Actual Rating: 2.5

Honestly, I'm very disappointed. I had been looking forward to reading this book because I thought that the plot sounded really interesting - and it would have been, if it weren't for the main character, who was just so, so, so, so, so annoying and dislikeable.

But let's start from the very beginning.
This story takes place in a dystopian society where anyone who dares to express an opinion that does not conform to society are tracked down to prevent an uprising. These people are arrested and murdered by none other than that mother of Becca, the main character.

One day, Becca gets a call from her friend Heather. Heather's parents have been arrested as dissidents, and she needs Becca's help. As the story proceeds, Becca gets drawn deeper and deeper into the secrets behind their dystopian regime; along the way, a boy named Jake gets involved with Becca's story.

And here is when it really started to go down. In my opinion, the first few chapters were tolerable (not interesting, but tolerable). But when Jake and Becca had more interactions, everything simply spiralled downwards - mainly because of Becca's attitude.

Becca is paranoid. So paranoid and fearful of the fact that Jake was a spy, that it was the only thought on her mind. ALL. THE. TIME.

FOR EXAMPLE, in Becca's mind:
Jake asks about Heather - Jake is a spy for Infernal.
Jake lies about his parents - Jake is trying to hide his past BECAUSE he is a spy!
JAKE STANDS UP FOR HEATHER - JAKE IS STILL A SPY AND BECCA THINKS IT IS ALL AN ACT.
Jake asks her out on a date - Jake is trying to get close to her for information!

EVERYTHING Jake does apparently "proves" that he is a spy - and Becca's constant repetition and circular thinking gets annoying very quickly.

What was even worse, was Becca's self-pitying attitude - which might have been Zoe Cannon's attempt to make her sound humble.
Maybe a boy really did like her instead of Heather for once, and she had screwed up her chances with him by accusing him of being a spy [...] When most guys saw her and Heather together, they really only saw Heather."

Wow, Becca, your life must be so hard. I'm so sorry.

And this one -
His smile snapped on like he had flipped a switch. Right, To make Becca less suspicious. She wished it didn't make sense, but it did.
Unless she was just being paranoid because she didn't know to deal with the idea that a guy might actually like her.

We get it, Becca. You're unlikeable - what a shocker.

OKAY, OKAY, OKAY. I'm done ranting about Becca's personality.

Another thing that really annoyed me about this book was Becca's interactions with Heather, which was basically the same thing over and over and over and over...
Here are the steps:
1. Becca finds out something and wants to talk to Heather about it.
2. Heather gets angry because she doesn't want to talk.
3. Becca is sad.

I am so tired of reading this same situation multiple times - it just felt like the story wasn't going anywhere. Throughout the entire book, it felt like the author tried so hard to make it suspenseful so that the audience would be blown away when she revealed things, bit by bit. But everything was just too predictable.
"[...] I asked about all surveillance on Heather." She hesitated.
"And?"
"There is no surveillance on Heather."

Not really. Points for trying, though. But sorry, we already knew that Becca was overreacting.

Moving on, the relationship between Becca and Heather, as well as Becca and Jake, was simply so full of imbalances that irritated me to no end. Becca made many questionable decisions, and yet she continued to justify them, trying to be the one that was right - and surprise surprise, Jake and Heather always apologized at the end.

And the next thing (at this point I'm realizing that the main thing that made this story two stars was Becca herself) was the one line that jumped out to me near the 3/4 mark of the book, as Becca thinks about Jake -
"There hadn't been another kiss since she had watched Anna die two days ago.

Huh. Let's read that again.
"There hadn't been another kiss since she had watched Anna die two days ago.

Yes ma'am/sir. You've read that correctly. Becca's friend died two days ago (sidenote: it was Becca's fault), but what's on Becca's mind isn't that death (Oh no, how preposterous!), it's the kiss she had with Jake - the boy who she's just gotten to know. How adorable.

Sigh.
And lastly, I guess I just didn't like the way the atmosphere was portrayed. It felt like a serious dystopian, complete with betrayal and murder, but the story I got was a weak love story involving a boy with a tragic past and a girl who was simple too blind to see how ABSOLUTELY PERFECT AND BEAUTIFUL AND STRONG AND COURAGEOUS she was.

The plot summary had some really neat ideas, and I'm sad to say that the book definitely did not meet my expectations, and I won't be reading the next book and finishing the series.

I mean, how could I find the willpower and the time to, when I have 460 more promising books on my to-read shelf? ( )

I received this book as a give away as part of a compilation [Shattered Worlds]. I have decided to give each book it's own review as I finish them to give the authors their due.

In [The Torturer's Daughter] {Zoe Cannon] has created a excellent coming of age novel dealing with making the tough choices even if it goes against all you have known. It is all about becoming your own person.

Becca knows that her mom's job in Internal is a tough one that causes most people to fear her. In fact she knows that her mom tortures people but tries to keep herself in denial because it is her mom. That is until the night of a frantic phone call from her best friend. The events that follow will change Becca's world forever. ( )

I received this book through b00k r3vi3w Tours in exchange for an honest review.

I would rate The Torturer's Daughter four and a half stars. I really, really loved this book.

In the beginning, I had mixed feelings because Cannon does not explain a lot of the back story, so it took me quite awhile to get engaged enough with the plot to overlook that - I am someone who LOVES knowing how dystopian societies got that way in the first place.

Eventually, the plot and characters were engaging enough on their own to pull me in, and Cannon revealed bits and pieces of the society sparingly, keeping me hanging with every detail. She has a beautiful and stark writing style, never getting in the way of the story but illustrating the events and the complexities of each character's thoughts and emotions perfectly.

This book confronts really difficult issues. What do you do when your loyalty to friends and your loyalty to family comes in conflict? What if the bad guys seem like good guys and the good guys seem like bad guys? What happens when your entire world is turned upside down?

Becca faces impossible choices and deals with the situation with a level of maturity I'm not sure I would be able to muster in her situation. Her ability to see the situation from all sides - to understand her mother's motivations for working as a torturer and killer for the government, to understand and have compassion for the choices Heather makes in the wake of her parents' deaths, to live with so much dissonance and contradiction and still try so hard to figure out what the right thing is and to do it...she is a lovable, complex heroine, and although she is completely badass, she has her flaws (no danger of any Mary Sues here).

I'm eagerly awaiting the next chapter of Becca's adventure! ( )

First of all, I love how the dystopian society formed a world filled with fear of dissidents.
Zoe Cannon definitely instilled fear in all of her characters, making them follow the status quo and such.
It is very fascinating to read Becca's perspective and her relationship with her mother, which is a torturer.

Not only that, Becca's world was literally turned upside down and it made her question everything she knew in her world.
Heck, it even made me question everyone's motives.

She had a hard time figuring things out and her constant fear of dissidents made her paranoid about everything.

I really like the way Zoe Cannon explored Becca's character because the elements of human nature are definitely explored and the way she describes Becca's fabric of reality being torn apart was super good.

I didn't really like the ending but the ending was truly explosive.
I'd never expected Becca to make that kind of decision but I really admire her.

All in all, expect love, betrayal, sadness, loyalty and hatred in The Torturer's Daughter.

Sincerely,
Selina.
www.booksandsweetepiphany.blogspot.com ( )

This book immediately draws you in. It has the angst of a YA book, but in a way that isn't overwhelming and instead adds to story. The characters are well developed. I really enjoyed this book and stayed up late into the night reading it. ( )