Burn for Burn (Burn for Burn #1)

Why I Loved It: At the risk of being cliche, revenge has never been so sweet. I read this book pretty early into last semester. Thursdays were library days, so I think I took it with me on a Thursday and wrapped it up by sixth period. And I have at least one thing to say. WHY WOULD YOU END THE BOOK LIKE THAT???

Ok. Much better. Now the ending just makes me desperately want to read Fire With Fire. It's one of the major nerd girl problems: finishing a book in a day and having to wait a year for the sequel. I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I can't say I had read a book like this lately.

Three girls- Mary, Lillia, and Kat -are determined that they are going to get even. Each girl comes from a pretty different background, but their desire for payback brings them together on a mission. Personally, I loved Kat. Like REALLY liked Kat. Her feisty attitude kept me reading.

I was a little worried at the beginning of the book because these books can veer off into predictable pretty quickly, but I found that Ms. Han and Ms. Vivian did a great job with keeping the book fresh and different. The book keeps you on your toes as you read. You can't help but anticipate the next act of revenge. Another strength I found was the well-written minor characters. They really pulled together the book.

I found it pretty interesting how the mild paranormal influence that peeks out here and there throughout the book just pretty much explodes on you in the end. I will say this: the authors made sure I had to read the next book.

My only mild concern was that the main characters could have used a little bit more development. I wanted to understand them better. Every so often, a character would do something, and I would wonder why in the world they would do that. It just seemed so off the wall. Either way, that may just be me.

In the end, the book was well-written and lured me into the pages. I will definitely pick up the next book in the series when it is released.

Who Should Read It: It's a great contemporary read. If you were that kid in school that was always wanting someone to get their comeuppance, you might really enjoy this book. I have a feeling that paranormal might be an even bigger influence in the next book. That pulls in you paranormal peeps.

I'm sad to say I'm a little disappointed after finihing urn for Burn. With all the hype surrounding the author collaboration I was figuring on something spectacular. I didn't particularly dislike it, and it was a quick read, but I didn't particularly like it either.

My first problem lies with the revenge itself. The first one exacting revenge didn't even really have a reason. She wanted to “protect her sister,” but I'm not entirely sure from what considering she was relying solely on second-hand information. Plus, the terrible thing that happened to her doesn't really have anything to do with what's going on with her sister.
The other girls' reasons had to do with bullying which is a little more understandable, but I still didn't really have much sympathy for them. Bullying is a terrible thing and difficult to go through, but I just couldn't get on board with the revenge. Normally I love a good revenge story, but you have to really mak me feel the rage and sympathy for it to work and Burn for Burn just didn't.

All that being said, I'll likely read the sequel. Both to see if it's better and simply because it was a really quick read. I'm hoping to see a little more substance and growth in round two (is it still going to be the same characters?) And I really need to know what is up with the paranormal stuff.

Speaking of which, I've seen a lot of people saying that the paranormal stuff was jarring and just tacked on at the end, but it really wasn't. It was there from the start and they weren't trying to hide it from the reader either. I'm a little confused as to how it kind of snuck up on so many people.

The Nutshell: If you're looking for something deep or emotional then Burn for Burn most likely isn't it. However, if you're just looking for a quick read and don't want to get too invested (like a palette cleanser or something) then it's worth picking up.

Near Miss

Who has time for Karma to work her magic? Definitely not the leading ladies in Burn For Burn. Told in three alternating point of views, this book centers around three high school girls who feel like they’ve been wronged and they’re looking to settle the score. Each of them has a motive for wanting their own revenge, but they decide to band together to help each other carry out their mission until the three targeted offenders have gotten everything they deserved and more.

Often times when multiple authors have their hand in the book, the work reads somewhat disjointed and doesn’t flow as well as it should. I can imagine that happens because with different writing styles and creative minds comes individual ways of delivering a story. One of the great things about this book was that it felt very fluid. I often caught myself wondering which author was responsible for which parts or characters and how they managed to make the book such a cohesive unit.

