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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
"...fire is sneaky. You might think you've extinguished it, but one creeping red tendril, one single wisp of smoke is enough to let it leap back to life again".
I wasn't 100% sure whether I would enjoy this book when I picked it up but it's definitely one of my favourite reads of 2019 so far!
The story is focused on Anna Clark who had just moved to Scotland from Birmingham and had her life turned upside down. Of course, as it's written by Laura Bates, the author of Everyday Sexism, the issues of victim blaming and casual sexism along with the culture that surrounds it, were heavily discussed and a main element of this book.
We're taken on a roller-coaster of emotions while reading Anna's story; some good, some bad, but all very important and incredibly relevant to everyone. It particularly hits home for me as I can relate to a lot of what Anna went through and although I was originally going to give this book 4 stars, since I had been thinking about it so much I had to change it to 5.
The events of the book and the comparisons between Anna's and Maggie's lives particularly left an impact on me and reminded me of how I felt at that age.
I would highly recommend this book - go pick it up from your local bookstore, online retailer, second hand book shop, wherever. But read it.
I wasn't 100% sure whether I would enjoy this book when I picked it up but it's definitely one of my favourite reads of 2019 so far!
The story is focused on Anna Clark who had just moved to Scotland from Birmingham and had her life turned upside down. Of course, as it's written by Laura Bates, the author of Everyday Sexism, the issues of victim blaming and casual sexism along with the culture that surrounds it, were heavily discussed and a main element of this book.
We're taken on a roller-coaster of emotions while reading Anna's story; some good, some bad, but all very important and incredibly relevant to everyone. It particularly hits home for me as I can relate to a lot of what Anna went through and although I was originally going to give this book 4 stars, since I had been thinking about it so much I had to change it to 5.
The events of the book and the comparisons between Anna's and Maggie's lives particularly left an impact on me and reminded me of how I felt at that age.
I would highly recommend this book - go pick it up from your local bookstore, online retailer, second hand book shop, wherever. But read it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy for review.
Ok I am honestly torn on how I feel about this book. The author has a lot, and I mean A LOT , of things to say about slut shaming. So much so that I honestly wasn't sure what the plot really was of this book till about the half way point. We follow Anna and her mother as they move from England to Scotland following the death of her father, and a massive social scandal. We don't find out what the issue is until again, about the half way point. Anna makes some new friends at her new school. She is given a history project to research a local person. Anna chooses a girl named Maggie who was burned at the stake for witchcraft in the 1600's. The flashback scenes to Maggie's story were my favorite parts of this book. Their stories coincide quite nicely. Anna's scandal ends up following her, as things do. I honestly started skim reading around 60% to the end because I was just ready to be done.
I had a hard time connecting to the characters. Anna lacked a back bone in my opinion. There really wasn't much character development. Her friends were fine, but scarce. The one boy who had any relevance to the story was, more or less nonexistent. The slut shaming amongst her school mates was in full, almost extreme, force. I think the message is important, and the story fit that, it was just also boring. Too much inner turmoil, and zero action to do anything about it until the last page.
Ok I am honestly torn on how I feel about this book. The author has a lot, and I mean A LOT , of things to say about slut shaming. So much so that I honestly wasn't sure what the plot really was of this book till about the half way point. We follow Anna and her mother as they move from England to Scotland following the death of her father, and a massive social scandal. We don't find out what the issue is until again, about the half way point. Anna makes some new friends at her new school. She is given a history project to research a local person. Anna chooses a girl named Maggie who was burned at the stake for witchcraft in the 1600's. The flashback scenes to Maggie's story were my favorite parts of this book. Their stories coincide quite nicely. Anna's scandal ends up following her, as things do. I honestly started skim reading around 60% to the end because I was just ready to be done.
I had a hard time connecting to the characters. Anna lacked a back bone in my opinion. There really wasn't much character development. Her friends were fine, but scarce. The one boy who had any relevance to the story was, more or less nonexistent. The slut shaming amongst her school mates was in full, almost extreme, force. I think the message is important, and the story fit that, it was just also boring. Too much inner turmoil, and zero action to do anything about it until the last page.
There’s nothing to trace Anna back to her old life. Nothing to link her to the ‘incident’.
At least that’s what she thinks … until the whispers start up again. As time begins to run out on her secrets, Anna finds herself irresistibly drawn to the tale of Maggie, a local girl accused of witchcraft centuries earlier. A girl whose story has terrifying parallels to Anna’s own…
Teenage years SUCK. They suck even more when you make a mistake with a boy you like and are scared to be humiliated by (and he ends up humiliating you any way).
This is a powerfully moving story about feeling alone, feeling scared to speak up and a school doing an awful job of protecting the children in it’s care (punishing the victim, so the ‘girls will know this behaviour is inappropriate’, rather than punishing the students that are sharing, bullying and harassing Anna.
