3.5*s. If you'd asked me at 50% what I was going to rate the book, I would have say 5 stars for sure. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there. 3.5*s. If you'd asked me at 50% what I was going to rate the book, I would have say 5 stars for sure. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there. It's a good sci-fi romance but, sadly, not great.
"Kiss me. That's an order."
On the spectrum between sci-fi novel and romance novel, I'd put this book pretty squarely in the middle. It's a far cry from the usual insta-love between humans and their green/blue alien counterparts, but the plot does revolve around the romantic storyline. It's slow-burn, (fr)enemies to lovers story with a secondary romantic plot Tasha's friend Eden and wanted rebel Jace. All four are give points of view, as are their adorable little pet furzels, Tank and Reilly.
"If you ever stopped arguing with me, I'd know there was something wrong."
I loved Tasha, with her pink joggers, No, No Bad Captain t-shirt, and sassy attitude. She's eminently capable but down-to-earth and loves a good time. Admiral Branden Kel-Paten wouldn't know a good time if it hit him in the face, mostly because Psy-Serv has programmed him that way. Nevertheless, he's a good man, a good leader, and surprisingly soft and vulnerable once you get passed the hard, grumpy exterior.
'Dear gods, he'd made her blush! And they were talking about hypothetical equations.'
Perhaps surprisingly, the furzels stole the show. They were beyond cute with their child-like telepathic communication and their determination to protect Mommy. Their rather convenient abilities had an element of deus ex machina about them, but they were so adorable I didn't care too much.
"Pet his head and tell him he did a good job." "What?" She mimicked a stroking motion wit her hand. "Pet him. Say, 'Good furzel.'"
The first half of the book was brilliant, with Tasha and Kel-Paten at loggerheads. Sadly, it was let down by the second half, as the author tried to get too clever with the plot and the world-building. The alternate dimensions confused me and the antagonists were rather one-dimensionally evil; all of it distracted from the primary storyline, the romance. A shame as I really thought I was on to a winner.
Would I recommend this? Maybe, if you're already a fan of sci-fi romances. I'd probably recommend Winter's Orbit first. I'm still going to give Linnea Sinclair another go, perhaps with Gabriel's Ghost. I think she's got potential and I really did love the start. ...more
2.5*s. I have seen a lot of people describe this book as sweet. This book is not sweet. The first half is depressing and the second half is so jam pac2.5*s. I have seen a lot of people describe this book as sweet. This book is not sweet. The first half is depressing and the second half is so jam packed with trite advice that it should be filed in the self-help section.
“The thing is … what we consider to be the most successful route for us to take, actually isn’t. Because too often our view of success is about some external bullshit idea of achievement – an Olympic medal, the ideal husband, a good salary. And we have all these metrics that we try and reach. When really success isn’t something you measure, and life isn’t a race you can win.”
Nora is thirty-five and unhappy. She's alone and directionless and regrets almost every decision she's ever made. When, one day, she decides to end it all, she finds herself between life and death in a library, its books filled with all the lives she could have lived. She can try any of them or all of them and when she finds the perfect life she can choose to stay. But is any life ever really perfect?
"Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”
This book was not subtle in its messaging - in fact, at times I felt I was being beaten over the head with it. Life is what you make of it. Regrets are pointless. There's no such thing as perfection. It's all about perspective. And on and on. Each new life - and we live hundreds with Nora - brings a new 'lesson'. None new, none particularly skilfully imparted. Needless to say, it didn't work for me (though I can see that some might enjoy a self-help book in story form). I'll be moving swiftly on....more
3.5*s. The first third of this book is a solid 5-star read. I LOVED it. The second two thirds of the book are 3 stars at best. It’s a shame because th3.5*s. The first third of this book is a solid 5-star read. I LOVED it. The second two thirds of the book are 3 stars at best. It’s a shame because the book had such potential, I just didn’t like the direction Ness took things and felt it got more juvenile with time.
In Washington State in 1957, Sarah Dewhurst meets Kazimir, a dragon newly hired by her father to help manage the farm. To Kazimir, the pay is incidental; instead, he hopes that his presence in the area will prevent a dangerous prophecy coming to pass. Whilst Sarah and Kazimir get to know each other, Malcolm is making his way south through Canada, fuelled by the same prophecy as Kazimir. Raised by the Matera Thea, the leader of a cult of dragon-worshippers called the Believers, Malcolm has been taught that certain actions must be taken to prevent the end of the world, and he’s determine to take those actions, no matter the personal cost.
“I’m just a girl.” “It is tragic how well you have been taught to say that with sadness, rather than triumph.”
One thing Ness does well is to create an inclusive story. Sarah is mixed race, her friend, Jason, is of Japanese heritage, whilst Malcolm is gay. All this in time when blacks are considered lesser citizens, post-war feelings towards the Japanese aren’t friendly, and you can be sent to jail for being gay. Most of this is background noise to the novel, discussed only at a superficial level. However, there are a few instances of true persecution, the perpetrator so deranged that I imagine he’d use any excuse to hurt others.
The protagonists were all nice enough but I didn’t love any of them. Sarah felt bland, with little unique to be said about her; Kazimir intrigued me but needed more attention; and Malcolm was strangely whiny for such a talented fighter. Meanwhile, the baddies felt one dimensional and offered no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
“What? You can’t just not have dragons. It’d be like not having pigs.”
