Scan barcode
nadine71c14's review against another edition
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
kaellamont's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to like this book. I read a lot about the author before buying it, and she seems like my kinda gal and I thought I was going to like her writing.
But this book just isn't for me. I tried to be fair with my star rating as I only read 150 pages before giving up - I said this year I was going to finish books I didn't enjoy to learn something from them, I guess I have given up on that too.
I can't fully pin-point what I didn't like about this book. But there are a few things that really didn't sell it for me.
First being, that in my opinion the first 100 pages didn't really tell me anything. I managed to grasp a few things about the main characters past, and what the rumour MIGHT be. However, most of it seemed like long-winded, descriptive dialogue that I found myself skipping in order to try and get somewhere. A lot of this discriptive dialogue didn't really add to the story, and the first 100 pages could've been cut down. It wasn't bad, it wasn't hard to read, there was just nothing pulling me forward.
I read in some other reviews that people felt there was too many issues being covered in this book, and I can already feel that from the 150 pages I've read. I definitely have had three of those mentioned by other people dropped into the dialogue, and it didn't always add or take away from the story, it just seemed to be randomly floating. As I only read 150 pages, they may have played a part later in the story, but in then 150 pages I read they felt clunky.
I did however really like the feeling of school life in the book. I'm not sure if it's because I'm Scottish, or that I only live 40 minutes from St. Andrews, but I felt I could relate to the settings much more than in a lot of American YA. For example, in Twilight, (only YA American fiction coming to my head at this point) Bella's school life seemed somewhat alien to me.
All in all this book just wasn't for me. I'll leave it on my shelf for a year, to see if I pick it up again. I think I am maybe too old for this book (21) and it is possibly suites to a younger YA fiction reading, possibly 13-18.
But this book just isn't for me. I tried to be fair with my star rating as I only read 150 pages before giving up - I said this year I was going to finish books I didn't enjoy to learn something from them, I guess I have given up on that too.
I can't fully pin-point what I didn't like about this book. But there are a few things that really didn't sell it for me.
First being, that in my opinion the first 100 pages didn't really tell me anything. I managed to grasp a few things about the main characters past, and what the rumour MIGHT be. However, most of it seemed like long-winded, descriptive dialogue that I found myself skipping in order to try and get somewhere. A lot of this discriptive dialogue didn't really add to the story, and the first 100 pages could've been cut down. It wasn't bad, it wasn't hard to read, there was just nothing pulling me forward.
I read in some other reviews that people felt there was too many issues being covered in this book, and I can already feel that from the 150 pages I've read. I definitely have had three of those mentioned by other people dropped into the dialogue, and it didn't always add or take away from the story, it just seemed to be randomly floating. As I only read 150 pages, they may have played a part later in the story, but in then 150 pages I read they felt clunky.
I did however really like the feeling of school life in the book. I'm not sure if it's because I'm Scottish, or that I only live 40 minutes from St. Andrews, but I felt I could relate to the settings much more than in a lot of American YA. For example, in Twilight, (only YA American fiction coming to my head at this point) Bella's school life seemed somewhat alien to me.
All in all this book just wasn't for me. I'll leave it on my shelf for a year, to see if I pick it up again. I think I am maybe too old for this book (21) and it is possibly suites to a younger YA fiction reading, possibly 13-18.
theinkwyrm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A super fast read about a topic that I feel like isn't talked about enough either in YA or adult lit. It wasn't horror like I thought it was, but I'm not mad about it. My only issue is that I think Anna's final stand (literally) wasn't as well executed as it could have been.
megsbookishtwins's review against another edition
4.0
Disclaimer: I received this free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
‘It’s worth knowing that sometimes people see you as a symbol of something, instead of a person. And, when they do, it reflects on them, not on you’.
The Burning follows Anna, who has moved to Scotland following the death of her father and following her nude photos being leaked across social media. She is in a new school, in a new town, with a new last name and she still can’t escape the rampant bullying and slut-shaming she has experienced over one photo. For a history project, Anna has to research a local person of interest and she comes across a woman accused of witchcraft and is desperate to find out her story.
The Burning is an important, albeit brutal, book about sexism, double standards, sexual harassment, and online abuse that a lot of young girls go through while at school. I think The Burning is an exceptionally important book for young people at the moment, cyberbullying is a huge problem and I think The Burning does a good job at representing that, while also highlighting how this bullying and harassment is of a sexual nature for a lot of young girls.
I also really like the quote; ‘Fire is like a rumour. You might think you’ve extinguished it but one creeping, red tendril, one single wisp of smoke is enough to let it leap back into life again. Especially if someone is watching, waiting to fan the flames’.
While The Burning mainly focuses on modern-day online abuse and shaming, it does also feature flashbacks to a witch trial in Scotland and while I did enjoy that aspect, I do think it sometimes dragged you out of the story a little bit, especially as the supernatural aspects didn’t fit the tone of the book BUT I do appreciate the attempt at contrasting how women and their bodies were treated and shamed in the past to how it is today.
There was one scene that I really did dislike though. It was a scene where Anna and Alisha were talking about love and Anna was extremely shocked when Lish revealed she was in love with a girl. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NORMALISE GIRLS LOVING GIRLS – ESPECIALLY IN UKYA!!
Alongside the main plot of the book, there was a nice healthy romance too between Anna and Robin, and also showed the importance of friendship too which I liked.
Overall, The Burning is an important and relevant book about slut-shaming and online harassment.
‘It’s worth knowing that sometimes people see you as a symbol of something, instead of a person. And, when they do, it reflects on them, not on you’.
The Burning follows Anna, who has moved to Scotland following the death of her father and following her nude photos being leaked across social media. She is in a new school, in a new town, with a new last name and she still can’t escape the rampant bullying and slut-shaming she has experienced over one photo. For a history project, Anna has to research a local person of interest and she comes across a woman accused of witchcraft and is desperate to find out her story.
The Burning is an important, albeit brutal, book about sexism, double standards, sexual harassment, and online abuse that a lot of young girls go through while at school. I think The Burning is an exceptionally important book for young people at the moment, cyberbullying is a huge problem and I think The Burning does a good job at representing that, while also highlighting how this bullying and harassment is of a sexual nature for a lot of young girls.
I also really like the quote; ‘Fire is like a rumour. You might think you’ve extinguished it but one creeping, red tendril, one single wisp of smoke is enough to let it leap back into life again. Especially if someone is watching, waiting to fan the flames’.
While The Burning mainly focuses on modern-day online abuse and shaming, it does also feature flashbacks to a witch trial in Scotland and while I did enjoy that aspect, I do think it sometimes dragged you out of the story a little bit, especially as the supernatural aspects didn’t fit the tone of the book BUT I do appreciate the attempt at contrasting how women and their bodies were treated and shamed in the past to how it is today.
There was one scene that I really did dislike though. It was a scene where Anna and Alisha were talking about love and Anna was extremely shocked when Lish revealed she was in love with a girl. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NORMALISE GIRLS LOVING GIRLS – ESPECIALLY IN UKYA!!
Alongside the main plot of the book, there was a nice healthy romance too between Anna and Robin, and also showed the importance of friendship too which I liked.
Overall, The Burning is an important and relevant book about slut-shaming and online harassment.
jo81082's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
vctoriaj's review against another edition
2.0
This was hard to rate.
I'm raging though that the police were never brought in. Teenage girls being shown they just need to shut up and accept sexual abuse, when they're a victim of crime.
I'm raging though that the police were never brought in. Teenage girls being shown they just need to shut up and accept sexual abuse, when they're a victim of crime.
befsk's review against another edition
2.0
This feels like an important story that just wasn't told in the right way.
The pacing is awful and the book doesn't seem to know what it wants to be - contemporary commentary on current social issues? Magic realism dual story with a rather unsubtle moral to be taught? And I'm very unsure about phasing into second person narrative when we enter the dream visions from Maggie's story. It would've been better if Anna found a diary in the attic instead of a necklace that gives her visions to tell the story of Maggie.
Plot points and story threads were dropped when they stopped being relevant but were left completely unresolved.
What was the point in the history project framing device for digging into Maggie's story when we didn't even get the pay off of Anna presenting her project or even getting a grade for it? Near the end I thought we'd have her friends comment on how amazing it was or something as they were reading it but we didn't even get that.
I'm baffled about showing Simon's home life so early on in the book as it's completely irrelevant, except to set him up as an antagonist due to Anna witnessing his humiliation. But if anything, the book teaches that boys like that don't need an excuse, and boys like that will treat girls horribly because they always have.
Can't quite believe she was like 'as I closed Glenn's door for the last time'. He's a lonely old man who's grateful for your company and you've already befriended him, are you really implying you're never going to bother visiting him ever again?
Why would Anna's mum tell her ex-best mate's mum everything? Why would her ex-best mate's mum tell her daughter, Suzanne, everything? Why would Suzanne then tell Anna's ex, Chris, everything? How would none of this have been lost in this game of Chinese whispers, especially the bit about Cat, who they don't know or care about? Why would this Chris then go to such extreme efforts and spend so much personal time setting up these social media presences and photoshopping pictures and videos and answering questions pretending to be Anna? I know things like this can happen but really? Is he psychotic? If he's this obsessed with her, Anna's mum should probably get a restraining order because if he spends so much time thinking about how to make her life miserable it's only a matter of time before he tracks her down to murder her.
The ending was unrealistic but strong and uplifting, which was needed after all of the horrendous and detailed bullying.
