Torn, the debut fantasy novel of author Rowenna Miller, tells the story of Sophie, a seamstress who has used her skills with needle and thread and her ability to imbue her creations with charms to work her way out of poverty. Her brother Kristoff, a laborer, is not so lucky and is disillusioned with the way their country’s monarchy is running things. As Sophie becomes a darling of the nobility, Kristoff becomes involved with the enigmatic professor Pryord Venko and a movement to provide more rights to the working class. Soon the movement that started out as a cry for more rights becomes a full out rebellion with goals of overthrowing of the nobility. Sophie will have to decide what side she belongs on or find herself torn between the nobles and her livelihood or her love for her brother.

Torn has interesting characters and great, very detailed world building. As someone with a (completely useless) history degree I was really intrigued with Rowenna Miller’s use of real politics and history, particularly the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, to create the political climate and rebellion occurring in Sophie’s home country.

However, all this being said, I could not get through Torn. While the pacing was at times slow, the overall book was fine, it just wasn’t for me. It seemed that with every turn of the page Torn became a chore. I don’t know if it was because I like a bit more Romance in my Fantasy or if the current political climate has me wanting a complete escape from all things political, but I felt like I was slogging through Torn just for the sake of finishing and life is simply too short for that.

If you like Fantasy novels with interesting characters, rich world building and tons political intrigue, plus the added bonus of actual historical elements you will probably love Torn. Me? Not so much.

DNF

Orbit is often kind enough to send me review copies of their releases in exchange for impartial and honest reviews. This is often a great deal for me because their track record with books is astoundingly good and it’s very rare that I need to do a negative review for them. However, this is unfortunately one of those times. Today I will be talking about Torn, by Rowenna Miller, a book that had a lot going for it but fell short in an unpleasantly large number of ways. Full disclosure – I only got 50% of the way through the book, so it’s possible it turned it around in the back half – but I was unwilling to give it any more benefit of the doubt.

Torn is the story of Sophie, a dressmaker with the unique skills to weave charms into the clothes she makes. In Miller’s world, shop owners must compete and prove their right to sell things and earn a livelihood. Sophie’s tale revolves around the strain of running her shop, her relationship with her brother Kristos, who is leading a revolution against the aristocrats’ control of businesses, and a love story with a pure/beautiful nobleman who is a part of the evil aristocracy, but innocently didn’t realize what was happening to the poors in the country (I am a little tired of this trope).

Let me start with the good, the book had a lot of cool original ideas that drew me in. Weaving magic into clothes had me on board and I was ready to see clothes that burst into flames, or turned to steel, or made you super hot (so just like what normal nice clothes do, but with more magic). The conflict in the book also captured my attention as an original take on aristocratic oppression. Unfortunately this is about where my list of positives stops.

Where to start with the negatives? To begin with for a book based on magical clothes, there was surprisingly little magic. Most of the spellweaving seemed to be small passive charms that didn’t have clear effects and were a lot less magical than I was hoping. Instead Miller focused more on the dressmaking aspect of Sophie’s job. This was actually ok with me. I was disappointed in the lack of flashy magic, but I appreciate a good story about a tradesperson making nice things. What I do not appreciate is a character spending pages and pages expositing about how amazing they are at their trade instead of actually showing me. Dear lord is there a lot of exposition in this book. I remember clearly a scene in the first 10% where Sophie is thinking in here head about how she is the best tailor around, and lauding herself with complements, when she is in the middle of a conversation with a customer in the shop. How hard would it be to just make the customer comment on the quality of her wares? It achieves the exact same thing but I wouldn’t think Sophie was an egotistical ass.

Speaking of characters, Sophie was not particularly likable but the entire cast is pretty awful. Her brother Kristos started at offputting and by halfway through the book had solidly cemented his status as hateable. Once I got past the initial exposition dump, I didn’t find Sophie too unpleasant – but she just isn’t interesting. Sophie did not feel like the protagonist of this story (though damned if I know who did). She sits at the center of a whirlwind of events, constantly reacting with the tamest and most conservative response possible. She doesn’t enable actions or plots, but just constantly comments on how she thinks clearly bad ideas are probably bad ideas. While I found her an entirely believable character that I related to, sitting on the moral high ground and just saying “no” does not make a compelling read. The only two characters I liked were Sophie’s assistants, which got criminally short page time.

Finally, the story just wasn’t interesting. The pacing felt extremely slow, with parts often feeling a little repetitive. As I alluded to before, the love story is every aristocrat love story I have ever read. Sophie’s constant hedging and refusal to get involved with the story also sucked me out of the book myself. If she doesn’t want to be a part of anything, why would I? Torn had some good ideas, but needed to work on the execution. If you like the characters and the minutiae of trying to keep a store solvent, you genuinely might enjoy this. For me, the books several problems overwhelmed my interest and I ended up putting it down.

Rating: Torn – 3.5/10 (DNF)
-Andrew

I adored this book! The revolutionary themes seem to be timeless but seem particularly appealing to many of today's readers, and the viewpoint is a unique, often overlooked one and I love that it for some representation! I can't wait to read the upcoming works in this story!

As with Rachel Hartman's "Tess of the Road," I am not this book’s ideal reader—but even so, I can see the appeal. Unlike "Tess of the Road," which focused in on sexism and gendered issues with a laser-like intensity, "Torn" is most interested in examining class conflict on a grand scale. Enter Sophie, who sews charms into clothing is really quite good at it. She’s a business owner with a lot of responsibility riding on her shoulders: the success of her business and its employees depends on the efficacy of her charms and her ability to punch above her weight in social situations, while her brother’s safety and the fate of his growing revolution depends on her ruthlessness and her ability to harm as well as help others with her not-so-little magicks.

And yes, there’s a romance. And yes, he’s a Duke. Who wears a uniform. And a ceremonial sword. And who happens to be something of an amateur botanist as well as a potential heir to the throne which Sophie’s brother is so intent on overthrowing by violence.

To complicate matters, Sophie is introduced to high society by way of an influential court figure’s legendary salons, where women (and the occasional man) of privilege display a surprising awareness of and sensitivity to the lower classes’ experiences and needs. And thus Sophie’s allegiance is divided (or, yes, torn) between the class she was born into and the class which she has worked so hard to ingratiate herself with. In true "Les Misérables" form, everyone involved on all sides of the conflict are objects of empathy, and sympathy, and their deaths when they arrive are the regrettable consequence of … what, misunderstanding? The failure to talk things out? Fine, I’m as dramatic as they come, but if someone low-key sexually assaults me in Act 1 I’m not going to give him a sympathetic death in Act 5. Miller makes some interesting choices on that front.

The unfortunate truth is that "Torn" is less interested in constructing a believable revolution than it is in utilizing that revolution as a backdrop for the somewhat pedestrian romance and division-of-loyalties tropes which are so popular in young adult literature. I say 'unfortunate,' but I recognize that these tropes have value and are the meat and potatoes of many readers. I say 'unfortunate' because this book seemed passionately interested in hedging people like me (an asexual, agender, and aromantic person) out of the conversation about class. There is, simply put, no room for LGBTQIA+ representation in this book, and while the book hints at the intersection of race and class, it likewise steers clear of interrogating that most interesting of nexuses. That this book fails to be intersectional is a disappointment, but it is in abundant company. That this book is interested in examining the role of class in revolutions is admirable, however, and it seems well-positioned to tackle any number of further issues in future installments.

That, in the end, is the saving grace of young adult literature, isn’t it? Almost everything lives in series, and as such there’s always the possibility of questions answered, intersections navigated, and diversity represented in the future. I’ll be watching Rowenna Miller closely and picking up the next book in the series with great interest.

This book was heavily weighed down by politics. It was hard to keep everyone separate because essentially there were more than 5 groups of people, and there was tiers of importance, 2 being most important and then diminishing as the threat or importance diminished, but still a lot to keep straight. Also, I didn't really connect with the main character at all. She seemed secluded, almost snobby and self righteous.
The story itself, if not weighed down, was interesting, but it was hard to get through.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

Honestly, I tried to love Rowena Millers Torn. But ultimately it was too political for me to love. The idea of sewing magic charms in clothes was creative but never went as far as I thought. The romance was thoughtful but a usual cliche. And her brother was a stupid arrogant, ass. Ultimately Sophie's indecision caused a lot of people to get hurt. I thought the book left out a lot to become a series. It's a solid debut novel just not my cup of tea.

The book has a good premise and wonderful characters, but I found the tone to be too stiff, and combining that with the slow pacing, it didn't pull in my attention, for the most part. If you liked The Tethered Mage, I'd highly recommend Torn as a very similar book in tone & plot. But while they share a lot of characteristics, they are both unique in their own ways, and don't feel like the same book at all, beyond the prose and some other general plot ideas.

Overall, I liked the idea of a lower class girl earning her way into upper class society by hard work & a lot of elbow grease, with a side dish of romance. The magic was a nice addition, although I still don't understand why the MC refused to use her own magic to benefit herself. It's called idiocy, not 'sticking to your principles' when you're in middle of a revolution, have lots of bad things happening to you, but you refuse to use a good luck charm on yourself. Don't complain to me about your problems if you had a smidgen of a chance to prevent them from happening, but you didn't. And speaking of stupidity (it's related to idiocy), when you're looking for a missing person, how can you look all over, but not once think of asking the one person that the missing one kept hanging out with recently? I hate when people are inconceivably obtuse in books.

The characters were well drawn out - especially the women. The plot was also very good - if you go for high political/revolutionary descriptions. There was enough politics too turn this into a more complex YA fantasy.

Overall, the book was ok, but I grew bored with it quickly (mostly because of the tone - trying to sound like an upper class noble, and losing my interest in the process. I've read more exciting history books.) Don't get me wrong - the writing was perfect, but it just wasn't for me. I forced myself to finish it, and I'm in no rush to read the next, until I have nothing left in my TBR pile, which is highly unlikely to happen anytime soon. But if you liked the Tethered Mage, I definitely recommend you read Torn.

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sophie Balstrade is an accomplished seamstress, shop owner, and charm caster. She creates beautiful garments for the nobility…many of which are sewn with good luck charms. But when her brother Kristos becomes embroiled with the Labourers League, a revolutionary group advocating democratic governance, Sophie must decide where her true loyalties lie: with her clientele, her brother, or her country.

There’s a lot of really strong world building in TORN, ranging from the political and social lives of those living in Galitha City to the magic system. Sophie’s ability to cast charms is stronger than the average caster’s, which she attributes to the rigorous training she received at her mother’s knee. Charms are not well-respected by most Galithian people; by combining her charms with haute couture, Sophie disassociates her wares from the “backwater” nation Pellia thus making them fashionable for the Galithian nobility. Unsurprisingly, there’s a lot going on under the surface in TORN: classism, racism, and sexism all figure prominently in the story.

Sophie’s dedication to her craft is admirable, and I was impressed with her tenacity in starting and keeping her business afloat. One of the things I like best about the politics in TORN is the acknowledgement that labourers may all belong to one oppressed class, but working women face very distinct threats from their male counterparts. If Sophie were to marry, she would have to relinquish control over her business and its income. In terms of her business life, Sophie really makes things happen. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for pretty much every other quarter of her life.

My major gripe with TORN is Sophie’s passive nature: the revolution happens around her and she’s backed into a corner by its proponents. She’s primarily a reactive character, which is especially clear in the central conflict in the story, as she’s faced with the decision whether to support the Labourers League or the nobility. Both sides have good arguments, although it quickly becomes plain that a revolution of some sort is inevitable. I think most people will relate to Sophie’s conundrum, and they’ll find her sympathetic — up to a point. A character can only be “torn” for so long before the reader (or this reader, at least) starts to become impatient with their lack of decisiveness. Particularly when it lasts two thirds of the book!

Thankfully in the final third of the book circumstances force Sophie into high gear, and she starts to wrest back control of her life. She learns a lot about her magical abilities, which was really cool to read about, and has the epiphany that her power can be used for more than just beautiful clothes (duh). I just wish all this action had happened earlier in the story. Personally, I rejoiced when Sophie finally confronted the men seeking to manipulate and control her. Y’all already know that there’s nothing I love more than seeing traditional “women’s work” weaponized against villainous, sexist male characters!

And these guys really seem to abound in TORN, ranging from the truly despicable to the casually sexist. Unfortunately, that’s a pretty realistic representation of what it means to be an ambitious woman: there’s always some random guy trying to bring you down. Even Theodor, the Duke that Sophie falls in love with, is problematic in his own way. Thankfully there are some awesome women in the cast of secondary characters to make up for it: the women who work in Sophie’s shop and the noble women she meets as her shop’s profile rises are equally interesting.

Rowenna Miller’s TORN is an ambitious debut, and while it didn’t always work for me, the final chapters have certainly convinced me to return for the second book.

I really try not to DNF these titles, and this was one that so felt up my alley - but I just couldn't get through this. I liked the premise and the world-building, but once the "trusted ally" of the obnoxious brother's showed up I just couldn't do it. I'm going to maybe try and pick this up in a couple months, see if anything has changed. 2 stars because I like all the characters but the main ones.

I rarely toss a book to the DNF pile and still write a review about it. I feel that not finishing the story results in missing the author's intention, which is why I often hold reviews for a series until I have closed the cover of the last novel. However, I have continued and continued to pick this story back up and find myself bored to the point of cutting short my reading time. Because I feel like it is not worth it to continue trying to finish this story and I did receive an eARC in exchange for a review, I feel obligated to compose a review without having completed the novel. 

The setting of this book seems rather exciting; a bit of magic mixed up in a French Revolution-esque turmoil. The main characters appeared to have potential; a seamstress from the lower class and oppressed ethnic group, her brother is a day labourer leading a social movement, and the individuals who support her brother all fighting against the social elite. The writing is developed and mature, which is refreshing after reading more shallow YA authors. But, it does not work. 

The world building is decently-developed. The classes, races, and politics are easily understood and creative. Yet, the magic is a mystery. It seems one ethnic group has a better command of it, while another considers it as many in modern society view voodoo. Perhaps, this question of and these relationships with magic are better explained given time?

The revolution is witnessed by the main character, but she acts as a bystander. She is kicked into action and swept further into her story by circumstance. Yet, the growth to become her own pathmaker never seems to occur. I waited for over a hundred pages to see some indication of character growth from our seamstress, but I saw none. Her brother is a much more interesting character, but we were not given much in the way of his story. We are just given the consequences of his actions on our character, which is expected with the first-person perspective. 

The author handles first-person well. The descriptions do not feel forced, which can happen with this point of view. Yet, the character is bland and repetitive and very difficult with which to bond. 

It was the vanilla main character which forced me to finally quit trying to push forward with this novel. I am sure others will enjoy this story, I do not think it is a bad novel. It is just not the flavour I prefer. 

Thank you to NetGalley, Orbit Books, and Roweena Miller for the eARC of this book.

History plus fantasy equals fantastic! Sophie sews in magic during the French Revolution, she uses her cleverness to survive!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Orbit for the advance copy!

3.5 stars. This is a charming book with a great premise, but a few metrics shy of being awesome. It's a fantasy inspired by the French Revolution (i.e. basically written for me) and I loved the political elements and worldbuilding. The clash of ideas, morals, and philosophies made for some great exchanges and characterization and was well-executed.

However, I had some trouble getting through the first half because the protagonist, Sophie, is such a passive character. The story quite literally happens to her-- very few of her actions until much later are by choice so I was a bit bored with her. But at least she was more interesting than her love interest, Theodor, who was so dull I found myself pitying a fictional character. Thankfully the rest of the cast was vibrant and well-defined.

The pace lagged for most of the first half. The same topics were visited and revisited which felt repetitive and a few times I actually jumped around in the text confused, thinking I'd surely already read this part. It made the narrative feel padded, or like the author didn't quite trust the reader to keep up and so felt compelled stress certain elements over and again. Some of the slow pace is due to set up but this didn't bother me since it all paid off well in the second half, which was a lot stronger. Ultimately, I decided to round up since this is a story about women's work and its value in society. I'm a bit exhausted by stories about "tough" women whose exceptionalism comes from their most masculine traits, and it was refreshing to read about women who are strong and valuable because of their femininity rather than despite it.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thought Torn was a fun book to read and felt that the story although not completely unique (there have been quite a few of the poor oppressed people trying to take over the wealthy out lately, however I still love to read them) it had unique parts to it. Never have I read a book where the power that someone has is that they can stitch charms into clothing! I mean personally I think that it a pretty cool power to have and just something we haven’t seen. I also liked that ____ was of the poorer class but the nobles were pulling her into their circle not caring that she wasn’t one of them. So you really got to see both sides of the people in this. You got to see that really not all nobles thought the way that the government did, that they did agree there should be some change, but that the red caps were just going about it the wrong way. The Red Caps also just weren’t willing to listen, I thought it was very interesting that Sophie was not completely with her brother in that she just wanted to be able to do what she enjoyed doing and she saw both sides of the problem.

