Burn for Burn (Burn for Burn #1)

‘Burn for Burn’ turned out to be a very quick read. Though, it took me one third of the book to really get into the story. There are a lot of characters and it was difficult to keep them straight in my head. I almost started scribbling notes. Almost. I got a strong juvenile tone from the narrative and found myself missing the sophistication from other Jenny Han novels. There is a somewhat distinct voice between the alternations in points of view (between our three protagonists, Kat, Lillia and Mary) – but it did add to my confusion and it wasn\’t until halfway through the book that I fell into the rhythm of the narrative. I\’m not a big fan of multiple perspectives, and though the individual flashbacks and perspectives helped the plot along, it was a little disorientating – especially with such short chapters. Lillia had strong echoes of Laura Jean – the Asian heritage, the rich, prissy façade, and the bratty little sister. It was a little difficult not to compare these two characters. Mary and Kat were not too discernible from each other, if it weren\’t for their names as chapter titles, or constant reference to a slutty past, or life as a fat girl, I wouldn\’t know who was talking… there is the hint of a paranormal element which I found intriguing – though the final scene felt cliché – like a nod to Stephen King\’s ‘Carrie.’ There was a lot of teen drinking in this – way too much for me to be comfortable with. No way I, or any of my classmates, consumed this amount of alcohol in high school. Also, I\’m picking up a date rape story line that was briefly mentioned and then forgotten about entirely. That had my jaw dropping open. Then angry. Then frustration at the stupidity of the young girls. And why was this event left by the wayside – it’s not like it’s not important or anything. I will say the actual plot and story arcs of the tree main characters were very interesting. I was totally captivated with the little twists and turns – though the book ended abruptly as soon as things got interesting, and I was wondering where the pay-off was. I didn\’t get any resolution, so if you’re going to read this make sure you have the sequel on hand. It was a fun read, I laughed out loud in several parts, and there is an element of physical comedy that I found delightful. But the bitchy girl element feels very “primary school.” This series is like a mash up of ‘First Wives Club’ and ‘Mean Girls.’ Though I found the writing style a tad droll and immature, ‘Burn for Burn’ was still entertaining. It ended on a high (literally) and a cliff hanger, and I definitely want to check out the second book in the series ‘Fire with Fire.’ Now that I\’m familiar with all the characters and many elements have been introduced into the storyline, ‘Fire with Fire’ has been set up for some juicy happenings – let\’s hope these girls deliver. Pretty cool, I’d give it a thumbs up and happily recommend this to lovers of YA, skewing towards the younger end of the spectrum.

What I loved the most about Burn for Burn was the fact that it didn’t shy away from real, honest to god revenge. Revenge for these girls isn’t just spreading a rumor or flattening the tires of a car, in this book, revenge is a cruel and evil knife. Mary, Kat, and Lillia have all been wronged in way or another. Kat, bothered with this, decides to take a stand, and recruits Lillia, the queen bee, and Mary, the invisible girl to help get back at those who have wronged them. I really enjoyed reading this book in 3 POVs. Each girl has a distinct personally and you could always know who was narrating. Out of the 3 POVs, my favorite one has to be Lillia, just because I really understood her motivations about participating in the revenge scheme, and overall she was such a nice character. While Mary & Kat went all out with their revenge, you could sometimes feel Lillia thinking about what the consequences of her acts were. I could somehow relate to her even more because of this. The writing in this book is also so fluid. Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian write so well together. You never know when one writer stops and the other begins. It was wonderful. I will not deny that this book has its faults. My goodness this book was so painfully teenage that it sometimes made me cringe. Hook-ups, bullying, alcohol, drugs, football games, cheerleaders, etc etc. This book is a medley of teenage dramas and clichés. But you can’t help but be absorbed in all this teenage angst! He drawls, “Rennie, honey?” “Yes, Reevie baby?” Rennie flips her hair around. “You know you’re my wifey, right?” Eww. “Of course.” “And a wifey has to make sure her man is taken care of,” he continues. The worst (and best part) of this book has definitely got to be the ending. The ending is literally where everything comes crashing down (for better or worse) and where there will be the most horrifying cliffhanger to ever happen. It comes out of the blue and you have no idea it’s coming until it’s already there. It’ll leave you dazed and confused and desperately wanting to read the next book ASAP. Overall, a well-crafted book about revenge. It\’s very absorbing and you\’ll want to read the next one as soon as you finish!

i liked how jenny ham changed her style in writing a bit with this book… this book was a bit slow in the beginning but if u give i like 5 min it gets really good… okay my only problem was i wws very confused with the characters it took me til page 138 to figure our who mary was in the book cover and i was always very confused.… but otherwise the content and beautifully and emotionally written words were very powerful and heart touchibg making me realize what type of people are really out there as in bullies making fat kids feel bad about themselves… im a 12 year old girl and heah i struggle with fjnding appropriate content for my age, but i will say that readers should be a bit older fkr this book like 12-17 id say because !!!!!!SPOILERS!!!!!!!! dont read on people if u havent read this yet… anyways there was slipping drugs ijve never heard of in peoples drinks, which could cause bad influence on kids, there is a lot of alchohal involved, which kids shouldnt read about because it couod iinfluence them to do it in hs, and lastly there was a bunch of smoking weed and stuff on some of the characters parts, with of course bit of tramatizing actions like hangiing ur self… abways it was a great book but i would suggest as a kid that u should be waiting till ur at least eleven or twelve to read this series… but si far i love this series so much! i fel aslepp last night at 150 am finishing this book! it was magnificent! ps srry for the bad spelling the kindle sometimes messes up with typing

I wanted this book from the minute I first saw the gorgeous cover and read the synopsis and thankfully it didn\’t disappoint, it lived up to my expectations and more. What I loved about the book was how the girls ended up plotting revenge together, all the characters, main and side weave together and you don\’t even realise who is truly bad or simply misunderstood, I flew through this book in a weekend as I couldn\’t wait to see what happened next. All 3 girls are likeable and I found myself angry at the things that had happened to them and was almost cheering them on with their revenge missions. Of course the things they did were pretty dramatic to say the least and the repercussions will be felt in the following 2 books. There was such a cliffhanger to the book I can\’t wait to get my hands on the next one and also a little paranormal twist which is interesting to see how that pans out.

So obviously this is for a younger reader but I did enjoy this. I presume there is at least a second part as I feel that I was left hanging. There was not an ending. The story just suddenly stopped.

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