malineu's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

shortbreadcookie's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious slow-paced

2.0

I wish I spent more time knowing what was going on. I feel like we didn’t know anything up until the last 10% which made it a slog to get through. A well-written one though. 

josineh's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

sunshine1313's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

helceon's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

It might have been the narrator of the audiobook, but I didn't connect with any of characters at all. The first half of the book seems to drag on and on and I found I wasn't really interested until the book was almost over. The writing and the plot is very good, but it just wasn't for me.

bophelia29's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

azur_rot's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Has mer so bitzli müesse dure Chopf gha lah zum chönne säge wienis find, also:
Ich has sehr nice gfunge, ds es kei Romanze ghe hed und ds es trotzdem queeri ungertön hed
zBuech zentriert female rage, müettere und töchter und allgemein beziehige zwüsche nöd männer was ich natürlich immer toll finde, usserdem spielts ganz fest mitem prinzip "sind mir alli wie üsi muetter"
dWuet hed mer o gfalle und ds Vergeh ned als einzige Weg dargstellt wird, mengisch muess me halt öppis azünde.

Ich ha mer meh Horror erhofft, die Element wo vorcho sind hani guet gfunge aber sie hei mi ned gnueg krass/usgarbeitet dünkt, i hätt gern mal zBuech müesse zue tue und 5 min "WTF WTF WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK" denke und ds isch leider ned dr Fall gsi.
Allgemein hed sich viu ned ganz fertig denkt agfühlt und dPlottwists sie mer ned usklüegelt gnueg gsi.
Dr Schriibstil hani mal meh und mal weniger nice gfunge aber overall recht guet.

I weiss ned obis nomal wür lese aber i has sicher gnueg enjoyed, zums i eim sitting zlese

briekaryna's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

quoting_ravens's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

This one gave me similar vibes as Sawkill Girls.
3.5

magik_the_cat's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

I got an ARC of this book so what I read might be slightly different from what you read. And what I read was nothing like what I was expecting. I never read Wilder Girls and all I knew about it was that it had LGBT rep and some of my book friends didn't like it. It made me a little hesitant to read this but I am glad I did.

I thought it was going to be a YA contemporary mystery thriller but it was more like a YA contemporary mystery horror. Horror which it undoubtedly starts right into in the first chapter. Margot's mother is emotionally abusive and neglectful. She gaslights her daughter and ignores her when she is all but pleading for her to just be a regular mom. This is horror that is heartbreaking real. We feel it so strikingly as a reader too because it's in first person present. We are Margot and we feel what she feels. Margot just wants normal. She wants normal which is family and love and being wanted. This book is her quest for that, for normal, for answers to why she doesn't have normal.

She starts in one small failing town and ends up in another small failing town. The smallness of the towns create an intimacy. Their brokenness, especially with Phalene, the second town, creates a feeling of something not quite right. A feeling which only increases the more you read. And wow does it get weird and unsettling.

The writing is beautiful. Rory Power has a way of describing things that's such a joy to read even when it's weird and unsettling and heartbreakingly painful. And the pacing is perfect. It's slow but not like painfully slow, like that slow tense buildup that makes you keep reading because you have to know what comes next.

Margot is such a complicated character. She's broken and just trying her best. I really like her as a character. Which is good considering the book is all her. I like that she is a lesbian but it's not part of the plot at all. She just is. Like, maybe we've finally gotten to a point with society that a story doesn't have to be about the character being gay but rather the character can just be gay. If that makes any sense.

The ending is wild. I saw part of the big twist long before it happened but that's not a surprise. I usually do. It wasn't a surprise out of left field. I thought it was built up really well too, giving you bits and pieces that don't quite make sense until you see the whole picture.

I don't know that this book is for everyone. There is a complete list of TW/CW here: https://itsrorypower.com/books/burn/. It's very hard to read at times but I really liked it. I liked the weird. It's been a long time since I read something contemporary so that was refreshing in a way.