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h4rm0ny's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cannibalism
strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
This book was so much better than I could’ve imagined. I went into completely blind and fell in love! I am going to have a massive book hangover after.
I am only left with one question? How is the Sunra line going to continue if both siblings are gay? I mean yeah adoption but that could be a lot of political unrest.
This book in three words is Queer, Zombie, Betrayal. It has enemies, to friends, to lovers, to enemies, to lovers and just classic friends to lovers.
The writing is so wonderful my only critique is it uses the phrase “bile rose to her throat” and others like that far too many times. Other than that it had so many fabulous quotes that just hit you to your core, my favorite being, “You useless lesbian.”
I am only left with one question? How is the Sunra line going to continue if both siblings are gay? I mean yeah adoption but that could be a lot of political unrest.
This book in three words is Queer, Zombie, Betrayal. It has enemies, to friends, to lovers, to enemies, to lovers and just classic friends to lovers.
The writing is so wonderful my only critique is it uses the phrase “bile rose to her throat” and others like that far too many times. Other than that it had so many fabulous quotes that just hit you to your core, my favorite being, “You useless lesbian.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Vomit, War, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Medical content, Confinement, and Cursing
Minor: Cannibalism
campisforever's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Terminal illness, Death, Medical content, Violence, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Physical abuse, Body horror, and Vomit
Minor: Death of parent
snowwhitehatesapples's review
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Review can also be found at Snow White Hates Apples.
I got this ARC before the whole issue with potential racism, reverse racism and “black royal siblings oppressing poor white people” erupted, and because I’m trying to be someone who will try things out first before passing judgement, I decided to read this anyway despite my wariness.
Now, that I’m done, I’m on the side of those who label this book as not reverse racist specifically of “black people oppressing whites” as I’ve seen in many reviews and comments).
Why?
To begin, here’s the definition of reverse racism:
“Reverse racism, sometimes referred to as reverse discrimination, is the concept that affirmative action and similar color-conscious programs for redressing racial inequality are a form of anti-white racism.” – Wikipedia
As a Malaysian, the forms of racism I’ve witnessed and experienced are tied to the races within my own country. In this case, it’s slurs, the “go back to ____ country”, the prejudice and stereotypes against ethnicities. Racial discrimination is even embodied within the policies here. I don’t know much about what racism is like outside my country, but I’ve seen the horrors done to POC by white people on the internet. The shoot first, ask questions later. The instant prejudice and wariness against a POC, etc.
With the above in mind, nothing in this book can be specifically labelled as anti-white or anti-any colour. Yes, the main character is pale and yes, the siblings who are to rule the country are dark-skinned but there is no majority race on either side. The third member of the royal sibling’s entourage is, in fact, “dark haired and dark eyed” with pale skin (page 30). On the other hand, the witches are divided into a few covens and in the case of the Skra, “the only difference was their hands; on brown and pale fingers alike, their fingernails ranged from deep gray to the barest tint” (Page 10).
On the other hand, the siblings’ parents are a witch mother with dark skin (page 120) and their father a pale human (page 87). Their father figure after the death of their parents is a pale human with red hair (page 105). Skin tone and hair colour are, refreshingly, not constantly mentioned in this book. Moreover, to say this book is reverse racist because black rulers are oppressing poor white people would be incorrect too. The black people don’t make any ruling decisions throughout the book. The cut-off trade, the poaching, etc, are done by others (some of the notable leaders of these opposing parties are pale). The only time the siblings do make a ruling decision, it was to unite the people in the end.
Rather, if anything is to be deemed as racism in any way here, then it’d be the dislike of witches toward humans and the dislike of humans toward witches because that’s what fuels the unrest between the people in the book. ‘Monsters VS humans’ is the primary, constant focus here and we see it both externally through the conflict between humans and witches, and internally through Ranka as she struggles with the perception of what a monster (that is, what she views herself to be) truly is. What enriches this exploration of the theme is the diverse characters within a diverse social system, making The Ones We Burn a well-written debut novel.
