A review by locan
Burn by Julianna Baggott

4.0

Before reading



After reading

Forewarning: I am going to be ranting about the end. No spoilers though.

Okay, fine. I'll admit it. I am one of those readers that likes a neat ending. Something that cleans up all loose ends and doesn't leave me having to wonder what the heck is supposed to happen next, or flipping the last page over and over again just in case there was a freaking chapter that I missed somewhere. And this was one of those smack-bang-hi-its-the-end kind of endings that I hate. *coughcough*Requiem*coughcough* And there was A LOT of stuff that was unresolved, like

Spoiler

Partridge's love triangle, whether the Pures ever got in and killed Partridge and whats-her-face, if Pressia ever found her father, if Partridge ever went and found Lyda, if the Wretches and the Pures managed to get along or maybe they just all killed each other, if Arvin ever made that cure or if he just died in that locked laboratory, the list goes on.

Now, before all you realists out there explode, yes, I know that it's one of those kinds of stories that is basically impossible to end happily, and the most the author can do is give the readers a little hope, and that real life doesn't always end things neatly, it's usually messy and complicated right up to the end, but still . I read so that I can escape the annoying, complicated, un-happy-ending-ness of the real world. But it's really just my opinion that made me dislike the ending, so if you have nothing against realistically complicated endings, go for it.

But other than the ending, I really enjoyed this book (for the most part). Sure, there were many decisions made that had me cringing and texting people in a LOT of capitals, but the important thing is that I can see why those stupid choices were made, even if when we were looking from someone else's perspective I was about to stab the decision-maker. Seriously.

So, let's talk about the characters (Just the main ones)

Partridge:
My thoughts and feelings about Partridge were all over the place during this book. I went from "Partridge, you are a bloody idiot", to "Wow poor Partridge", to "OMG STOP BEING SO STUPID PARTRIDGE", to "I am so glad I am not in your position, Partridge", to "WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU". At this point in time I am still undecided whether I like him or I want to kill him. While I do understand that he was under a lot of pressure, he was very lost and unprepared and all that, sometimes all of his choices just made me want to reach in and slap him. Seriously, right up until the very last page.

El Capitan (and Helmund):
I love him them! I think they were my favourite characters, because a) I loved seeing how El Capitan was dealing with his feelings for Pressia b) watching Helmund come into his own more in this book was fantastic c) I liked their brotherly love that was developed much more in this book and d) they were in most of the cool action scenes, so their chapters were always exciting and something I looked forward to :P By the end, they were really feeling like brothers to me and they were probably the only characters in the whole book that didn't make annoying decisions.

Bradwell:
Oh, Bradwell. ASDFGHJKL;'.

Spoiler

when he died, I actually thought he was cleverly faking it and he would come back to life to see Pressia again, because of how he told El Capitan to check his heartbeat. But, sadly, no

Enough said.

Pressia:
I had mixed feelings about Pressia. While I didn't always agree with her decisions/views, I could see where she was coming from and I didn't hold any of the things that came out of it against her. Maybe I'm just biased because she's awesome, and I've known and liked her from the beginning. Either way, I still like her.

Lyda:
Lyda was probably the character I worried for the most, even though I know she is tough (even with a baby) and she was sheltered inside the Dome. At some points I was seriously concerned for her mental health

Spoiler

for example in the bit where Pressia came to see her

. But, like Pressia, I could see where she was coming from, and that's really all that matters, as a reader, isn't it? I probably empathised with her most because even though her challenges weren't exactly of the life threatening sort, it was still horrible to see her struggle so much and yearn so hard for the outside world where she wasn't treated like glass.

So, to sum it up, Burn was one hell of a ride. I was sneaking up to my room all day just so I could read a chapter or two, but it always turned out more like 4 or 5 chapters, because it was unputdownable. I definitely recommend it to YA fiction lovers, especially those who don't mind a bit of violence and struggle to go in their books. Just... please, Juliana. Just one more book. A novella. Anything! I would just like to see some of the questions answered.

Anyway, bye Pressia, Bradwell, Cap, Helmund, Partridge, Lyda, and everyone. Bye messed up, post-apocalyptic, beautiful, barbaric world.