Torn Away by Jennifer Brown | Rating: ★★★★★

Although I’ve only managed to get my hands on two novels by Jennifer Brown, she is on the fast track to becoming one of my favorite authors. There is something genuine in her writing; a raw emotion that takes you away and puts you in her characters shows. She takes you away on a journey of self discovery, loss and manages to capture each emotion beautifully.

She truly is a talent not to be missed in young adult literature and deserves way more credit that she gets. Her writing in Hate List is beautiful and Torn Away is no different. Boy, does this woman know how to touch the heart.

Torn Away is heartfelt, at times difficult to read in its tragedy — but it’s worth every good review it gets and honestly, no summary or review will do it justice. I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy (I received an egalley through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review).

I honestly feel like this novel is something I’ll be thinking about for a very, very long time and will recommend it to just about anyone I can. It will haunt you, that’s for sure — and be sure to have a box of tissues on standby.

(Spoilers!)

Hate List by Jennifer Brown | Rating: ★★★★★

“We all got to be winners sometimes. But what he didn’t understand was that we all had to be losers, too. Because you can’t have one without the other.”

Every now and then I stumble upon a novel that touches my heart and gives me something to learn. A novel that is as realistic as it is well written. One that shows us the effects certain events have upon us and how we never truly know the suffering of others, no matter how well we think we know them.

And that at the end of the day, people can surprise you in the worst sort of way.

Then there’s the other kind of surprises that prove to you that maybe, just maybe, things happen for a reason and not everyone is how they once were.

In this novel we meet the narrator as a teenager who’s boyfriend had brought a gun to their high school and opened fire on some classmates that they put on a list. A Hate List. Although, our main girl didn’t have any real idea of how badly this list would grow and the consequences that would arise when life gains a lead and others lose control.