Series: The Torn #1
Author: C.E. Murphy
Publisher: Miz Kit Productions
Released: June 4, 2021
Received: Own

Excuse me as I squee. C.E. Murphy has a brand new series for me to dive into! I absolutely adored Walker Papers, so I could hardly contain my excitement at this news. Practical Boots is the first novel in The Torn series.

Cat Sharp is the daughter of a Lord of the Torn, which really is just a fancy way of saying that her life is extremely complicated. She didn’t have much of a childhood before her magical father dumped her in the Waste – a land that deserved the name.

On the bright side, Cat learned a lot about herself because of that. For example, she learned of her hidden talent. She also learned to never trust her father, no matter what. So when her most recent job forces her to cross paths with him, she knows it’s going to get ugly.

“Not since her very young childhood had anyone shouted at like that at Cat, and here, in the first seconds of being in the World, a stranger cared enough to shout at her like her life mattered.”

Practical Boots is the perfect novel for anyone looking for an utterly unique take on the fae. C.E. Murphy has spun a new tale, creating not one but three worlds, all of which have their own risks and benefits.

In short, I immediately wanted to learn all there is to know about the Waste and the Torn. I still have hundreds of questions, but I am sure that they will get answered in due time. After that, I’ll just have to practice a little bit of patience.

Cat’s character is interesting. She has an incredibly rare power, but rather than making her seem powerful and dangerous; it seemed to put more effort into putting her in odd and difficult situations. Though I suppose we could blame her father for that one.

My one hangup about this read, and I hate myself for pointing it out, is that the novel very much feels like we’re starting right in the middle of something. As in, I actually had to stop reading and go check to make sure that this wasn’t a spin-off series. Once I got into the swing of things, though, I really enjoyed the world and the characters. And I’m already counting down the days before the next installment of this series!