Torn by Stephanie Guerra

Publisher:		Marshall Cavendish
Genre:		Young Adult
Pub Date:		May 15, 2012
ISBN:		9780761462729
Source:		NetGalley Review Copy

Stella Chavez is your classic good girl: straight As, clean-cut boyfriends, and soccer trophies. You'd never guess that Stella's dad was a drug addict who walked out when she was a kid. Or that inside, Stella wishes for something more. New girl Ruby Caroline seems like Stella's polar opposite: cursing, smoking, and teetering in sky-high heels. But with Ruby, Stella gets a taste of another world a world in which parents act like roommates, college men are way more interesting than high school boys, and there is nothing that shouldn't be tried once. It's not long before Stella finds herself torn: between the best friend she's ever had and the friends she's known forever, between her family and her own independence, between who she was and who she wants to be. But Ruby has a darker side, a side she doesn't show anyone not even Stella. As Stella watches her friend slowly unravel, she will have to search deep inside herself for the strength to be a true friend, even if it means committing the ultimate betrayal.

Synopsis from Book Description on NetGalley.

**Firstly I would like to thank Marshall Cavendish for giving me the opportunity to review this book**


 WOW!!! What a book!!! I dont want to give away too many spoilers so I will limit myself in my description. Stella Chavez  is a very likeable girl, your average seventeen year old with great grades who is interested in high school boys and soccer. Enter the wild and fun-loving Ruby Caroline, Stella's complete opposite, who has a firm relationship with cigarettes and alcohol. Ruby is placed in Stella's AP English class and decides there and then that she wants to mark Stella as her own. The two girls quickly become inseperable and Ruby introduces Stella to a world she never knew including College boys and partying. We also find out about Stellas drug addict father and how she now feels responsible for the upbringing of her two siblings as her mother works every hour god sends to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. As the girls relationship blossoms, Stella begins to realise that Ruby is not all that she seems and she has a side that Stella is very uncomfortable with including a drug addiction and a very older boyfriend nicknamed 'Silver Fox'. In Stella's eagerness to help Ruby break free from the things dragging her down, Stella sacrifices her relationship with her college boyfriend and her friends from kindergarten as everyone has a gripe against Ruby's wildness and dont look at the person hiding behind the front she has put up.

This book for me was excellent, I found Stella to be an average teen who wears her heart on her sleeve and helps everyone around her. She was very easy to like as I was able to relate to her as she felt torn between her loyalty to her friend and to herself. Although Ruby has a wild side I found her very funny and energetic and I felt that she certainly brought stella out of her shell and allowed her to realise that breaking a few rules isnt all that bad. I loved the girls loyalty to each other and also how the girls both had a past that affected both their future and their friendship at times. The storyline was very believable and this certainly added to my enjoyment. I finished this book in less than two days. I would love for Stephanie Guerra to write a sequel to this, so that I could find out what happened next with the girls friendships and if Stella finally found the courage within herself to leave her small town and spread her wings.

This book had laugh-out-loud moments as well as bringing a tear to my eyes and that is what I look for in an amazing book.