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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
I love Jenny Han’s writing. She write some wonderfully, fluffy love stories, she normalizes mixed race families with each new book series and she makes sure to include families in her books. She is my go to for cute, contemporary fiction.
I was completely taken by surprise about how dark and gruesome this book got. Our protagonist talked like teenagers, they had sex and weren’t slut shamed for it and they were just some straight up mean girls.
I loved the idea of getting revenge on the people that make you miserable in high school. Each girl had a specific target in mind but all the girls had to help with the schemes. It caused the girls to form a very odd and secretive friendship. They bonded over the hell other people put them through.
I really enjoyed this book. I thought the ending was brilliant I cannot wait for the next book.
I give this book a B.
I just wasn’t a fan of the love story between Lillia and Alex. I am just not a fan.
I was completely taken by surprise about how dark and gruesome this book got. Our protagonist talked like teenagers, they had sex and weren’t slut shamed for it and they were just some straight up mean girls.
I loved the idea of getting revenge on the people that make you miserable in high school. Each girl had a specific target in mind but all the girls had to help with the schemes. It caused the girls to form a very odd and secretive friendship. They bonded over the hell other people put them through.
I really enjoyed this book. I thought the ending was brilliant I cannot wait for the next book.
I give this book a B.
I just wasn’t a fan of the love story between Lillia and Alex. I am just not a fan.
Book Review
Title: Burn for Burn
Author: Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian
Genre: YA/paranormal
Rating: **
Review: Quietly thrilling and emotionally intense, Burn for Burn is breathtaking and poignant. Though the ending felt too abrupt for me, there is a strong drive behind this one that will grab readers from page one and refuse to let go. Beautifully weaving together three different stories, and having an almost trainwreck sort of feel to it, Burn for Burn is a stunning exploration of friendship and revenge.
Each girl has her own distinctions, and reasons to be involved in the whole revenge thing. Though individually, each reasons might not necessarily be strong enough, when combined with everything else in each girl’s life, but especially when meshed all together, there is an easy to understand nature to the motivations. From Lillia, who is holding some rough secrets of her own and will do anything to protect her sister from enduring what she has, to Kat who just wants to be left alone from the teasing and jokes, to Mary who has a years old vendetta to settle that drove her to her own breaking point, these girls are individually unsure yet powerful when combined.
There is a slight air of mystery that is infused into this book, centering around not only the specifics for why each girl wants to enact revenge, but also related to those around them, which adds a great element to the book without being the sole driving force. The planning for each step of the revenge plans, and the play out especially, are expertly woven in and handled, building to a powerful climax that will leave readers stunned. More than that, though, what really stands this book out is the way the girls sometimes have moments of second guessing, of being unsure, yet also being almost locked into this deal they’ve made and sense of camaraderie that drives them. It’s painful to read their mindsets at times, but also painful to see the damage they are wreaking. Readers will definitely have their emotions tested to the limits with this one.
The writing is smooth, with a distinct mindset to each girl. Though the voices sometimes felt a little overlapped, that comes off more as simply being the style more than anything else. Each girl’s home life and history are set up and woven into the story, and as things become more intricate, all of this is only intensified. There is a strong pacing, driven by the revenge plot yet also very focused on each of the three girls and how they handle everything. My only real problem with this book is the ending, which felt entirely too sudden, almost like it’s just trying to ensure readers keep going to the next book rather than being a necessarily logical stopping point. Still, apart from this, Burn for Burn is a beautifully scripted, wowing and painful read that will test its readers to the max. There is hints of something supernatural or not quite right in this one, but it’s not at all explored and only shown at a few key points, leaving this book to feel very contemporary. The realism to this one is breathtaking and well thought out, and Burn for Burn is absolutely a book to not be missed.
Title: Burn for Burn
Author: Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian
Genre: YA/paranormal
Rating: **
Review: Quietly thrilling and emotionally intense, Burn for Burn is breathtaking and poignant. Though the ending felt too abrupt for me, there is a strong drive behind this one that will grab readers from page one and refuse to let go. Beautifully weaving together three different stories, and having an almost trainwreck sort of feel to it, Burn for Burn is a stunning exploration of friendship and revenge.
Each girl has her own distinctions, and reasons to be involved in the whole revenge thing. Though individually, each reasons might not necessarily be strong enough, when combined with everything else in each girl’s life, but especially when meshed all together, there is an easy to understand nature to the motivations. From Lillia, who is holding some rough secrets of her own and will do anything to protect her sister from enduring what she has, to Kat who just wants to be left alone from the teasing and jokes, to Mary who has a years old vendetta to settle that drove her to her own breaking point, these girls are individually unsure yet powerful when combined.
There is a slight air of mystery that is infused into this book, centering around not only the specifics for why each girl wants to enact revenge, but also related to those around them, which adds a great element to the book without being the sole driving force. The planning for each step of the revenge plans, and the play out especially, are expertly woven in and handled, building to a powerful climax that will leave readers stunned. More than that, though, what really stands this book out is the way the girls sometimes have moments of second guessing, of being unsure, yet also being almost locked into this deal they’ve made and sense of camaraderie that drives them. It’s painful to read their mindsets at times, but also painful to see the damage they are wreaking. Readers will definitely have their emotions tested to the limits with this one.
The writing is smooth, with a distinct mindset to each girl. Though the voices sometimes felt a little overlapped, that comes off more as simply being the style more than anything else. Each girl’s home life and history are set up and woven into the story, and as things become more intricate, all of this is only intensified. There is a strong pacing, driven by the revenge plot yet also very focused on each of the three girls and how they handle everything. My only real problem with this book is the ending, which felt entirely too sudden, almost like it’s just trying to ensure readers keep going to the next book rather than being a necessarily logical stopping point. Still, apart from this, Burn for Burn is a beautifully scripted, wowing and painful read that will test its readers to the max. There is hints of something supernatural or not quite right in this one, but it’s not at all explored and only shown at a few key points, leaving this book to feel very contemporary. The realism to this one is breathtaking and well thought out, and Burn for Burn is absolutely a book to not be missed.
This book was crazy. CRAZY.
And I loved every minute of it. :)
And I loved every minute of it. :)
2.5 stars
Lillia, Kat and Mary want revenge on Lillia's popular friendship group. Kat is sick of being bullied by her former best friend, Rennie. Lillia finds out that Alex is meeting her little sister after hours, while they both lie to her about it. Mary is haunted by her traumatic middle-school experience with Reeve. Together, they form an alliance to take each of their bullies down.
I think I'm officially too old for this trope. Reading about a bunch of teenagers getting revenge on people who had wronged them just depressed me. The whole time I was just like, Please, just live your life, the best revenge is your own happiness, forget about them...
Lillia, Kat and Mary live on Jar Island, an island that's very much the opposite of city life, where everyone knows everyone. This gave the setting an almost claustrophobic atmosphere; it lent to the idea that the characters were locked in with the people who had hurt them. It made everything more intense and suffocating.
This was still a typical revenge story, involving things like switching sun-tan lotion for spot-treatment that made the skin extra likely to burn, printing private poems and throwing them around the school etc. It's been done before but I still found myself gripped by its mystery. Throughout the story, flashbacks about what happened to our main characters are steadily revealed. The story dealt with some VERY dark subjects (which could be triggering for some) as well as toxic friendships.
The characters were well written. I didn't necessarily like them, but I could understand their point of view. I would never have guessed this was written by two authors, as the tone was consistent and the pace never jarring. Except for the ending cliffhanger, which was too abrupt for my liking. As this is a series, nothing is answered at the end, which makes the book feel incomplete. I suppose the moral of the story is don't do stupid, harmful things in the name of revenge but - despite the dramatic ending - I got the feeling the characters didn't really learn from their mistakes. Perhaps this will be explored more in book two, but I was too depressed during this one to read on.
Also...What the heck was with the random supernatural element thrown in? It didn't fit the tone of the book at all and just seriously confused me.
If you like revenge stories with an added mystery, you'll like this. But it wasn't for me.
Lillia, Kat and Mary want revenge on Lillia's popular friendship group. Kat is sick of being bullied by her former best friend, Rennie. Lillia finds out that Alex is meeting her little sister after hours, while they both lie to her about it. Mary is haunted by her traumatic middle-school experience with Reeve. Together, they form an alliance to take each of their bullies down.
I think I'm officially too old for this trope. Reading about a bunch of teenagers getting revenge on people who had wronged them just depressed me. The whole time I was just like, Please, just live your life, the best revenge is your own happiness, forget about them...
Lillia, Kat and Mary live on Jar Island, an island that's very much the opposite of city life, where everyone knows everyone. This gave the setting an almost claustrophobic atmosphere; it lent to the idea that the characters were locked in with the people who had hurt them. It made everything more intense and suffocating.
This was still a typical revenge story, involving things like switching sun-tan lotion for spot-treatment that made the skin extra likely to burn, printing private poems and throwing them around the school etc. It's been done before but I still found myself gripped by its mystery. Throughout the story, flashbacks about what happened to our main characters are steadily revealed. The story dealt with some VERY dark subjects (which could be triggering for some) as well as toxic friendships.
The characters were well written. I didn't necessarily like them, but I could understand their point of view. I would never have guessed this was written by two authors, as the tone was consistent and the pace never jarring. Except for the ending cliffhanger, which was too abrupt for my liking. As this is a series, nothing is answered at the end, which makes the book feel incomplete. I suppose the moral of the story is don't do stupid, harmful things in the name of revenge but - despite the dramatic ending - I got the feeling the characters didn't really learn from their mistakes. Perhaps this will be explored more in book two, but I was too depressed during this one to read on.
Also...
If you like revenge stories with an added mystery, you'll like this. But it wasn't for me.
I absolutely love this book. I just reread it so that I would be able to read the final book. I forgot how good this was. It only took me a day to read. I'm looking forward to reading the other two books.
Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.
Being the huge fan of Jenny Han that I am, and having recently finished To All the Boys I've Loved Before, I decided I needed to catch up and read Burn for Burn, which she co-wrote with Siobhan Vivian. I should have read it sooner - what a great read it is!
Lillia is worried about the relationship between her 14-year-old sister and her friend. After discovering boys are not to be trusted, she's determined to protect her sister from going through the same thing. Kat was ditched by her former best friend, Rennie, years ago, and has been on the receiving end of her vicious taunts ever since. Mary was badly bullied by Reeve before she left Jar Island. But she's not the same person she once was, and has come back to face him. Together, Lillia, Kat and Mary make a pact to bring down the people who have hurt them, and make them suffer.
Because of what the book is about, I was vaguely reminded of Fury by Elizabeth Miles, an urban fantasy where supernatural creatures make people pay for the bad things they've done. It's only a small similarity, the plots are completely different, but it had me excited just the same when I started. At first, Burn for Burn seemed kind of slow and tame in comparison, so I quickly threw the idea of Fury out my head, and decided to just enjoy the story for what it was.
Once I'd done that, the story became a little disturbing, morally. I don't want to spoil the story, so I'm not going to get too specific, but... My conscience was arguing with me. The things Lillia, Kat and Mary believed Alex, Rennie and Reeve had done were absolutely awful - they made me so mad! I really was sickened by some of their behaviour. Of course they can't get away with that! I was rooting for the girls with their plots and schemes to get payback, because these people deserved it! And yet... I started to feel uneasy when their plans were put into motion. Some of the plans didn't seem so bad in the great scheme of things, but other things, I felt really uncomfortable with. Even some of the tamer events that take place. I couldn't help but think about how the "bad person" was feeling, being on the receiving end of the girls' plans. Seeing them unfold, and how some of these people were affected, it wasn't great. But then I would remind myself of what they had done. It was like a constant battle in my head.
Until the last third of the book, where things go too far. Even before things were moving, I was completely dumbfounded, thinking, "Oh my god, you cannot be serious?!" And then seeing it all play out, just knowing how things are going to go, because how could they not?! And what's scary is that these girls are normal. Kat is a tough chick, but can have her feelings hurt like anyone else, and has a sensitive center. She's not a bad person despite having a bit of an attitude. Lillia is popular and friendly, liked by everyone, quintessentially nice. Mary is quiet and shy, very pretty, yet someone who would go under the radar and not put herself out there. Yet these three normal, nice girls become darker people when they put their minds to what revenge. It's really gripping, whether you agree with what they're doing or not.
And the ending of this book! Oh my god! Some things I saw coming, others I didn't, but wow! So many questions! And I'm really excited to see how things will play out for these three girls and the other characters affected! So looking forward to reading Fire with Fire, the second book in the trilogy. I really must get my hands on it soon! A fantastic read!
Thank you to Simon and Schuster Children's Books for the review copy.
Being the huge fan of Jenny Han that I am, and having recently finished To All the Boys I've Loved Before, I decided I needed to catch up and read Burn for Burn, which she co-wrote with Siobhan Vivian. I should have read it sooner - what a great read it is!
Lillia is worried about the relationship between her 14-year-old sister and her friend. After discovering boys are not to be trusted, she's determined to protect her sister from going through the same thing. Kat was ditched by her former best friend, Rennie, years ago, and has been on the receiving end of her vicious taunts ever since. Mary was badly bullied by Reeve before she left Jar Island. But she's not the same person she once was, and has come back to face him. Together, Lillia, Kat and Mary make a pact to bring down the people who have hurt them, and make them suffer.
Because of what the book is about, I was vaguely reminded of Fury by Elizabeth Miles, an urban fantasy where supernatural creatures make people pay for the bad things they've done. It's only a small similarity, the plots are completely different, but it had me excited just the same when I started. At first, Burn for Burn seemed kind of slow and tame in comparison, so I quickly threw the idea of Fury out my head, and decided to just enjoy the story for what it was.
Once I'd done that, the story became a little disturbing, morally. I don't want to spoil the story, so I'm not going to get too specific, but... My conscience was arguing with me. The things Lillia, Kat and Mary believed Alex, Rennie and Reeve had done were absolutely awful - they made me so mad! I really was sickened by some of their behaviour. Of course they can't get away with that! I was rooting for the girls with their plots and schemes to get payback, because these people deserved it! And yet... I started to feel uneasy when their plans were put into motion. Some of the plans didn't seem so bad in the great scheme of things, but other things, I felt really uncomfortable with. Even some of the tamer events that take place. I couldn't help but think about how the "bad person" was feeling, being on the receiving end of the girls' plans. Seeing them unfold, and how some of these people were affected, it wasn't great. But then I would remind myself of what they had done. It was like a constant battle in my head.
Until the last third of the book, where things go too far. Even before things were moving, I was completely dumbfounded, thinking, "Oh my god, you cannot be serious?!" And then seeing it all play out, just knowing how things are going to go, because how could they not?! And what's scary is that these girls are normal. Kat is a tough chick, but can have her feelings hurt like anyone else, and has a sensitive center. She's not a bad person despite having a bit of an attitude. Lillia is popular and friendly, liked by everyone, quintessentially nice. Mary is quiet and shy, very pretty, yet someone who would go under the radar and not put herself out there. Yet these three normal, nice girls become darker people when they put their minds to what revenge. It's really gripping, whether you agree with what they're doing or not.
And the ending of this book! Oh my god! Some things I saw coming, others I didn't, but wow! So many questions! And I'm really excited to see how things will play out for these three girls and the other characters affected! So looking forward to reading Fire with Fire, the second book in the trilogy. I really must get my hands on it soon! A fantastic read!
Thank you to Simon and Schuster Children's Books for the review copy.
I'm going to give this a 3.5 out of 5. It was a decent book but the plot wasn't that great.
This serie is addicting. You will fly fast through this book. Put that aside. The plot, the characters, are horrible. And I feel this book should have trigger warnings. Continue for example on the trigger warnings. for rape, murder attempt, self harm
Some spoilers
- There was a rape and the person suddenly was over it within sentences
WHAT?! Rape is not to be used as a plot just because you have a scene that you have to make dramatic. Up until that point I had nothing against the book, but when you put rape in it. No, no, no, no. It was horrible and made me as a reader so disappointed. And I lost so much respect. Okay, I know that maybe there will be talk about that in the next book. So I read it. If you are interested in continuing, just skip the spoiler, but if you want to know what happens, just click "I am over the rape" when someone wants to beat the shit out of the guy who did it. I am fucking over it and I don't want to harm a guy that did something horrible to me....
One of the girls was bullied by a guy, she loses weight for him because she is still in love with him after he tries to kill her....
Some spoilers
- There was a rape and the person suddenly was over it within sentences
WHAT?! Rape is not to be used as a plot just because you have a scene that you have to make dramatic. Up until that point I had nothing against the book, but when you put rape in it. No, no, no, no. It was horrible and made me as a reader so disappointed. And I lost so much respect. Okay, I know that maybe there will be talk about that in the next book. So I read it. If you are interested in continuing, just skip the spoiler, but if you want to know what happens, just click
Meh. I think I'm just over high schoolers right now and can't handle any more drama. I would probably have enjoyed this more off it were the middle of summer and I wasn't dealing with teenage girls at work every day. So much petty jealousy over a not-so-nice boy really irritated me.