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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I did not like this book. But I think it's important to note that I choose to review these books purely for myself. When I write these reviews, I'm doing it to leave a note to myself to look back on later. It's for me to see my thoughts on the book in more depth should I wonder why I did or did not like that book, and if I still agree with it now.
Now I know this book has controversy. My lack of enjoyment had nothing to do with whether or not this book is racist or antisemitic. And, for that matter, I cannot say if it is or isn't racist. I am not black. If you want to know if it was racist, I would ask someone who can actually speak on that matter; someone who is black. But I am of Jewish descent (my father, whose mother I am constantly told I resemble, and whose family I was raised with), though I am not explicitly Jewish myself, so this opinion I'd take with a grain of salt; I do not believe this was inherently antisemitic. I don't trace an ounce of Jewish-ness on Ranka. If it were to be antisemitic, she'd have to at least be hinted at being a Jew. And she's really not. There may be some antisemitic traits to it, but I doubt it was really intentional. Of which I'd like to quote Latitude's review which takes that topic in more depth.
But anyways, the reason I disliked this book was more out of pettiness than anything else. I just really did not like Ranka. She annoyed me to near depth. I kept turning to my mother who sat across the room from me and complaining about how much she annoyed me. Now, I understand why Ranka was like that. She had many reasons to be angry and treat things with anger. It was just annoying. I also really just couldn't get... into the book. It lacked at really captivating me, though that may have also been because of my hatred for Ranka. It took me 6 days to get halfway through the book, when normally I'd finish a book of this length by four days. I ended up DNF'ing this book at this mark.
I am also choosing not to give it a rating due to the controversies above.
Now I know this book has controversy. My lack of enjoyment had nothing to do with whether or not this book is racist or antisemitic. And, for that matter, I cannot say if it is or isn't racist. I am not black. If you want to know if it was racist, I would ask someone who can actually speak on that matter; someone who is black. But I am of Jewish descent (my father, whose mother I am constantly told I resemble, and whose family I was raised with), though I am not explicitly Jewish myself, so this opinion I'd take with a grain of salt; I do not believe this was inherently antisemitic. I don't trace an ounce of Jewish-ness on Ranka. If it were to be antisemitic, she'd have to at least be hinted at being a Jew. And she's really not. There may be some antisemitic traits to it, but I doubt it was really intentional. Of which I'd like to quote Latitude's review which takes that topic in more depth.
But anyways, the reason I disliked this book was more out of pettiness than anything else. I just really did not like Ranka. She annoyed me to near depth. I kept turning to my mother who sat across the room from me and complaining about how much she annoyed me. Now, I understand why Ranka was like that. She had many reasons to be angry and treat things with anger. It was just annoying. I also really just couldn't get... into the book. It lacked at really captivating me, though that may have also been because of my hatred for Ranka. It took me 6 days to get halfway through the book, when normally I'd finish a book of this length by four days. I ended up DNF'ing this book at this mark.
I am also choosing not to give it a rating due to the controversies above.
the story had potential but the dialogue was so cringey and cliche and ranka’s knees buckled so many times that i just could not take it seriously
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
Really interesting plot and world. I just needed a bit more set up from the witches coven side of things to feel the pay off and fekt confused by ceryain characters motivation.
The themes of emotional abuse just missed the mark, but would have been fantastic if they could have been threaded through more successfully. I did enjoy our found family, but was pulled out of the story by the protagonist decision feeling unrealistic at the climax. I enjoyed the witches vs humans and differebt vlans and maghc powers.
I think overall if this was an adult fantasy with a slower pace tjat cpuld have dived deeper and explired more i wpuld have loved it.
Definitely keen to read more from this author.
The themes of emotional abuse just missed the mark, but would have been fantastic if they could have been threaded through more successfully. I did enjoy our found family, but was pulled out of the story by the protagonist decision feeling unrealistic at the climax. I enjoyed the witches vs humans and differebt vlans and maghc powers.
I think overall if this was an adult fantasy with a slower pace tjat cpuld have dived deeper and explired more i wpuld have loved it.
Definitely keen to read more from this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
Moderate: Genocide, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
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
The Ones We Burn was neither here nor there, for me.
While Rebecca Mix's writing wasn't difficult to read, I did notice myself thinking "you didn't need to explicitly tell me that" many times throughout the book. The narrator had a habit of explaining every feeling in relatively simplistic language, which I felt could have been described in a much less... self aware way(?). Maybe it was me nitpicking over the fact I wasn't quite fully into this book as much as one would hope.
