TORN, by David Massey

Torn, by David Massey, does not deliver, I feel, when it comes to descriptions of the challenges and emotional and moral journeys of the characters in the text. The details on character that are included do not sufficiently give a full backstory, or explain emotional change that the characters might have gone through.

The main character is Ellie, a British soldier stationed in Afghanistan. Her reasons for joining the Army, and descriptions of her family or past are not really explained. The author could have focused on her character development to give a better sense of the emotional aspects of hers and other characters in the book, rather than adding so much physical action and dialogue to speed the story along.

The characters changed very little from the beginning of the story to the end. When the story begins, Ellie, who is a medic, doesn't really seem to like her job, and doesn't describe why she joined the Army to begin with. When she witnesses some of the horrible things that have been done to Afghani children and families, she wants to quit the army and go home, because she rejects what the US is doing. The reader cannot get a sense of her emotional change if her attitude has stayed the same throughout the entire book. If the author had written why she joined the army and included details that showed that she did want to be a medic and wasn't reluctant to do her job, the reader would be able to see exactly how her character changed.

Finally, Torn did not give me enough emotional content or deeper elements of character development to feel moved by Ellie's story and her emotional journey.

As a reader, I didn't dislike the book. The action and suspenseful twists kept me interested  in what I was reading. But if the author had delivered on the character development that was missing, it could have been a great book.