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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
A monster hunting story that never failed to be full of creativity and suspense! I loved this so much. Like these monsters are the personifications of real world issues which, in this case, have been and are currently faced by those in the Bronx. It was a very exciting horror (but like real life horror and not ‘AH!’ horror, if you know what I mean). There were also so many funny moments that I didn’t expect, and these teens felt so real. I was rooting for them the whole way.
- great social commentary
- the physical hardback is gorgeous
- sapphic
- great social commentary
- the physical hardback is gorgeous
- sapphic
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
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
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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:
N/A
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher and author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I really really loved Burn Down, Rise Up. It was one of my most anticipated reads this year so when I got the notification that my request to read it had been accepted I dove straight in. I’m so happy it lived up to my expectations.
BDRU is a tense story about the dark places of the world, the games that we get sucked into, and the power of love and standing up for yourself and what you believe in. It’s about friendship and fighting and doing what you can to save those around you who can’t save themselves. There were a few moments when I had to suspend my disbelief and go with the flow but once I’d settled into it there was no stopping me.
The world was realistic and brutal, the writing was sharp and full of action and I was never bored. There were moments where I couldn’t stop reading, absolutely glued to the page and desperate to find out what happened next - and these were balanced by the moments where the writing showed us the characters and the world through a softer light.
Overall I’d recommend this for fans of magical realism/horror set in a city atmosphere. I loved the diversity and I think a lot of other people will too! The world needs more sapphic stories, especially set it worlds that have a dark side to them.
I really really loved Burn Down, Rise Up. It was one of my most anticipated reads this year so when I got the notification that my request to read it had been accepted I dove straight in. I’m so happy it lived up to my expectations.
BDRU is a tense story about the dark places of the world, the games that we get sucked into, and the power of love and standing up for yourself and what you believe in. It’s about friendship and fighting and doing what you can to save those around you who can’t save themselves. There were a few moments when I had to suspend my disbelief and go with the flow but once I’d settled into it there was no stopping me.
The world was realistic and brutal, the writing was sharp and full of action and I was never bored. There were moments where I couldn’t stop reading, absolutely glued to the page and desperate to find out what happened next - and these were balanced by the moments where the writing showed us the characters and the world through a softer light.
Overall I’d recommend this for fans of magical realism/horror set in a city atmosphere. I loved the diversity and I think a lot of other people will too! The world needs more sapphic stories, especially set it worlds that have a dark side to them.
This one definitely started out with a bang, in a grab your attention way. Exactly how a horror movie might start out. And while my rating is lower, only 3 stars, it really did kind of follow how horror movies are these days. A lot of things happen and characters make decisions that as the audience who watches these types of movies it is something we know they will decide, but really they haven’t found any evidence or reasoning in the actual plot for why they make their decisions. And like I saw other reviews say, we don’t necessarily get the answers to exactly why this is happening.
But, I liked the idea behind the story, the whole having to play a game and follow the rules, as it relates to things that have been showing up online or in other tv shows and movies. So that was fun. The creatures and the world that the characters disappeared into were perfectly creepy and written in a way that I could see them almost always as the author described them. A very vivid picture painted for this story. There were some realistic ways that the high schoolers actived in reaction to rumors or what might be going on around them, which I liked. The book had representation with the two main characters in several ways, and with the supporting characters as well.
A fun read, one I will get for my school library for my students to enjoy as well.
Review first post on Lisa Loves Literature.
But, I liked the idea behind the story, the whole having to play a game and follow the rules, as it relates to things that have been showing up online or in other tv shows and movies. So that was fun. The creatures and the world that the characters disappeared into were perfectly creepy and written in a way that I could see them almost always as the author described them. A very vivid picture painted for this story. There were some realistic ways that the high schoolers actived in reaction to rumors or what might be going on around them, which I liked. The book had representation with the two main characters in several ways, and with the supporting characters as well.
A fun read, one I will get for my school library for my students to enjoy as well.
Review first post on Lisa Loves Literature.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a fast paced story that felt like a mashup of sci-fi, horror, and drama with a cinematic quality that I feel would translate well to television or film. While reading the book I learned a bit of history about the Bronx and was grateful to see it woven into the plot along with issues of racism and social justice. I was interested in the characters and what would happen to them inside the Echo and always felt tense while they were there and couldn’t stop wondering what would happen. I wished that there was a bit more to the story because sometimes things concluded without the backstory of what happened or why characters behaved a certain way. The ending seemed to be conclusive, though I see potential for a sequel or future books and I would love to read more of this author’s works either way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cursing
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Ok so I feel like I should maybe rate this higher? This book has everything I usually love and was well written and imaginative… but I just couldn’t get into the characters and the main horror aspect just fell a little flat. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for this one and should give it another try one day but for now I’m just happy to have not DNF’ed