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A review by 1mpossiblealice
The Burning by Laura Bates
3.75
I wasn't sure about reading this as I thought it would be very intense and hard to read. Well - it is. I've read two YA books about misogynistic bullying recently and I definitely need a break from this.
I got sucked in on trying the first chapter as it felt like all the things I used to love about Point Horror - girl moves to a new school, lives in a cool but creepy new house, some vaguely supernatural elements. Obviously this is not a Point Horror and is much better written, but those things were there and really fun.
But this isn't a fun book. It's a good book, but not fun. Ultimately I think there are too many issues packed in, and one or two would have been more than enough. I liked the links between Anna's modern day story and the historial witchcraft plot that she's uncovering, and I did like the development between Anna and her mum, and her two friends, particularly as the book ends. I also really liked Glen, and enjoyed that the book had some positive male characters, and showed how girls can behave really badly too when in the kind of environment created at the school.
I'm not entirely sure the mystery of how the info gets onto social media is plausible, but I suppose that's not really the point of the book.
It's a really good book, just needed some editing of the issues to make it stronger. I'd also check trigger warnings if you need to because there's a lot of really horrible stuff in it.
I definitely need to go and read something much lighter and less intense after this!
I got sucked in on trying the first chapter as it felt like all the things I used to love about Point Horror - girl moves to a new school, lives in a cool but creepy new house, some vaguely supernatural elements. Obviously this is not a Point Horror and is much better written, but those things were there and really fun.
But this isn't a fun book. It's a good book, but not fun. Ultimately I think there are too many issues packed in, and one or two would have been more than enough. I liked the links between Anna's modern day story and the historial witchcraft plot that she's uncovering, and I did like the development between Anna and her mum, and her two friends, particularly as the book ends. I also really liked Glen, and enjoyed that the book had some positive male characters, and showed how girls can behave really badly too when in the kind of environment created at the school.
I'm not entirely sure the mystery of how the info gets onto social media is plausible, but I suppose that's not really the point of the book.
It's a really good book, just needed some editing of the issues to make it stronger. I'd also check trigger warnings if you need to because there's a lot of really horrible stuff in it.
I definitely need to go and read something much lighter and less intense after this!