Even though this book comes in with a a total of 368 pages (though, my ARC only had 354 pages), I read through it very quickly. It was definitely a page-turner, trying to figure out why the girls were seeking revenge and how each act would unfold. Some of the revenge attempts had me rolling my eyes because they were a little on the amateur side, but then I remembered that these were high school girls and so that made the story-line and character feel more authentic.

While the three alternating POVs provided the vessel to generate a lot of movement in the book and kept the plot moving at an appreciated pace, I wonder if it didn’t hinder my ability to connect with the main characters. Yes, we get a daily view inside the minds of each girl and the life that surrounds them, but I don’t feel like we were able to dig deep enough to get to know them. It’s almost like we only skated the surface of who they are. Then again, now knowing that this is only the first book of a trilogy, perhaps we’ll be able to dig deeper in the future.

There is also a paranormal element that’s introduced towards the end of the book. The authors hinted about it throughout and I kind of felt like an idiot about not recognizing it sooner, but I was able to brush it off like the character it focuses around does herself. I can’t really decide how I feel about it. I’ve thought about it overnight, and I’m still really indifferent. In a way, I feel like it gives the book a unique element, but at the same time, it almost feels like it was thrown in just for that unique element.

I’ve let it be known that I’m not really a fan of cliffhangers. I think they’re pointless because if I like your book then I’m going to be reading the next book anyways. If you leave a cliffhanger ending, the only purpose it serves is to infuriate me, but that’s just my opinion. This book had a very abrupt ending, and I even flipped back a few pages to make sure I hadn’t skipped a few by accident.

Lastly, and this is probably more a personal issue with the book, I was disappointed in the attention that was given to Lillia’s story. In the book description, it talks about her having to deal with a guy “that went to far.” But the fact is that not only does she not seek revenge on the guy that hurt her, but the whole deal of her sexual abuse is pretty much glossed over, never really dealt with at all. I’m not trying to say that her whole story needs to be about dealing with it, but I wanted something to come from it. I’m holding out hope that in the future books, it’ll be dealt with more, but as it stands right now, I’m not liking the lack of resolution to this matter.

The Verdict: I can’t really put my finger on the exact reason why, but I really ended up enjoying this book. It was a quick read and I look forward to learning about these characters in the next two books, Fire With Fire(Book 2) and Ashes to Ashes (Book 3).

Jenny Han has always been one of my favorite authors. I often find myself reaching for her Summer series on my shelves to reread them. I was a little disappointed by this book. I was ecstatic when I heard that she was coming out with a new book, but it just didn't live up to her previous books.

I don't know Siobhan Vivian's works as well (I've only read one of her books) so I don't have much to compare this too. The List wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but I couldn't pass it up when she collaborated with Jenny Han.
I loved the concept of this book. Revenge is a really entertaining topic to build a book around, so I wasn't expecting this book to be that deep. There were parts of it that tried to get pretty emotional, but it seemed out of place with the petty revenge.

I liked how each girl had their own story, but they all worked together. In Siobhan Vivian's The List, all of the girls' stories seemed disjointed, but they flowed together nicely in this book. The two or three paranormal aspects of the book seemed very strange though.

Mary's story was my favorite. Hers was the most real and I really felt sorry for her. Mary in general felt the most real. While the other girls were arguing over petty girl things, Mary had the most serious reason for revenge, which really might be a foreshadowing of how her revenge turns out.

Kat is getting revenge on her ex-best friend who just decided to drop her one day. I love sarcastic people, but Kat didn't really have a personality. She was just plain mean and I didn't find myself rooting for her like I was Mary and Lillia. Almost immediately after we meet her, she spits on someone. She just wasn't likable.

Lillia was okay. Her story was protecting her little sister, which I thought was a sweet story. But, she was getting revenge on one of her best friends and it seemed weird that she would just jump to conclusions about someone she trusts. I did like her story because everyone they're getting revenge on are in her circle of friends.

In some books, it's easy to tell that two authors wrote it because it feels a little disjointed. Burn for Burn is not one of those books. Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian's writing styles flow together seamlessly.

One of my biggest book pet peeves is an author's second book not living up to the first. (Does this even count as a pet peeve?) As much as I would like to, I just can't say that I felt this book lived up to the Summer Series.