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lilymaymellark 's review for:
Burn Down, Rise Up
by Vincent Tirado
Thank you Netgalley, Vincent Tirado, and Sourcebooks Fire for the eARC! All opinions, thoughts and words are my own.
Burn Down, Rise Up follows a sixteen-year-old's journey through the Echo game, which takes place in the Bronx's subways.
I enjoyed the setting of the Bronx — the history explored was extremely interesting and was about a time I don't know much about. The culture was also really enlightening — I loved the main character, Raquel's voice. You could really see the author's passion for the setting of the story, and it read like a love letter to the Bronx, which I really adored.
Despite this, there were some problems with this book I couldn't overlook when rating it. Character decisions weren't based on much evidence and did things without reason. This made me a little frustrated while I read because characters either did things from convenience to the plot or to add more tension between characters (again to add to the plot) but there was no reason for some of these actions to occur. Though I enjoyed the Bronx setting, when it came to the Echo game, I felt the world-building was a little under-developed.
However one thing that shone in this book was the family relationships. The way they were developed and explored really made me smile. I did think, though, that the sapphic romance could have been improved -- I wanted more of it!
Overall, this was an enjoyable, fast-paced read that will delight younger queer readers. If I were to suggest anything to be improved, I would ask for the world-building of the Echo game to be a little clearer, and to add a little more reasoning behind character's actions.
Burn Down, Rise Up follows a sixteen-year-old's journey through the Echo game, which takes place in the Bronx's subways.
I enjoyed the setting of the Bronx — the history explored was extremely interesting and was about a time I don't know much about. The culture was also really enlightening — I loved the main character, Raquel's voice. You could really see the author's passion for the setting of the story, and it read like a love letter to the Bronx, which I really adored.
Despite this, there were some problems with this book I couldn't overlook when rating it. Character decisions weren't based on much evidence and did things without reason. This made me a little frustrated while I read because characters either did things from convenience to the plot or to add more tension between characters (again to add to the plot) but there was no reason for some of these actions to occur. Though I enjoyed the Bronx setting, when it came to the Echo game, I felt the world-building was a little under-developed.
However one thing that shone in this book was the family relationships. The way they were developed and explored really made me smile. I did think, though, that the sapphic romance could have been improved -- I wanted more of it!
Overall, this was an enjoyable, fast-paced read that will delight younger queer readers. If I were to suggest anything to be improved, I would ask for the world-building of the Echo game to be a little clearer, and to add a little more reasoning behind character's actions.