Torched

Torched by April Henry

published by Putnam

212 pages

$16.99 (hardcover)

FTC: This is my book and I will not be compensated for this review.

What it's about:

When her parents are bused on drug charges, the FBI give Ellie a choice: cooperate by infiltrating the Mother Earth Defenders (MED), a radical environmental group that may be turning to violence--or stand by and let her parents go to jail for life.

Soon, Ellie is immersed in the dangerous world of extreme activism, including setting a Hummer dealership on fire. But the more time she spends undercover--particularly with coyote, the strikingly handsome green-eyed MEDic--the harder it is to tell who's right and who's wrong. When MED's plans turn to murder, will Ellie have the courage to keep her cover and save her parents--even if it means losing Coyote and putting her own life on the line?

My thoughts:

This was a very quick read.

Living in Oregon and being very into environmental studies made me connect to this book on a very big level. I found myself getting mad at "the man" and wanting to join MED. This probably wasn't what was supposed to happen, but it was. I even found myself thinking of what my MEDic name would be.

It was this connection I felt with the book that made me really enjoy it.

However, if I did not feel this connection to the book, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. I only understood the importance of what the MEDics were trying to say in this story because I spent a year studying it in school and make it a point to learn this information. The book did not explain what the MEDics were trying to say and why it is important to save certain types of animals. It was expected of the readers to understand it or to take the word of the characters.

Honestly, the story was a little cheesy, but I didn't mind that at all. It played out more like an episode of something you'd see on the CW rather than something like Law and Order.

This was a quick, entertaining read that captivated me and made me want to get more involved with my local environmental groups. I really enjoyed the book but I would not recommend it to everyone. If you enjoy stories about the environment and what people are trying to do to save it, this is a must read. Otherwise I'd say you might want to find something else to read.

My rating: 9/10