It’s a story that is probably too common today and it shows Anna finding the courage to finally speak up and speak back to the people who are belittling her, calling her a slut or a whore. About finding friendship and fighting for it. It’s so powerful and so moving, a call to action about the implication of sexism. It’s brilliant. So brilliant.
At least that’s what she thinks … until the whispers start up again. As time begins to run out on her secrets, Anna finds herself irresistibly drawn to the tale of Maggie, a local girl accused of witchcraft centuries earlier. A girl whose story has terrifying parallels to Anna’s own…
Teenage years SUCK. They suck even more when you make a mistake with a boy you like and are scared to be humiliated by (and he ends up humiliating you any way).
This is a powerfully moving story about feeling alone, feeling scared to speak up and a school doing an awful job of protecting the children in it’s care (punishing the victim, so the ‘girls will know this behaviour is inappropriate’, rather than punishing the students that are sharing, bullying and harassing Anna.
It’s a story that is probably too common today and it shows Anna finding the courage to finally speak up and speak back to the people who are belittling her, calling her a slut or a whore. About finding friendship and fighting for it. It’s so powerful and so moving, a call to action about the implication of sexism. It’s brilliant. So brilliant.
Anna is recovering from two deaths: her father's and her own. That is, she and her mother have moved to Scotland after revenge port ruined Anna's life in Birmingham, England. Her starting over starts off well when she is befriended by Cat and Lish, but of course Anna's previous life comes back to haunt her, including revealing a devastating secret of one of her new besties.
There's a subplot where Anna researchers a 17th (I think) century witch, Maggie, who Anna believes may have once lived in her house. The witch storyline is presumably meant to echo or deepen the viral, torturous deep fakes of Anna doing porn stuff, but I didn't connect as well to that part.
Reflecting on the book now, I realize I found it highly compelling, but kind of...didn't love it.
There's a subplot where Anna researchers a 17th (I think) century witch, Maggie, who Anna believes may have once lived in her house. The witch storyline is presumably meant to echo or deepen the viral, torturous deep fakes of Anna doing porn stuff, but I didn't connect as well to that part.
Reflecting on the book now, I realize I found it highly compelling, but kind of...didn't love it.
This was really hard to get through. It was a wall of trauma with basically no relief (emotionally or plot-wise) for the main character or the reader. It addresses important issues but I wish it had leaned more into the witch stuff and less into graphic descriptions of a teenager's nudes. I wouldn't recommend it without a HEAVY trigger warning for sexual assault, body shaming, bullying, sexism, harassment, rape, and probably a couple other things I'm forgetting.
Powerful. Honest. Brutal. A novel about the damages of Social Media and how it can destroy one person's life. One wrong post is one massive Burn. It reminded me of a modern-day twist on the Salem Witch Trials, blaming one based on false pretenses. The book showed how easily a teen girl can be manipulated by promises of "love". All teen girls need to read this book, so they can understand that it's OK to stand up against bullies; that it's ok to say NO. The final scenes of the book blew me away...
The Burning is one of those books that I think all teenagers, parents and teachers should be made to read as it covers such relevant and necessary material.
It tells the story of Anna Clark who has recently moved to Scotland following an awful experience at her old school involving cyber bullying and the sharing of an intimate picture. With her mother she’s determined to get a new start, but is it ever possible to escape your online presence?
Anna’s story is told alongside the story of Maggie Moran, a young woman accused of witchcraft when she refuses to lie about a nobleman raping her.
A rather bleak story in that we get to see throughout time women have been made to suffer for other’s thoughts and beliefs.
I would, personally, have liked to know a little more about what could happen after such an event. It’s still a relatively new phenomenon and one that everyone needs to stand up to.
It’ll be interesting to see how this stands the test of time, but it’s certainly an interesting thought-provoking read. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy to review.
It tells the story of Anna Clark who has recently moved to Scotland following an awful experience at her old school involving cyber bullying and the sharing of an intimate picture. With her mother she’s determined to get a new start, but is it ever possible to escape your online presence?
Anna’s story is told alongside the story of Maggie Moran, a young woman accused of witchcraft when she refuses to lie about a nobleman raping her.
A rather bleak story in that we get to see throughout time women have been made to suffer for other’s thoughts and beliefs.
I would, personally, have liked to know a little more about what could happen after such an event. It’s still a relatively new phenomenon and one that everyone needs to stand up to.
It’ll be interesting to see how this stands the test of time, but it’s certainly an interesting thought-provoking read. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy to review.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Burning is the kind of novel that wants to convey a Message™ to readers and it does so at the expense of things like character development and plot construction. This could have been a really engaging story about a teenage girl who overcomes bullying and sexual harassment, with natural parallels to 17th-century witch hunts, but the author seems to feel the need to lead readers by the hand right to every point and so the characters remain flat and the plot remains dull and predictable.
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes