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A review by hamadryasfebrua
The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix
I did not like this book. But I think it's important to note that I choose to review these books purely for myself. When I write these reviews, I'm doing it to leave a note to myself to look back on later. It's for me to see my thoughts on the book in more depth should I wonder why I did or did not like that book, and if I still agree with it now.
Now I know this book has controversy. My lack of enjoyment had nothing to do with whether or not this book is racist or antisemitic. And, for that matter, I cannot say if it is or isn't racist. I am not black. If you want to know if it was racist, I would ask someone who can actually speak on that matter; someone who is black. But I am of Jewish descent (my father, whose mother I am constantly told I resemble, and whose family I was raised with), though I am not explicitly Jewish myself, so this opinion I'd take with a grain of salt; I do not believe this was inherently antisemitic. I don't trace an ounce of Jewish-ness on Ranka. If it were to be antisemitic, she'd have to at least be hinted at being a Jew. And she's really not. There may be some antisemitic traits to it, but I doubt it was really intentional. Of which I'd like to quote Latitude's review which takes that topic in more depth.
But anyways, the reason I disliked this book was more out of pettiness than anything else. I just really did not like Ranka. She annoyed me to near depth. I kept turning to my mother who sat across the room from me and complaining about how much she annoyed me. Now, I understand why Ranka was like that. She had many reasons to be angry and treat things with anger. It was just annoying. I also really just couldn't get... into the book. It lacked at really captivating me, though that may have also been because of my hatred for Ranka. It took me 6 days to get halfway through the book, when normally I'd finish a book of this length by four days. I ended up DNF'ing this book at this mark.
I am also choosing not to give it a rating due to the controversies above.
Now I know this book has controversy. My lack of enjoyment had nothing to do with whether or not this book is racist or antisemitic. And, for that matter, I cannot say if it is or isn't racist. I am not black. If you want to know if it was racist, I would ask someone who can actually speak on that matter; someone who is black. But I am of Jewish descent (my father, whose mother I am constantly told I resemble, and whose family I was raised with), though I am not explicitly Jewish myself, so this opinion I'd take with a grain of salt; I do not believe this was inherently antisemitic. I don't trace an ounce of Jewish-ness on Ranka. If it were to be antisemitic, she'd have to at least be hinted at being a Jew. And she's really not. There may be some antisemitic traits to it, but I doubt it was really intentional. Of which I'd like to quote Latitude's review which takes that topic in more depth.
But anyways, the reason I disliked this book was more out of pettiness than anything else. I just really did not like Ranka. She annoyed me to near depth. I kept turning to my mother who sat across the room from me and complaining about how much she annoyed me. Now, I understand why Ranka was like that. She had many reasons to be angry and treat things with anger. It was just annoying. I also really just couldn't get... into the book. It lacked at really captivating me, though that may have also been because of my hatred for Ranka. It took me 6 days to get halfway through the book, when normally I'd finish a book of this length by four days. I ended up DNF'ing this book at this mark.
I am also choosing not to give it a rating due to the controversies above.