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A review by justgeekingby
The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence
5.0
Originally posted on Just Geeking by.
Content warnings:
There are some books that need a detailed book review to help readers decide whether a book is their type of read. The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence is one that personally I think is better left surrounded in mystery, that the less you know about it the better your experience will be as a reader. Less is more was certainly the approach taken with the synopsis for this book which dangles a teasing idea in front of the reader, but doesn’t say very much. I didn’t understand why that was the case until I read the book.
The Book That Wouldn’t Burn tells two stories, the story of Livira and the story of Evar. Two individuals who live completely different lives that somehow manage to keep intersecting. The two of them are connected that much is for certain, but how and why is an epic journey that will blow your mind. Lawrence has written a book that will constantly keep you guessing, and making you question everything as you read it. This isn’t a book, it’s a puzzle and fans of Doctor Who will love it.
It is a hefty book, and while it is slow paced the story is always moving. Lawrence does at times pose some heavy philosophical questions, however, I felt that he did a good job of not lingering too much on them. The way he poses them through dialogue between a mentor and a student means that they’re broken down through the narrator’s thoughts enough to be digestible.
I liked the quotes from books at the top of each chapter, some of which were real authors (there were a few sneaky quotes from Mark Lawrence himself in there!) and some obviously fake ones (I had a chuckle at the nod to Enid Blyton). It was a nice way to break up the head hurty bits and dark topics and inject some author humour in there.
The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is one of my top books of 2023, and left me in such awe with its plot twists. It’s book one and there’s more to come, which quite frankly leaves me a little worried. I’m not sure if we’ll all be able to survive the end of this trilogy if this is what Lawrence is going to deliver every time.
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Content warnings:
Spoiler
This book contains scenes of blood, violence, gore, war, kidnapping, enslavement and genocide. There are scenes of a large scale fire. The theme of prejudice and oppression runs throughout in the form of classism and racism (human and fantasy races).There are some books that need a detailed book review to help readers decide whether a book is their type of read. The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence is one that personally I think is better left surrounded in mystery, that the less you know about it the better your experience will be as a reader. Less is more was certainly the approach taken with the synopsis for this book which dangles a teasing idea in front of the reader, but doesn’t say very much. I didn’t understand why that was the case until I read the book.
The Book That Wouldn’t Burn tells two stories, the story of Livira and the story of Evar. Two individuals who live completely different lives that somehow manage to keep intersecting. The two of them are connected that much is for certain, but how and why is an epic journey that will blow your mind. Lawrence has written a book that will constantly keep you guessing, and making you question everything as you read it. This isn’t a book, it’s a puzzle and fans of Doctor Who will love it.
It is a hefty book, and while it is slow paced the story is always moving. Lawrence does at times pose some heavy philosophical questions, however, I felt that he did a good job of not lingering too much on them. The way he poses them through dialogue between a mentor and a student means that they’re broken down through the narrator’s thoughts enough to be digestible.
I liked the quotes from books at the top of each chapter, some of which were real authors (there were a few sneaky quotes from Mark Lawrence himself in there!) and some obviously fake ones (I had a chuckle at the nod to Enid Blyton). It was a nice way to break up the head hurty bits and dark topics and inject some author humour in there.
The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is one of my top books of 2023, and left me in such awe with its plot twists. It’s book one and there’s more to come, which quite frankly leaves me a little worried. I’m not sure if we’ll all be able to survive the end of this trilogy if this is what Lawrence is going to deliver every time.