Another example of more telling than showing was the relationship between our main pairing (Ranka and Aramis). It felt as though the narration was trying to convince me in to believing that Ranka and Aramis were attracted to each other, even though, at time, it didn't seem like anything had happened for any chemistry to build. There were truthfully not many actions between them to make me completely care for them both as a couple. Instead, I was actually much more interested in the dynamic between Gale and Ranka (of course not as a romantic couple) because of their scenes together showed me very sweet growth and compassion between them both. For Ranka and Aramis it felt like we missed some of these scenes or were just being told 'they happen, just trust me.'
I also can't help but mention the controversy surrounding this book. The negative comments might have preemptively made me somewhat weary going into this book, but now that I have finished I can finally say – I think the people who had been spamming reviews solely based on the "evil Black siblings" maybe didn't gather the entire context for this. (Firstly they weren't ever evil, or written that way.)
I would, of course, love for extra opinions on this matter (considering I am not the person to be saying what's right and wrong– white as hell, and english... i'm sorry). But I don't think "reverse racism" is exactly the right wording for this. I think this might actually, further, dumb the book down to very basic concepts which I think in the end, the book managed to conclude things in very reasonable way(? Lack for better words, and not wanting to spoil). However,that being said, maybe there are things I missed or misunderstood the importance of. I have tried to research more opinions on this matter in depth and would be very happy to hear different opinions.
Despite this, it is not a book I need to defend all that dearly as, by the end of it, I do not feel that strongly attached.
Like I said, Neither here nor there.
While Rebecca Mix's writing wasn't difficult to read, I did notice myself thinking "you didn't need to explicitly tell me that" many times throughout the book. The narrator had a habit of explaining every feeling in relatively simplistic language, which I felt could have been described in a much less... self aware way(?). Maybe it was me nitpicking over the fact I wasn't quite fully into this book as much as one would hope.
Another example of more telling than showing was the relationship between our main pairing (Ranka and Aramis). It felt as though the narration was trying to convince me in to believing that Ranka and Aramis were attracted to each other, even though, at time, it didn't seem like anything had happened for any chemistry to build. There were truthfully not many actions between them to make me completely care for them both as a couple. Instead, I was actually much more interested in the dynamic between Gale and Ranka (of course not as a romantic couple) because of their scenes together showed me very sweet growth and compassion between them both. For Ranka and Aramis it felt like we missed some of these scenes or were just being told 'they happen, just trust me.'
I also can't help but mention the controversy surrounding this book. The negative comments might have preemptively made me somewhat weary going into this book, but now that I have finished I can finally say – I think the people who had been spamming reviews solely based on the "evil Black siblings" maybe didn't gather the entire context for this. (Firstly they weren't ever evil, or written that way.)
I would, of course, love for extra opinions on this matter (considering I am not the person to be saying what's right and wrong– white as hell, and english... i'm sorry). But I don't think "reverse racism" is exactly the right wording for this. I think this might actually, further, dumb the book down to very basic concepts which I think in the end, the book managed to conclude things in very reasonable way(? Lack for better words, and not wanting to spoil). However,that being said, maybe there are things I missed or misunderstood the importance of. I have tried to research more opinions on this matter in depth and would be very happy to hear different opinions.
Despite this, it is not a book I need to defend all that dearly as, by the end of it, I do not feel that strongly attached.
Like I said, Neither here nor there.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-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
I think this was a great book.
I’ve loved the characters and their interactions, I liked the setting, the descriptions and the plot beats.
While it was predictable at times (like the Ongrum scenes later in the book) it was surprising at other times.
Any twists felt earned and realistic.
I really really liked Aramis and Galen and I thought his skybreaker powers were really interesting.
I never quite understood the witches powers besides blood magic. I know they have darker nails and maybe some enhanced sense (like smell or vision) but besides that they didn’t seem to exhibit any other powers which made it a bit weird at times why the humans would be so wary of the witches.
I liked the coven aspect and how Ranka could recognise which coven a witch belonged to based on her appearance and clothes; that was a great detail.
The way Belren was resolved and how it happened was the most interesting part and I quite enjoyed the revelations.
Everything felt cohesive and authentic, as if I were reading a story about a real place at some point in time and not a fantasy.
I’ve loved the characters and their interactions, I liked the setting, the descriptions and the plot beats.
While it was predictable at times (like the Ongrum scenes later in the book) it was surprising at other times.
Any twists felt earned and realistic.
I really really liked Aramis and Galen and I thought his skybreaker powers were really interesting.
I never quite understood the witches powers besides blood magic. I know they have darker nails and maybe some enhanced sense (like smell or vision) but besides that they didn’t seem to exhibit any other powers which made it a bit weird at times why the humans would be so wary of the witches.
I liked the coven aspect and how Ranka could recognise which coven a witch belonged to based on her appearance and clothes; that was a great detail.
The way Belren was resolved and how it happened was the most interesting part and I quite enjoyed the revelations.