I thought that the characters were well developed, you really got to know more than just the main characters, you got a background of all the supporting characters as well. I felt like I was caring about most of the people in the book. Except the bad guy of course I just wanted him to get what was coming to him. I did think though he was a fairly decent bad guy role and there was a twist that at first you didn’t realize, although I did kind of figure it out before it was revealed but I thought it was a good twist in the story to take it in another direction. 

I liked that Sophie was actually willing to try and do what she had to do in order to save her brother and also find a way to stop the bad buy Pyrod from getting what he wanted. She didn’t really play into the typical woe is me I can’t do this heroine role that seems to be a thing where they just cry and complain while doing what they have to and then finally realize they can do it. Yes she had moments where she was like I can’t do this, but they didn’t last long because she would be like but you have to and so you are going to figure it out.

I thought the writing was great it flowed well and there were no mistakes. There wasn’t so much detail that it just dragged on it had just enough for you to picture what was going on but keep the story moving. I am definitely excited to see what is in store in the next book and can’t wait till it comes out!

From the earliest pages of the book, Torn is clearly about being in the middle of something bigger than yourself. Sophie, the main character is stuck between two sides of a revolution, two races, two sides of society and propriety. She desperately wants to stay neutral and it quickly becomes clear that’s not going to happen.
Torn is a very appropriate title for this novel, fitting Sophie’s position as perfectly as one of her gowns fits a client. She’s torn between family, safety, her values, her ambitions, her clients and her own desires.

Sophie’s story is that of the person who wants to watch from the sidelines and look out for herself. At the end of the day, all Sophie wants is to keep her shop open and continue to support herself, rather than fall back into poverty. A reasonable goal. She knows the system isn’t completely fair, but she’s made it work for her. She’s worked hard to work within the system and is content enough to not rock the boat.

Kristos was unpleasant the entire book. From the first time we meet Sophie’s brother to the final page he’s featured on, I hated him. He doesn’t seem to care about Sophie, her livelihood, her safety, her desires, her success, her happiness. He only cares for what she can do for him. He is the worst kind of relative. A user who should be turned out to the streets and never spoken to again. Even if Sophie agreed with her brother’s rhetoric, she still should have kicked him to the curb.

I really enjoyed the system of magic in Torn. I love stories where magic is embedded in everyday actions such as sewing, painting, gardening, etc and Torn fits neatly within my interests. Working charms for luck and safety within the garments she’s crafting, Sophie has cut out a niche for herself.

All that being said, I found some elements of the story quite predictable. Some of the “twists” were pretty obvious and a little disappointing in their unoriginality.

***Review***
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Title: Torn by Rowenna Miller
Publisher: Orbit Books
Genre: Sci-fi, Fantasy
Release Date: March 20, 2018
My Rating: 4/5⭐️
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Synopsis:
“Torn is the first book in an enchanting debut fantasy series featuring a seamstress who stitched magic into clothing, and the mounting political uprising that forces her to choose between her family and her ambitions, for fans of The Queen of Tearling.”
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I recently finished an ARC copy (I’m a bit late with this review) of Torn by Rowenna Miller (thank you Netgalley and Orbit Books) and the following is my honest review.
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In the city of Galitha the nobility rein over the common people, including seamstress and shop owner, Sophie Balstrade. Sophie, a charm caster, can sow magic into clothing, making her shop a very unique one. Most of her clientele are nobles and she depends on the coin she makes serving them to provide for herself and her brother. Unfortunately, others are not so accepting of nobles or their coin and so a revolution begins. Kristos, Sophie’s brother and only family, sits firmly on the side of the common people. No matter how hard he tries to bring Sophie to his way of thinking, he fails. Sophie believes she can stay neutral in this war between the nobles and the commoners, but she soon finds out how wrong that assumption is.
The first half of this book started off pretty slowly, setting the stage for the second half which flew by. I wasn’t that impressed in the beginning; a lot of talk about politics and business ownership, pretty droll stuff. At the same time I understood that it was imperative that the reader understand the rules of the game, so to speak. I also wasn’t that impressed with the main character right away. But, boy, did that change once I was about half way through. Sophie’s character gains strength and smarts throughout the story and I finally took a liking to her. Many other characters come into play such as the nobles, Viola and Theodore, who are both excellent characters. The plot also gets more interesting as well; I was unable to put this book down for the last 40% of this book. I was disappointed when the story was over, but was assuaged by the fact that there will be another book in this series in April of 2019, so we will get to see more of Sophie and the handsome Duke of Westfall, Theodor. All in all I was very pleased with this story. Since the first book gives you all the background you need on the workings of this particular world I’m confident the rest of books will be filled to brimming with all the juicy good stuff I came to love in this novel. I’ll be waiting with bated breathe for the next installment!
-Summer, Loud Mind Reviews

In narratives of revolution, there tend to be two opposing sides, us and them, where us is the poor, and them is the ruling class. Very rarely do we hear the story of revolt from within the middle class: the shopkeepers and traders, the merchants and professors. (I think the word I’m looking for is bourgeoisie, not to get too Marx about it.) The middle of any conflict is not a desirable place to be—not trusted by either side, constantly forced to tread a narrow path between. This unusual perspective makes Torn, the debut novel by Rowenna Miller, very interesting indeed: it tells the story of a young shop keeper living in interesting times (as the old curse goes), divided in her loyalties and standing right where the weave begins to rip, as society is torn in two.

Sophie and her brother Kristos were born in Galitha to immigrant parents from Pellia, a southern country considered by most Galatines to be a backwater. Most Pellians live in a rough and tumble ethnic neighborhood, but Sophie and her sibling have managed to claw their way into a posher Galantine enclave, though their position remains precarious—indeed, we first meet Sophie on her way to renew her business license, something all businesses must do every year, and woe betide those who mess up their paperwork. (As a small business owner who recently messed up her paperwork for licensure, this sequence rang true.) The Lord of Coin gives out precious few business licenses in a year, and the punishment for even minor infractions is placement on a blacklist.

Sophie runs an atelier, a small shop with two employees, though she is only in her mid-20s. She is the only couture charm-caster in Galitha City, having meshed the derided Pellian folk art of charm-casting with the stitching of fine garments, a quirk that has given her a slight edge in the trade. Traditional charm-casters work with clay or satchels of herbs, but Sophie learned to ply her mother’s magic into her work as a seamstress, producing charmed dresses that are not just beautiful, but magical. She is also keenly aware her clientele is primarily made up of minor nobility, the only people wealthy enough to buy beautiful dresses, let alone charmed ones.

Kristos is less lucky, economically speaking, and his is more typical of the average Galantine’s life. He’s a dock worker, when there’s work, toiling mostly as a day laborer, constantly hustling for enough scratch to make rent. He’s also a brilliant orator, smart and well read, but the Galantine university system only allows members of the upper class an education. There’s no good reason someone as bright as Kristos should waste his mind throwing fish on a dock, and he knows it. He becomes a vital member of the Laborers’ League, an organization of the disgruntled lower classes.

Sophie is well irritated with her brother’s politics—can’t you see that I’m the one who makes rent while you’re off in coffee shops talking economic theory?—but she doesn’t have a good counter to her brother’s valid critiques of the Galithan economic system. There are precious few paths out of the insecurity of day labor, even if Sophie has found one. The pair spars good-naturedly, though there is genuine heat to their disagreement. Still, Sophie loves her brother, and is willing to stitch him charmed red caps to protect him and his fellow League members during their rabble-rousing.

Sophie’s business takes her closer and closer to the aristocracy of Galitha, stitching fine dresses for petty nobility. One of her first assignments is for Lady Viola, a well-placed aristocrat who runs a salon of artists, scholars, and assorted hangers on. Viola is kind and warm, and an artist in her own right. Sophie feels a kinship with her, despite the class gap; she is a person with whom Viola can discuss the finer points of her own artistry. That Viola is allowed the time and money to pursue her artistry, while her own brother is denied the same privilege due to their common birth, is lost on Sophie.

Yet Sophie does have a finely rendered relationship with her two employees, and her nascent apprentice, all of them women. Sophie feels keenly the apprenticeships that brought her to entrepreneurship at such a young age. She wants to give back as much as she is able to the young women plying a woman’s trade in a precarious economy. (Lest you worry that the story will get lost in subplots, one of her employees ends up romantically entangled with her brother, and by extension, his revolution.) Sophie’s apprentice is a young Pellian who still bears the marks, by dress and carriage, of their unwanted ancestry. Sophie isn’t just straddling economic classes, but ethnicities—while she might think of herself as Galatine, her dark skin and trade in charms marks her as other. There are aspects of the novel that feel unbalanced—the ruling class luxuriates in finery, and is understood to be noble in both sense of the word, while the rebelling workers are mostly villains, and not always particularly well tailored ones; perhaps even for the author, the finer things in life prove too alluring.

Torn reminds me a bit of Mary Robinette-Kowal’s feminist-minded Edwardian pastiche Shades of Milk and Honey, with its emphasis on the domestic arts, and on the finely graded, stifling strictures put on women’s work, both inside and outside of the home. Sophie may run her own business, but she’s well aware that if she marries, all she has built for herself will all be owned by her husband and his male kin. Her Pellian legacy may afford her certain perks (in that she’s able to bend a folk art to commerce) but she’s still perceived as either foreign rabble (by the ruling class) or as a turncoat collaborator (by day workers less successful than she.) She can be a bit frustrating as a first person narrator—often selfish and nearsighted—but she’s an unusual voice, firmly set within her specific milieu and articulated in her worldview. If revolution came to my own world, I’d probably be closer to a Sophie than an avenging angel like Katniss. May the odds be ever in your favor.

I received a copy of Torn by Rowenna Miller from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was intrigued initially by the summary and am happy to report that the book did not disappoint!

The best thing about this novel was that it featured a plot that moves along nicely (even pacing, swift developments), was original and kept me engaged from the first page. The writing was incredibly solid with a well-woven story and crisp descriptions of people and events. The protagonist, Sophie, is likeable, hardworking, and even with her flaws (which make her more interesting and believable), is a person that you want to root for.

I found myself drawn into Sophie's world and empathizing with her plight. She is stuck between trying to firm up her business and appeal to its desired client-base of nobles, while at the same time, trying to keep her brother, Kristos, safe as he gets further caught up in the rebellion against the nobles. I found her attempt to keep from making waves or turning into some mythical, unbelievable heroine to be authentic as most ordinary people would do the same thing in her shoes and simply try to keep their livelihoods and families safe day-by-day. She wasn't ignoring the issues around her, I think she just tried to navigate through her life and its challenges without losing her business, her brother, or her own security.

All in all, reading Torn by Rowenna Miller was a fantastic way to spend a snowy day, and I am happy to had the opportunity to do so. I look forward to future novels from Rowenna Miller.

Sophie Balstrade has used her talent as a seamstress to support herself and her brother, Kristos, and she’s managed to open her own shop even as others around her struggle to find work. Sophie’s designs have gained much attention, but it’s her talent for sewing charms into her garments that has really set her apart from other seamstresses. Sophie is proud of what she’s accomplished, but her brother Kristos, only able to find work as an underpaid laborer, sees the faults in the system and is working hard to bring attention to those who are unhappy.

As whispers of revolt and rebellion are bandied around, Sophie finds herself unwittingly embroiled in a sinister plot against the royal family. When she finds her brother Kristos is being held by the revolution’s leader, the price of his safe return requires Sophie to sew a curse into a commission by the royal family. At the same time Sophie has caught the eye of a Duke, a member of the very nobility the commoners are rebelling against.

She'll be forced to choose between her livelihood and her people, her heart and her family.

I really appreciated the fact that Rowenna Miller portrayed Sophie as a character that really strives to remain neutral in the conflict. Oftentimes in stories of political upheaval, we'll see characters who are firmly on one side or another. Sophie, however is in the precarious position of fun straddling the line between commoner and nobility due to her job.

I had hoped to have more focus placed on the magical aspect of the story, but much more is put on to the country's unrest with the magical being an outlier. Obviously it has it's place in the grand scheme of things, but throughout the story there's a lot that Sophie still doesn't understand about her powers and charm casting. Towards the end, through some interesting turns of events, we learn more about it, as does Sophie, and I'm interested to find out how Rowenna Miller will choose to utilize it in the next book.

As for the “forbidden” romance, it kinda missed the mark for me. It just felt a lot like something that had to happen in order to solidify Sophie's conflicted feelings about the rebellion. There were some sweet moments but I wasn't ready for her to forsake everything for this relationship. Much is made about the fact that Sophie single-handedly built her business on her own, which is wonderful to read about, I just cringed every time it felt like she forgot her successes when the Duke came calling.

For me, the parts about the sewing and crafting of the garments and how the charms are then incorporated was the highlight of the book. There's little by way of explanation as to why Sophie has this gift, but that's due in large part to her not fully understanding them herself, and I look forward to seeing her learn as the series continues.

Torn was certainly an interesting read and while there were times the political machinations we're almost too much, I really liked how everything came together in the end.

Torn is the first story in The Unraveled Kingdom young adult, fantasy series which features a unique take on magic. Readers are introduced to Sophie, a young dressmaker who has a special gift for casting charms through her delicate needlework. I was drawn to this book because cross stitching is one of my hobbies. The book is aptly named as Sophie finds herself torn in so many ways. Her brother, Kristos, is a member of a gang seeking to rise against the monarchy which Sophie wants very little to do with. Yet, when Kristos asks her for a favor to aid in him during this movement, she feels obligated to give in as the protective sister. She falls for duke who she has little hope of being with as a commoner, yet she can't deny the feelings in her heart. Throughout the book, she's forced to make heart wrenching decisions between those closest to her and her personal ambitions. There's a slow build up to a pretty epic climax. Sophie herself is a strong female lead and I found myself being proud of her at times when she would make certain decisions. I was unsure of how I felt about Kristos for a variety of reasons. He came across as the immature brother who just wanted to make trouble. I thought the world building was fairly decent. Really appreciated the attention to detail of Sophie's special gift. Would like to understand more about it's origins. Good groundwork laid for a promising series. Bottom line, good start to a series I would be interested in reading more about.

5 stars

Torn made me wonder how far I would go

to protect my brother. Torn is about a seamstress torn between her brother and her lover, her ancestry and her adopted culture, her class and her ambition, her employees and her employers, who she is and who she wants to be... Well, she’s torn just about every way a person could be torn. At first I waffled about how I felt about Torn, as I wondered just how gullible Sophie could be. But then I asked myself, if it were my brother, how far would I go to protect him? Would I let myself be used? And I had to admit, I might do some foolish things if I thought it would keep my brother alive. And that really helped me identify more with the story and accept that Sophie was not making the best decisions. (Frankly, I was thinking of ways to do certain people in a bit early in the book, but I also had the advantage of knowing it was a book!) Torn is basically about the French Revolution in an alternate world. What would it have been like for the people who were neutral, who really didn’t want to take sides, who saw both sides? What would it have been like if your brother was one of the leaders of the Revolution, and you didn’t agree with his actions? What would you do to save his life?

Sophie is a seamstress who has managed through talent and hard work to open her own shop and who works her way up to commissions from the wealthy and the nobility. She has a special talent; she can sew good luck charms into the clothing. Sophie works hard to have her shop succeed and to employ other seamstresses while hoping to improve their lot through their wages and through the training that will help them open their own shops one day. Her brother is a revolutionary, but in many ways he’s selfish and short-sighted, willing to take advantage of Sophie to further his cause. And while the revolution is brewing, Sophie, who has rejected all thought of romance before this, finds herself attracted to not just any noble, but the son of the heir to the throne. Then her brother is kidnapped and the only way to save him is to compromise her beliefs and work with curses.

The character building is intense and the world-building is rich and detailed in the immediate surround: houses, clothing, etc. Torn is light on some of the background history, while the historical context expands as the book progresses. I expect to learn more about the various countries and types of magic in the next book.

Overall, I think fans of historical romance, fantasy, political intrigue, and even the French Revolution will enjoy this take on a society torn between the classes. It’s a wonderfully nuanced read. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book. Highly recommended.

I received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from the publisher through NetGalley. My opinions are my own.