Review: Torrent By Lisa T. Bergren

Title: Torrent
Author: Lisa T. Bergren
Publisher: David Cook
Publishing Date:  June 1, 2011
Length: 388 pages
Series: River of Time #3
Summary: (From back of book)  Gabriella and Evangelia Betarrini are just two normal American teenagers. Normal-except for the fact that they time travel to fourteenth-century Italy, where they've lived in castles, become swept up in historic battles, and fallen in love with handsome knights willing to do anything to keep them alive.
They've returned with their mother to the present to save their father before his tragic death, and now the family travels back to the place that holds the girls' hearts; medieval Italy. Both remaining there means facing great risk as the battle for territory wages on and the Black Plague looms. Will the Betarrinis truly be willing to risk it all? Or in facing death head-on, will they discover life as it was always meant to be?




My Thoughts:  This series was such a wild ride. I enjoyed reading these, but it did have it's down sides. But we'll do the good first.  I loved Gabi's strong willed character and Luca's constant teasing; the characters really came to life in these books and that is something I loved.  The plot was twisting, and kept me guessing, even though some parts were pretty obvious on how it would all turn out. I've never read a book with fighting scenes and must say I found the action in these to be realistic and moving. It didn't feel forced or flat which can be difficult in describing movement. 
The message of the books was a positive one. It taught me to rethink my life and live in the moment and enjoy life because you never know what will happen next. It also made me think about God's hand in my life and to look for His influence in everything.
Now for the negative. I first heard about these books under a clean read site and must say that these books were the most violent, and at times racy pieces of fiction I've ever read. It was disappointing that they would be filed under 'clean fiction' and still have parts in it that were hardly appropriate. There were several acts of violence I found to be unsettling and in the final book, Torrent, towards the end, the villain begins harming innocent people in a very disturbing manner. Maybe I'm just sensitive to things like that. But had these scenes been in a movie, the rating would surely be PG-13 at it's lowest.
The sexual tension in the books was also a little questionable. Gabi is a seventeen year old girl and she falls for Marcello who is just a few years older than her. That's fine by me. They kiss in the first book, more passionately in the second and by the third book, were practically making out.  Spoilers here, mouse over to keep reading: Marcello and her end up getting married, and they justified her being underage by saying she had matured enough and was really ready for such a commitment. There is a scene of kissing where both talk about desire and Gabi hints at not waiting until the wedding to go off and do you know what. They keep it clean, but only after pulling away with much reluctance. The wedding ceremony was cute, and I think it should have been left there. But instead, the story continues to them in the bedroom with Marcello unbuttoning Gabi's dress and says something along, 'growing closer in the hours that followed' so you clearly get the idea of what they were doing. The scene cuts there, but picks up in the morning with him jumping back in without his shirt on and you learn that Gabi is topless. 
I'm sorry, but this girl is seventeen! Do I want to be reading about this in a piece of young adult fiction? Absolutely  not.  I find it offensive and just plain wrong. To tell you the truth, I felt guilty after reading it. No wonder the youth today have such a low sense of purity, it's inescapable! It's everywhere in the media. Magazines, TV, movies, books; even Christian,  proclaimed, 'clean fiction' books. 
I just find that really ironic.
One of the characters I really liked was Lord Greco. He was a character you could never be sure which side he was on and I wish I knew more about him. I understand the author is writing a novella about him; the cover is gorgeous, by the way, but it's only being published as an E-book so I probably won't get to it. 
All in all, I would give these books three out of five. The plot was interesting, the characters compelling, but the several innuendo remarks and violence really turned me off.