Everything felt cohesive and authentic, as if I were reading a story about a real place at some point in time and not a fantasy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Trafficking
adventurous
funny
fast-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
Predictable, but still overall enjoyable. If I had read this book as a kid I would have been obsessed. Visually interesting magic system, but not quite enough for me to sink my teeth into. .5 stars for gay
adventurous
dark
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
the ones we burn is only a bit of a mess. what it wants to be is a dark, brooding mystery about a young woman forced into a war she didn't want, abused by her loved ones and conditioned to believe that she will be nothing more than a weapon, useless outside of a murderous cause to protect her family. it wants to be about family, about understanding that there is no black and white with loving someone - that even the closest of your loved ones can be turned violent by religious zealotry and racism. it wants to be about finding love despite the horrors of war.
everything that it wants to be is lost in how quickly it's willing to take you out of the universe to insist that the main characters are good, but flawed. i was almost shocked at the first mention of the ages of these characters; and not for the reasons that the author wants. ranka, the main character, is 17 years old at the start of this book. this is intended to be horrifying - that a girl so young could experience such violence and trauma - but more than anything, it's surprising because her internal monologue is self-reflective in the way that only an adult who has gone to therapy for years in the modern day can be.
this is the first sign that the author can't quite separate themself from these characters. we're told one thing but shown another - we're told that ranka is slow, brutish, uneducated. but what we're shown is someone who can engage with royal-level educated prince and princesses without issue. there's a level to these characters that is unconvincing.
again, this is reflected in the relationship between the main romantic interests. they hardly interact with each other outside of brief mentions with little to no dialogue, as the only time the story dwells on scenes is when ranka is dealing with the story's main mystery. this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but does lend to an unconvincing romance when there is hardly any build up. the characters are introduced, plot happens without them interacting, and suddenly we're told they've been falling for each other in the background that we haven't seen.
that being said - i think the world itself is interesting, even if it doesn't take time to expand on it in a way that i prefer. witches are a type of evolved humans, genetic anomalies. it isn't fully explained how non-blood-magic witches are different from humans, exactly, outside of unusual strength and stamina. there's mentions of mage-lights but not where they come from - presumably, these would be witches who could use "magic", although there is no magic actually mentioned outside of ranka's blood-magic, which is primarily physical in how it manifests. interestingly, though there is no expanded lore of these mage-lights, the religious group ("the hands") that advocates for the murder and hunting of witches just so happen to use these mage-lights.
there are multiple sects of witches, but when one group is entirely wiped out, it seems to have little impact on the others. do these groups not trade with one another? do they not have cross-faction councils or relationship? do they not seek each other out to find shelter in a world that otherwise hates and hunts them?
i think, in the end, i just wanted this book to be a bit more than it was.
everything that it wants to be is lost in how quickly it's willing to take you out of the universe to insist that the main characters are good, but flawed. i was almost shocked at the first mention of the ages of these characters; and not for the reasons that the author wants. ranka, the main character, is 17 years old at the start of this book. this is intended to be horrifying - that a girl so young could experience such violence and trauma - but more than anything, it's surprising because her internal monologue is self-reflective in the way that only an adult who has gone to therapy for years in the modern day can be.
this is the first sign that the author can't quite separate themself from these characters. we're told one thing but shown another - we're told that ranka is slow, brutish, uneducated. but what we're shown is someone who can engage with royal-level educated prince and princesses without issue. there's a level to these characters that is unconvincing.
again, this is reflected in the relationship between the main romantic interests. they hardly interact with each other outside of brief mentions with little to no dialogue, as the only time the story dwells on scenes is when ranka is dealing with the story's main mystery. this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but does lend to an unconvincing romance when there is hardly any build up. the characters are introduced, plot happens without them interacting, and suddenly we're told they've been falling for each other in the background that we haven't seen.
that being said - i think the world itself is interesting, even if it doesn't take time to expand on it in a way that i prefer. witches are a type of evolved humans, genetic anomalies. it isn't fully explained how non-blood-magic witches are different from humans, exactly, outside of unusual strength and stamina. there's mentions of mage-lights but not where they come from - presumably, these would be witches who could use "magic", although there is no magic actually mentioned outside of ranka's blood-magic, which is primarily physical in how it manifests. interestingly, though there is no expanded lore of these mage-lights, the religious group ("the hands") that advocates for the murder and hunting of witches just so happen to use these mage-lights.
there are multiple sects of witches, but when one group is entirely wiped out, it seems to have little impact on the others. do these groups not trade with one another? do they not have cross-faction councils or relationship? do they not seek each other out to find shelter in a world that otherwise hates and hunts them?
i think, in the end, i just wanted this book to be a bit more than it was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Genocide, War
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
Maybe just wasn’t in the mood for YA fun novel appreciate the sapphic lead storyline and hero as the villain but felt like a slog despite a cute story of facing trauma
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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