1 out of 4 stars
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Torn Between by Karen A. Miles is a story about Melissa Harrison. Set in the hustle and bustle of Singapore, 21-year-old Mel struggles to adapt to living in a foreign country and re-discover love amidst the chaos and confusion that now makes up her life.
While Rob has never been an exemplary boyfriend, Mel believes that he loves her - enough for her to stay with him despite his moving overseas for work. When Rob asks Mel to move to Singapore to be with him, she goes without hesitating too much, naively dreaming of a life with Rob in Singapore.
However, her hopes are dashed when Rob unexpectedly wants them to join in his friends’ and colleagues’ private Swingers Club, an event which lets couples swap their partners for one night. Mel is appalled, but joins the club in order to ensure that she still gets to live the almost luxurious life in Singapore. However, the people in the club are not what they seem, and they will end up doing Mel more harm than she’ll ever experience in her life.
I really tried to like this book, even though it goes in a totally different direction than what I expected so abruptly that I was stunned speechless. The parts near to the ending are a bit better, but the ending itself doesn't endear to me.
Although the setting might not have been the focus of the book, but I expected to see more of the local culture, scenery, and language than the little that’s present. Except for the vague mentioning of some well-known landmarks in Singapore, there is nary a hint that the story took place in Singapore. While there are inklings of how it'd be like to live in Singapore (such as the weather), as a local myself, I feel quite certain when I say that what I read is indistinct enough that it could have been set in a fictional city and there wouldn’t be much of a difference. However, this book is set in 1987, which is before I was even born, so perhaps I’m wrong on this count.
The quality of the writing is unfortunately hovering between ‘mediocre’ and ‘this really needs an editor’. From the awkward, overuse of commas to the lackluster prose, I find Torn Between lacking with regards to its delivery. While avoiding purple prose is good, I think this story finds itself too far at the other end of the spectrum. It read like the author tried to keep the descriptions short and sweet, but it came across as telling without saying anything. For instance:
“Mel that evening was was dressed to kill, she was wearing a black and white dress which buttoned up the back and accentuated all her curves.”
I don’t think the image in my head after reading that is what the author has in mind. Sometimes the descriptions are better, but more often than not, they aren't. In fact, some of them make me cringe.
“...tears mixing with the sweat to form a small salty river which flowed between her breasts.”
However, what really put me off the book is how badly the characters are being portrayed. Hardly anything about them is likeable or relatable. The supporting characters mostly have personalities so over-the-top they come across as terribly stereotypical, while Mel constantly gives me whiplash with her reactions. Unfortunately, they barely get any development at all until the ending where it's all pretty abrupt and not very convincing. Harry, who is supposed to part of the conflict (and probably the climax as well), barely made any appearance even when I’m more than halfway through the book. I feel like the only sensible person I can tolerate in the book is Mel’s mum, who probably appeared for some pages and a few phone calls. Well, maybe Rob’s dad, too.
This book is really tedious to read, and the main plot is lost behind Mel, Mel, Mel. For the first one-third of the book, it is mostly about Rob and Mel going in circles and repeating the destructive cycle that is their relationship, which can’t be all attributed to Rob. Even after that, it’s all about how it affects Mel, what Mel does, how Mel feels… you get the gist. In fact, the other characters seem to exist only for that fact that they can create a miserable life for Mel so she can bemoan about it. It's very difficult to see anything else.
While there is a little character development near the end of the book, it is horribly executed and does not involve communication between the people who should have been. In fact, Mel talks to just about every other character about what happened except Rob.
Therefore, I rate Torn Between 1 out of 4 stars, and would really not recommend this book. Look, I really, really wanted to love this book. It sounds so interesting, not to mention that it takes place in Singapore. The language and tone used in the synopsis wasn't too bad either. Hence it came as a surprise when I barely liked anything about it, and in fact disturbs me on a visceral level. Frankly, I feel cheated because the difference between what was promised to readers in the summary (and what I expected) and actual book might as well be a wide, endless chasm. I get upset thinking about it. Perhaps other readers might like this book, but unfortunately, this is not for me.
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Torn Between
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