Basically, this book needs heavily trimming by an experienced editor and then the message is more likely to shine through. As I said, it's an important message, so it's a shame this book was so jumbled.
Received this ARC through Netgalley.
The pacing is awful and the book doesn't seem to know what it wants to be - contemporary commentary on current social issues? Magic realism dual story with a rather unsubtle moral to be taught? And I'm very unsure about phasing into second person narrative when we enter the dream visions from Maggie's story. It would've been better if Anna found a diary in the attic instead of a necklace that gives her visions to tell the story of Maggie.
Plot points and story threads were dropped when they stopped being relevant but were left completely unresolved.
What was the point in the history project framing device for digging into Maggie's story when we didn't even get the pay off of Anna presenting her project or even getting a grade for it? Near the end I thought we'd have her friends comment on how amazing it was or something as they were reading it but we didn't even get that.
I'm baffled about showing Simon's home life so early on in the book as it's completely irrelevant, except to set him up as an antagonist due to Anna witnessing his humiliation. But if anything, the book teaches that boys like that don't need an excuse, and boys like that will treat girls horribly because they always have.
Spoiler
We drop the vague obsession Anna has with her attic as soon as she obtains the necklace. She was interrupted while searching so would surely want to go back to search properly.Can't quite believe she was like 'as I closed Glenn's door for the last time'. He's a lonely old man who's grateful for your company and you've already befriended him, are you really implying you're never going to bother visiting him ever again?
Why would Anna's mum tell her ex-best mate's mum everything? Why would her ex-best mate's mum tell her daughter, Suzanne, everything? Why would Suzanne then tell Anna's ex, Chris, everything? How would none of this have been lost in this game of Chinese whispers, especially the bit about Cat, who they don't know or care about? Why would this Chris then go to such extreme efforts and spend so much personal time setting up these social media presences and photoshopping pictures and videos and answering questions pretending to be Anna? I know things like this can happen but really? Is he psychotic? If he's this obsessed with her, Anna's mum should probably get a restraining order because if he spends so much time thinking about how to make her life miserable it's only a matter of time before he tracks her down to murder her.
The ending was unrealistic but strong and uplifting, which was needed after all of the horrendous and detailed bullying.
Basically, this book needs heavily trimming by an experienced editor and then the message is more likely to shine through. As I said, it's an important message, so it's a shame this book was so jumbled.
Received this ARC through Netgalley.
dottienic123's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
emleemay's review against another edition
3.0
Because fire is sneaky. You might think you've extinguished it, but one creeping red tendril, one single wisp of smoke is enough to let it leap back to life again. Especially if someone is watching, waiting to fan the flames.
So many mixed feelings right now.
[b:The Burning|40745002|The Burning|Laura Bates|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1546112121s/40745002.jpg|63410625] is by the founder of the Everyday Sexism Project and, as expected, it has a lot of important things to say about slut-shaming, double standards, bullying, and especially how social media contributes to these. It likens the viciousness of social media trolls to actual witch hunts, leading us on something of a history lesson in the process.
I can't deny that this book had an effect on me. The author captures Anna's fear, shame and frustration as she is confronted with constant double standards. It's also very British, and I related a lot more to the high school culture here than I do when reading American YA. Some parts hit very close to home. I recognized such moments as this one:
I want to stay here, in the quiet, clean darkness, forever until everybody has forgotten that I even exist.
It is hard to look, and yet hard to look away, in parts. I just really wish I didn't have so many issues with it.
The main problem is that this book is messy and doesn't seem to know what it's trying to be (I did read an arc so maybe some things will be tidied up for publication). It touches upon almost every teen girl issue you can think of - slut-shaming, double standards, sexuality, bullying, sexual assault, teen pregnancy, abortion, body-shaming - and is so packed full of "issues" that most of these are left unexplored.
It also has some historical aspects, a bit of a mystery going on, a sort-of romance that seems out of place in the story, and even vaguely supernatural elements that were honestly jarring. There's a bit of everything thrown in, most of it not needed.
Some of the dialogue is a little weird and unnatural, too. The speech at the end, plus the reactions to it, felt unrealistic. And there are times when Anna is directly describing something through speech and I just can't imagine an actual person sat there spewing those metaphors out loud.
Another problem I had is that YA lit has changed a lot in the past few years and some parts of this book already feel a little dated-- most notably when Anna is so shocked to discover Alisha is in love with a girl.
It's a compelling read, though. I could feel my own anxiety spiking when I read about Anna obsessively checking social media. She feels like she shouldn't look, and yet her own imagination is picturing the worst anyway. It's just a shame it's so all over the place. The unexplained supernatural parts of the plot were especially difficult to suspend disbelief for.
"It's worth knowing that sometimes people see you as a symbol of something, instead of a person. And, when they do, it reflects on them, not on you."
CW: Slut-shaming; rape (off-page); homophobic slurs.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube