Reviews - Burn Down, Rise Up

644 reviews for:

Burn Down, Rise Up

Vincent Tirado

3.77 AVERAGE

the_bookishbug's review against another edition

3.25

dark mysterious 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: No

There are a lot of elements I liked about the book and I wish I had enjoyed it more.

The history of the area and the overall message were really nice. The book wasn't particularly scary, but it did have a good amount of tension and some eerie moments. I thought the relationship between Raquel and Aaron was really good, especially in its tenser moments.

However, the Echo Game felt a bit underdeveloped as an urban legend/Internet game. Additionally, the characters also felt underdeveloped. While the relationship between Raquel and Charlize was cute, I wish there had been a bit more depth. I also wish there had been more instances of community building throughout the story to really drive home that final message.

The audiobook performance was competent and character voices felt distinct.

I'd still recommend it as a YA horror, it's a quick read and definitely worthwhile! There's definitely an audience that will adore this story.

cor_luz's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense 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: No

This was a refreshing new kind of book to read. I really enjoyed the world building behind the Echo and how the real world effects it. The book was a little face paced and wrapped everything up neatly, but sometimes that's what we need.

gsas's review against another edition

4.5

challenging emotional mysterious 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: Complicated

opps's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 rounded up.

A lot of this book works well. The concept was great, and the pure love for The Bronx was refreshing to see. The sense of place within (spoiler) was really strong, and the list of groups at the end to continue helping the neighborhood was really awesome to see included. And like everyone else on Goodreads has mentioned, the rep is strong throughout. The choice to make Bronx history a focal point was really clever, and I like how that shaped the antagonist.

That said, there were important plot beats that were summed up in single (easily missed) sentences that I had to go back and check in the thick of the climax. I have spent very little time in The Bronx, so some of the descriptions cliff-noted in the real-world locations didn't resonate with me. Also had issues with some of the dialogue feelings out of character at times for well established characters.

It's a very fast paced read, and definitely worth the few hours it'll take. It's much better to do in one sitting too, if you pause you lose some of the momentum that's built up in each of the early sections.

breadandmushrooms's review against another edition

3.0

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: Complicated

yellowbee's review against another edition

5.0

*4.5 someone sedate me

spencerfantastic's review against another edition

3.0

Like many other reviewers have said, the concept of this book is good but the execution was not done as well. It is advertised as being a book featuring a 'game' that young Black people were being abducted into...just for there to not be a game at all. I kept expecting the MC to be abducted into a Battle Royal type situation, just to find that this 'game' is actually just an internet challenge. Not only that but the rules were very confusing (characters would break the rules with no consequences even though others were punished for breaking them). I liked the parallels between this book and Stranger Things but I also think it could have been done a little bit better. The MC was okay, there were times when I wasn't really a fan of hers. I can see how other people would really like this book even though it wasn't a favorite of mine.