Rating: 
Summary: review
Review: "Torn away" was quite interesting. The book was easy to read, among other things because of the annotations an the easy English language that the author used.
But the book is written with typical clichés, a bit like a feri-tale or a Hollywood film. The plot and especially the end was very simple to guess. While reading the book, I knew that Declan will stay in Canada. But If had written the book, I would not haven done it that way, because it's absolutely not Declan's character. His most important aim is to take revenge for the death of his family. And the fact that his father was killed by his own people changes his opinion about him and the Protestants, but I can't imagine that Declan changes completely after he knows that. His stay in Canada is not convincible for me. So the plot was too superficial and especially in the last chapters, you get the impression that Heneghan wants to finish the book; lots of events, but with no explanations.
Further more this kind of story does not please me. A point is missing, perhaps a love story or something like that. The whole book is about nature, a nice family and a boy who is so bitter, but in spite of, he finds a wonderful family. The moral: the world is fair.Juliane
Rating: 
Summary: comment on a novel
Review: "torn away" is a grat book which gives the reader a realistic insight in the Irish Question and its consequences which they certainly have on young kids like Declan. Though the story seemed to be a bit predictable from up to the middle (it was clear that he stays in Canada, otherwise Heneghan would have failed his moral),the autor achieves maintaining the tension until the happy end. Declan is torn between two worlds:on the one hand violence,death,revenge and cruelty in Northern Ireland and on the other hand the peaceful Canadian countryside symbolizing the love of his family.The development that he has to go through impressed me very much: at the beginning he felt so contemptuous, full of hate and revenge and after a while he began to identify with his relatives and their way of living. It`s precious to read it!!!
Rating:
Summary: Goil
Review: "Torn away". As I first heard that our English class was going to read this book, the title didn`t appeal to me. But things changed soon as I had read the first chapters.
I like the way the auther describes the difficult situation of the 13-year-old Declan, whose family died in the quarrel between the Protestants and the Catholics in North Ireland. The problems,thoughts and feelings, the main character shares with the reader, are amazing and I could really identify with Declan.
The only thing I can remark is that the novel doesn`t deal enough with the political background of Ireland but apart from that it`s an interesting novel, easy to understand, even for Germans.
Rating: 
Summary: review
Review: A 13-year-old boy from Belfast who calls himself a young terrorist is forced to leave his native country to live in a completely different world - a village in Canada.
Reading the novel is not only interesting because of the boy's destiny and character - he experienced a lot of cruelty in Northern Ireland and wants to take revenge for his family's death. You are also confronted with a topic that doesn't often appear in the latest news : the lengthy Troubles between Nationalists and Unionists in Northern Ireland.
The plot's course is rather unexpected since the boy's mind and his attitude towards other people change step by step. That's what I really liked about the book.
Although some happenings and developments aren't really realistic , reading wasn't boring or difficult.
And because of the constant development there is a lot of tension , I wasn't able to guess the ending until the last page. The ending is also very surprising and not everybody might be satisfied.
Finally I believe you can also learn from the story although it deals with a child.
Even if you aren't interested in The Troubles , Canada or whatsoever - that may change! Alexandra
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: For any of you who've read Shades of Gray, it's similar to that book. Declan is someone that is easy for kids to relate to. He's so full of hatred, and he doesn't know what to do with it. Naturally, he turned it toward the source. Unexpected twists hold your attention. The end is predictable, but over all it's a good story line. It's easy to read, but I recommend it for 13 and up.
Rating:
Summary: A Book Of Trouble!
Review: I like this book because it has alot surprising things Declan does. My best part is when Declan escapes from the plane. I would recomend this book to anybody who likes to read books that are full of surprises.
Rating:
Summary: Torn Away
Review: I read the book "Torn away" and now you will get some information to know if it is necessary to buy the book.
The story is about a young boy,Declan,who is thirteen years old and who is already alone.
His parents and his sister died because of the cruelty in Northern Ireland.
By the authorities he is sent to Canada to his relatives although he wants revenge for his family.
In almost the whole story he is against his new family and he wants to go back but in the end he finds friends and stays in Canada.
At the beginning it is a little bit boring because they explain the whole escape when he has to go to Canada. I have also read a lot about the conflict in Northern Ireland and I thought it would be nothing new but while I read the book I noticed that it is interesting and exciting. In the book there is a lot of tension but it has no open end and I hate books with an open end. It is not very dramatic although you will find said moments. There is one scene where they save a seal and it reminds you of "Free Willy".But all in all it is a book with a lot of information. I think it is not wrong to read this book. After the first pages I liked the book.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic but nice to read
Review: I read the book, because we had to read it in school.
First the title meant nothing to me.
After the first chapters, I thought that it will be a boring book. But later on, I enjoyed reading it more and more.
I think it's easy to identify with Declan and other protagonists of this book. It's a story which is explained realistically with real problems of the modern life.
I liked the contrast of the two "worlds", on the one hand, the world full of violence and hate, and on the other hand the peaceful and friendly world.
It was nice to work with this book, because there were so many possiblities.
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: It was a well written book. I give major props to the G-Dog who wrote it. This book was off the chain. You didn't know what he was gonna do and what was gonna happen next. I liked it alot!
Rating:
Summary: From a pupils point of view
Review: Our class read this book in the Ninth class. It was a topic in our English lesson. We also wrote a test on it, so we had to read it very carefully.
Sometimes it was very interesting, but sometimes some of us also wished to throw it away, because it got very boring in some parts.In some situations the characters don`t behave realistically, that`s a shame.
The book could be really nice, because the story shows something real, whith what you can identify.
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