acted very out of character, with Asher towards the end saying and doing things that just didn’t fit the character built up for him. Similarly, I just couldn’t quite get Tor. There were a load of supporting characters which seemed to have their own massive problems too, and a lot of this just felt like a load of build-up for the sequels, rather than having relevance to the story.

I have no past without him, and no future without him.

Where I struggled most was with the writing. To me, the dialogue felt stilted, very forced and robotic; like dialogue being used as a narrative device for both telling the story and attempting to add complexities to the characters. For example, there were conversations between characters which, although an everyday occurrence in reality, simply aren’t necessary to the plot within the pages of a book, and rather than successfully make these characters seem more real, more layered, they instead just detracted from the overall storyline. There’s a fine line between attention to detail and the everyday for realism, and just plain overloading.

Similarly, there were a few occasions where it felt like Cole was trying too much with her language, attempting to make parts sound profound. Instead, it felt like I was reading something disjointed, a patchwork quilt with none of it quite matching but being put together regardless. I would have preferred a more relaxed narrative, something more fluid and easier to read.

We all let go. We followed our hearts. And we all ended up together again.

Yes, this novel had its flaws. It was by no means perfect. Yet, despite this, I still very much enjoyed immersing myself within this world and these characters lives, enjoying the storyline, even if parts just weren’t my cup of tea. Would I read the sequel? I think so, yes. And I’d like to read the original series, too.