27 October 2011


Excerpt from Torn:

A funeral without a body is like a wedding without a bride. Or a groom.

Except this isn’t officially a funeral – it’s a memorial service. Instead of a coffin, there’s an easel with a huge photo. She looks pretty. Hopeful, even.

The church is jam-packed. People standing at the back, craning their necks to get a good look at the family. There were even photographers outside when we arrived. It’s a zoo. A snivelling, wailing zoo. Not that I can talk – I’ve been snivelling too. Dad pressed a hanky into my hand as soon as we got here. Now it’s sodden and snotty, so I’m guessing he won’t want it back.

No one’s wearing black. Black is officially banned. Apparently she used to joke about her funeral, saying she hoped everyone would wear crazy neons and wave glow-sticks around. Well, no neons as such, but I did manage to pour myself into my purple skinny jeans (what was I thinking?).

Sometimes I used to imagine my own funeral. It was nothing like this. And it certainly didn’t involve the school choir singing ‘Keep Holding On’ by Avril bloody Lavigne. Polly Sutcliffe is centre stage. New haircut. Highlights too. She manages to get through most of the first verse before dissolving into tears. Real, actual tears, just like the ones I’ve been crying for days and days.

Tears of shock.

Tears of sadness.

Tears of guilt.

School has been weird since it happened. It’s all anyone can talk about. The first day back, every teacher said a few words about her at the start of each lesson. Some were more convincing than others. Miss Daley hadn’t even known her – not really – but you could tell she was genuinely upset.

Daley arrived at the start of the school year, fresh and new and vulnerable, a tiny bird-lady with I’m a newly qualified teacher, please take advantage of me tattooed on her forehead. So we did what we always do – try to find a weakness, see how far we can push her, wondering if she’ll cry if we take things a little too far. But she held up pretty well .She took everything we could throw at her – even Tara’s major attitude.

I keep looking over at Cass; I can’t help it. She’s picking cat hairs off her skirt, like she always does when she’s bored. Except Cass hardly ever wears skirts. Her mum must have talked her into it. Looks like she’s had a haircut too. It seems like everyone’s got spruced up for the occasion. I catch Cass’s eye and she half waves in my direction. I shake my head, just a tiny bit so no one else will notice. She shrugs and goes back to grooming her clothes. Jesus.

I shouldn’t be surprised that she’s not crying. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her cry. Not even when Boots Mark 3 got run over last summer. And Boots Mark 3 was her favourite of all the Bootses. Boots Mark 4 isn’t quite matching up, apparently. He’s certainly hairier than the last one. I try to steer clear, since I’m sort of allergic to cats. Not properly – just enough to make my face itch when I’m around them.

Cass prides herself on being strong. She thinks girls who cry all the time are pathetic. Crying at the end of a Disney film? Pathetic. Crying because the boy you fancy doesn’t even know you exist? Pathetic. The entire school crying on and off for the past couple of weeks? Pathetic pathetic pathetic.

Luckily she makes an exception for me. I’m allowed to cry whenever I want, and she’ll do anything she can to cheer me up. Which usually involves making me laugh. She can always make me laugh. It’s one of my favourite things about her. Although I hate it when she does it on purpose when I’ve got a mouthful of orange juice or something. That’s just cruel.

The singing is over, thank God. I check the order of service: a reading by the three witches. Of course it doesn’t actually say ‘witches’, but that’s what Cass calls them. They’re not that bad – individually, at least. Just normal girls: Gemma, Danni and Sam. But put them together and they transform into something bigger, something badder. And if you add their fearless leader into the mix, they mutate into a multi-headed monster of popularity. A monster that teachers love, for some inexplicable reason. A monster that boys love even more, for very obvious reasons. A monster that the rest of us bow down to – out of fear mostly, but also a kind of grudging respect. And jealousy.

But their fearless leader is no more.



Torn is available on December 22nd, 2011!


Synopsis: Four girls. One dead body. A whole lot of guilt.

