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brisingr's review against another edition
1.0
DNF halfway through. This book did not give what it was supposed to be given, which is a HUGE disappointment because this sounded so amazing: an alternative history type of book featuring dragons (and one!! named Kazimir!! slavic names my beloved you will never be pronounced correctly by English speakers who narrate the damn audiobooks though) and a main character with a spelling variant of my name (and it's my lifelong goal to find a character named 'sara(h)' in books that is not a total bitch).
But............................ so many themes and not one coherent point in here. So many useless and boring scenes. And at the middle of it, an assassination, the American spy fear craze over Russians of the 60s and the end of the world are somehow still not even the most dramatic thing supposed to be going on??? You mean to tell me there's STILL once again this much story left??? And it's supposed to start making sense......... when exactly? Disappointed this got published to be honest, it's in an utterly unreadable state of messiness.
Maybe I'm just old and fantasy YAs will just never again hit the right spot for me. But I can't see how anyone is supposed to take seriously a book that is offering NOTHING but empty themes, convoluted promises of clarification with no end in sight and shock value with no depth.
This is a SHAME because I really, really wanted to like this :(
Also, for a book with a dragon on the cover and who is presented as a book about at least a dragon... the dragon certainly had way too little screen time to make it worth my time.
But............................ so many themes and not one coherent point in here. So many useless and boring scenes. And at the middle of it, an assassination, the American spy fear craze over Russians of the 60s and the end of the world are somehow still not even the most dramatic thing supposed to be going on??? You mean to tell me there's STILL once again this much story left??? And it's supposed to start making sense......... when exactly? Disappointed this got published to be honest, it's in an utterly unreadable state of messiness.
Maybe I'm just old and fantasy YAs will just never again hit the right spot for me. But I can't see how anyone is supposed to take seriously a book that is offering NOTHING but empty themes, convoluted promises of clarification with no end in sight and shock value with no depth.
This is a SHAME because I really, really wanted to like this :(
Also, for a book with a dragon on the cover and who is presented as a book about at least a dragon... the dragon certainly had way too little screen time to make it worth my time.
queenneehola's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Death, and Homophobia
Moderate: Death of parent, Police brutality, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death
mira_tanyasita's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
melliemakesdragons's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.5
Finished reading: May 15th 2024
“Sometimes you just have to feel bad about a thing. Sometimes that's the only thing that makes you human.”
It's true that I don't read a lot of YA anymore, but I wasn't exactly mad when my TBR jar thought it was time I finally picked up Burn. It's been a couple of years since my last Patrick Ness book, and there is just something about his writing that always has me intrigued. Add the fact that I needed a book with dragons for the POPSUGAR challenge and the fact that the blurb sounded SO good, and I've actually been looking forward to this TBR jar pick. I can't deny that I somehow ended up having mixed thoughts though... It's not a bad read, but not my favorite among his books either. I think part of my issue is that there isn't enough worldbuilding for a book about dragons. In this case, Burn would have definitely benefitted from more instead of less pages; even just 50 pages of proper worldbuilding would have made such a difference in this story. The whole racism/homophobia/bigotry was also a bit too in-your-face, and I wasn't a fan of how it was incorporated into the plot. I understand that this story is set back in 1957 and things were different back then, but I don't think it adds any substantial to the story other than making you hate certain characters even more. I would have loved more focus on other elements instead... Like for example the dragons, the cult, the prophecy and the assassin. There is plently of action to be found along the way, and especially the second part is brutal. Definitely make sure to be ready for some extreme violence! As I've already become used to with Patrick Ness' books, Burn is another quirky and almost whimsical read, although the story is pretty brutal with heavy-hitting topics and violence at the same time. Not for everyone and it could have done with more development, but I'm personally still glad I finally read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Infidelity, Animal death, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Genocide, Murder, Violence, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Cursing, and Sexual assault
sam_vimes_75's review against another edition
3.0
Wonderful concept, characters, and world building, but not a great execution. The last section seemed to be more intent on setting up a possible sequel than finishing the story being told.
lauraeliza23's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? No
4.5
melanto_mori's review against another edition
5.0
Voto: 5-/ 5
Patrick Ness scrive bene, e so che non basta come recensione. XD
Allora aggiungiamoci che ha creato una trama molto complessa e della quale riesce a tirarne tutte le fila nel corso di un libro in cui succede sempre qualcosa, e la tensione rimane alta fino alla fine. C'è dell'action, in questo romanzo, ed è fatto bene. Il PdV multiplo (che molti gli hanno contestato) rende il tutto completo e con un taglio cinematografico che a me è piaciuto un sacco.
Molto bella l'ambientazione che sono la fine degli anni '50 in America... però ci sono i DRAGHI. **
La scrittura ti conduce passo passo per incastrare tutti i pezzi di questo enorme puzzle, che si snoda nei multiversi: ci saranno personaggi che odierete a morte (Kelby infame per te solo lame!), altri a cui vi affezionerete e poi la queerness che non ti aspetti!
Mi è piaciuta la caratterizzazione di tutti loro, anche dei personaggi che ho detestato (perché se li ho detestati significa che sono stati caratterizzati benissimo!).
È uno YA, ma come tutti i libri di Ness se lo dovrebbe leggere chiunque, perché i suoi messaggi valgono per tutti, indipendentemente dall'età, perché affronta temi importanti come l'omofobia, il razzismo, il lutto e la vendetta.
Per un soffio non si becca le cinque stelle piene, perché mi ha lasciato con un epilogo aperto su un personaggio di cui io volevo sapere troppo come sarebbe andata a finire!!! XDDD Mannaggia a lui!!!
Però bello bello, super consigliato.
Patrick Ness scrive bene, e so che non basta come recensione. XD
Allora aggiungiamoci che ha creato una trama molto complessa e della quale riesce a tirarne tutte le fila nel corso di un libro in cui succede sempre qualcosa, e la tensione rimane alta fino alla fine. C'è dell'action, in questo romanzo, ed è fatto bene. Il PdV multiplo (che molti gli hanno contestato) rende il tutto completo e con un taglio cinematografico che a me è piaciuto un sacco.
Molto bella l'ambientazione che sono la fine degli anni '50 in America... però ci sono i DRAGHI. **
La scrittura ti conduce passo passo per incastrare tutti i pezzi di questo enorme puzzle, che si snoda nei multiversi: ci saranno personaggi che odierete a morte (Kelby infame per te solo lame!), altri a cui vi affezionerete e poi la queerness che non ti aspetti!
Mi è piaciuta la caratterizzazione di tutti loro, anche dei personaggi che ho detestato (perché se li ho detestati significa che sono stati caratterizzati benissimo!).
È uno YA, ma come tutti i libri di Ness se lo dovrebbe leggere chiunque, perché i suoi messaggi valgono per tutti, indipendentemente dall'età, perché affronta temi importanti come l'omofobia, il razzismo, il lutto e la vendetta.
Per un soffio non si becca le cinque stelle piene, perché mi ha lasciato con un epilogo aperto su un personaggio di cui io volevo sapere troppo come sarebbe andata a finire!!! XDDD Mannaggia a lui!!!
Però bello bello, super consigliato.
jenhurst's review against another edition
2.0
I really did not like this at all. I found there to be too many characters and it was hard to keep track of. Plus it was boring. I kept asking myself, what’s the point?