My only issue with the book is how long it is as the story felt like it was being dragged on in the middle. Nevertheless, I do appreciate how carefully crafted the story is. If you’re a fan of the complexities related to the theme of ‘monsters VS humans’, and if you’re interested in a book where skin tones are minimally, passively focused on, The Ones We Burn is a book you should try reading.
PS: If I come off as ignorant at any moment, then I’m really sorry for that 🙇♂️🙏🏻 (Also ngl, writing all this here is terrifying as I don’t want to accidentally offend anyone, but I also want to be honest.)
I got this ARC before the whole issue with potential racism, reverse racism and “black royal siblings oppressing poor white people” erupted, and because I’m trying to be someone who will try things out first before passing judgement, I decided to read this anyway despite my wariness.
Now, that I’m done, I’m on the side of those who label this book as not reverse racist specifically of “black people oppressing whites” as I’ve seen in many reviews and comments).
Why?
To begin, here’s the definition of reverse racism:
“Reverse racism, sometimes referred to as reverse discrimination, is the concept that affirmative action and similar color-conscious programs for redressing racial inequality are a form of anti-white racism.” – Wikipedia
As a Malaysian, the forms of racism I’ve witnessed and experienced are tied to the races within my own country. In this case, it’s slurs, the “go back to ____ country”, the prejudice and stereotypes against ethnicities. Racial discrimination is even embodied within the policies here. I don’t know much about what racism is like outside my country, but I’ve seen the horrors done to POC by white people on the internet. The shoot first, ask questions later. The instant prejudice and wariness against a POC, etc.
With the above in mind, nothing in this book can be specifically labelled as anti-white or anti-any colour. Yes, the main character is pale and yes, the siblings who are to rule the country are dark-skinned but there is no majority race on either side. The third member of the royal sibling’s entourage is, in fact, “dark haired and dark eyed” with pale skin (page 30). On the other hand, the witches are divided into a few covens and in the case of the Skra, “the only difference was their hands; on brown and pale fingers alike, their fingernails ranged from deep gray to the barest tint” (Page 10).
On the other hand, the siblings’ parents are a witch mother with dark skin (page 120) and their father a pale human (page 87). Their father figure after the death of their parents is a pale human with red hair (page 105). Skin tone and hair colour are, refreshingly, not constantly mentioned in this book. Moreover, to say this book is reverse racist because black rulers are oppressing poor white people would be incorrect too. The black people don’t make any ruling decisions throughout the book. The cut-off trade, the poaching, etc, are done by others (some of the notable leaders of these opposing parties are pale). The only time the siblings do make a ruling decision, it was to unite the people in the end.
Rather, if anything is to be deemed as racism in any way here, then it’d be the dislike of witches toward humans and the dislike of humans toward witches because that’s what fuels the unrest between the people in the book. ‘Monsters VS humans’ is the primary, constant focus here and we see it both externally through the conflict between humans and witches, and internally through Ranka as she struggles with the perception of what a monster (that is, what she views herself to be) truly is. What enriches this exploration of the theme is the diverse characters within a diverse social system, making The Ones We Burn a well-written debut novel.
My only issue with the book is how long it is as the story felt like it was being dragged on in the middle. Nevertheless, I do appreciate how carefully crafted the story is. If you’re a fan of the complexities related to the theme of ‘monsters VS humans’, and if you’re interested in a book where skin tones are minimally, passively focused on, The Ones We Burn is a book you should try reading.
PS: If I come off as ignorant at any moment, then I’m really sorry for that 🙇♂️🙏🏻 (Also ngl, writing all this here is terrifying as I don’t want to accidentally offend anyone, but I also want to be honest.)
Thank you so much Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Blood, Animal death, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cannibalism, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and War
emilycmarshman's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicidal thoughts
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