Alice King isn’t expecting the holiday of a lifetime when she sets off with her classmates on a trip to the Scottish wilderness, but she’s not exactly prepared for an experience beyond her darkest nightmares…

Alice and her best friend Cass are stuck in a cabin with Polly, the social outcast, and Rae, the moody emo-girl. Then there’s Tara – queen of mean. Powerful, beautiful and cruel, she likes nothing better than putting people down.

Cass decides it’s time to teach Tara a lesson she’ll never forget. And so begins a series of events that will change the lives of these girls forever...

A compelling story of guilty secrets, troubled friendship and burgeoning love.



 


Preorder Torn Online:

The Book Depository | Amazon UK


Find Cat Online:


Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook








Enter to win an ARC of TORN!



Rules and now to enter:

You must be at least 13 years old to enter.
To enter, please fill out the form provided below.
Giveaway open INTERNATIONAL!!
Giveaway ends: November 10th, 2011






Don't forget to stop by and check out who Jessica is featuring today for Haunted Halloween!

REMINDER: *If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry.
Please ready full entry rules >>>HERE<<<

Cat, Thanks so much for allowing me to post an excerpt from Torn! Sounds like a great beginning to the new book, and I can't wait to read it! Also, thank you so much for having me host this giveaway for an ARC copy.

*I am not compensated at all for any of the links within this page.

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23 comments:

  1. I think Torn sounds awesome. Thank you for sharing today and for the wonderful giveaway opportunity.

    dz59001[at]gmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great excerpt! This book sounds so good. Thanks for the giveaway.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mary DeBorde [M.A.D.]
    zenrei57 (at) hotmail dot com

    Really enjoyed that excerpt, curious about what happens next - thanks for the chance to win a copy of Torn! :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yay! I can't wait for December. That was such a tease.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Haven't heard of this book. Sounds intriguing!

    jessica(DOT)agreatread(AT)gmail(DOT)com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you so much for the awseome giveaway! :)

    Email: osnapitzAngiex3(AT)aol(DOT)com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good post! Thanks.
    Odd as it may seem I have thought what I might want if I had a memorial service....who would talk or what songs I would want played....I know, kinda morbid but this is the time of the year for all things odd & spooky
    veltara(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm very eager for this release! I just got hooked :)

    Vivien
    deadtossedwaves at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Interesting excerpt, I would definitely like to read more. :)

    liedermadchen(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ooh, love the excerpt! Thanks for the giveaway. =)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I haven't heard of Torn before, now I have thanks.

    spyblue78(at)gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. That was a great excerpt! I'm definitely intrigued. This book sounds really good :-)

    Thanks for the giveaway!

    Ambercruz1(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  13. I can't wait for this book to come out! Thanks so much for the giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow, it reminded me of Pretty Little Liars except more intense. Oh, I'm looking forward for this book now.

    I love the opening sentence lol
    Thanks for the giveaway.

    thenarcissuslibrary at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  15. This book sounds really, really good! I'm looking forward to reading it :)

    Amanda
    hippiesbeautyandbooksohmy@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanks for sharing!

    justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

    ReplyDelete
  17. I only hear great things about Torn. I'm excited to read a real angsty, edgy book!

    bchild5 at aol dot com

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ooh, awesome excerpt!

    jadedlittlegirlx AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  19. oooo this book looks good! I hadn't heard of it before now but I'm glad I have seen it now because it really does look great!
    chiri_chan29330@yahoo.com

    -Nichole

    ReplyDelete
  20. Cat Clarke's books have nice covers. I liked the red-haired girl on Entangled's cover. Torn and Entangled are both my to-read list. I haven't gotten the chance to read Entangled, but i'm hoping to read it soon.

    Thank you for the ARC giveaway!

    -Danah
    icrave13@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. Ooh, what a wonderful giveaway. Thank you for sharing that small little peek into Torn in the post. I'm all kinds of excited for this book. :)

    Suz @ A Soul Unsung
    My Teaser Tuesday
    My Giveaway: Signed Copy of Hollowland by Amanda Hocking
    susanhaugland@att.net

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oooh, I want to know more now! Fantastic excerpt. It really grabs the reader and if I hadn't already wanted to read Torn, I so would now. Thanks for sharing and thanks for the giveaway.

    ReplyDelete

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