My favourite part of the book was the initial world-building. I loved the idea that dragons were a normal part of every day life; that they’re sentient, sapient creatures with their own culture and a history of interacting with humankind. If the book had continued as it began, I would have been a happy girl. Unfortunately, the story as I initially imagined it ends about half way through the book and things get weird. We’re introduced to parallel worlds and it just didn’t work for me. I missed the dragons and couldn’t logically make it line up in my head.
In terms of the audiobook, I found Joniece Abbott-Pratt’s dulcet southern tonnes incredibly soothing. It reminded me of how Catherine talks in the film, Hidden Figures. I don’t know whether that’s her normal accent or if she just put it on for the story, but I enjoyed it immensely.
Overall, I liked Burn. I’m glad I read it but wouldn’t read it again. I would recommend it highly to those aged between 11 and 14 and more selectively to those who are older. It’s an easy read, reasonably cosy and quite creative. Ness' Chaos Walking will remain on my to-read list.
For recommendations on what to read next, visit my blog here....more
4.5*s. I LOVED this book. I admit, I was expecting to cringe at the teen drama, roll my eyes at the tropes and groan at the cookie-cutter characters, 4.5*s. I LOVED this book. I admit, I was expecting to cringe at the teen drama, roll my eyes at the tropes and groan at the cookie-cutter characters, but I couldn't have been more wrong. It's still very much a young adult novel, and certainly includes a lot of tropes, but it does so calculatedly and I thoroughly enjoyed both the writing and the concept.
Always famous but always fading, the way old movie stars were, carrying ghosts of their younger selves in their faces. It was a strange thing, to know with certainty that you had peaked.
As teens, Sloane, Matt, Esther, Albie and Ines were named Chosen Ones, prophecised to fight and kill the Dark One. Ten years ago, they did just that. Today, they continue to feel the effects of that fight and struggle to find a place for themselves in society. And then magical incidents begin to happen again and Sloane and her friends must consider that maybe they didn't kill the dark one after all.
“The line between a Chosen One and his opposite is hair-fine, so don’t get too cozy on one side of it.”
Obvious tropes include:
- The Chosen One/Chosen Many - The Dark Lord - A Prophecy - A Pseudo-Orphaned Hero - A Fellowship of Friends - The Reluctant Hero - The Mentor - The Powerful Artefact - The Waiting Evil
There are so many, and they are such a fundamental part of the story, that it wouldn't surprise me if Roth looked up a list and intentionally decided to write a book around them. Her characters certainly reference them explicitly and mock them ruthlessly.
“Are you saying I’m … ‘the One’?” With finger quotes around the phrase “the One.”
“Did you go for a wand?” Ines said. “Or, like, an orb? Or is it a giant hammer? Please say it’s a giant hammer.” “No,” Sloane said. “Yeah, you’re right, it’s the government, so it’s probably a boring box,” Ines said.
That Roth, with such unimaginative source material, still manages to create a unique and compelling book is impressive.
I think the main reason that I liked the book so much was that it discussed the dark side of heroism. Like Ender in Ender's Game (my favourite book of all time), Sloane is globally celebrated for the worst thing that ever happened to her. She struggles to cope, to accept the accolades, knowing the hard choices she had to make and the small evils she had to commit to win. And the very shrewdness, the distrustfulness and the determination that allowed her to do all that, will not suddenly disappear now that the situation has passed. She cannot, she will not, smile for your cameras.
“I’m tired of being special,” Albie said with a shaky laugh. “I’m tired of being celebrated for the worst thing that ever happened to me.”
Another element that I really liked was the blending of magic and technology that we see later on in the book. When magic can fulfil most of your every day wants and needs, there is little need for computers and the internet and I enjoyed seeing how society changed as a result. That that magic was based upon a system of sound was ingenious - I've not come across another system like it.
“At home, people carry the internet around in their pockets,” Sloane said. “Everything you could ever want to know, in any language, is right there. That’s how I’m used to getting information.” “And you say you don’t have magic.” “It’s not magic,” Sloane said.
Character-wise, Sloane, the main character, was by far the most developed and distinctive; she was also my favourite. She wasn't perfect and she was all the more interesting because of it. Frustratingly, Albie and Ines, the two secondary characters that were shaping up to be the most interesting, were also those of which we saw least. Matt, the golden boy, and Esther, the social media queen, were rather cookie-cutter I'm afraid, though I actually quite liked Esther.
They all fit together in different ways, knew different pieces of each other best. Esther knew how to make Albie laugh, Ines could almost read his mind, and Matt knew how to get him to talk. But Sloane was the Albie expert on his bad days, and there was no way today wasn’t one of them.
I'd give the first 30% of this book a smashing five star. My enjoyed then slipped quite considerably when I realised that Roth was employing multiple realities. I've read a few of these recently (Burn, The Midnight Library) and none of them were great. As it happens, Roth actually did a rather good job of it and I forgave her the inclusion, bumping her back up to five stars. The last 5-10%, though, gets three stars, maybe even two. The Dark One's back story is NOT good. Ah well. Ultimately the book ends in an interesting place and I can forgive Roth her blips.
I thoroughly recommend this to all those of you who liked Ender's Game. If you liked Six of Crows, Steelheart, and maybe even The Eye of the World (assuming you like YA books too), I'd recommend this to you. It's a quick, easy read and doesn't shy away from the gritty emotions of life after heroism....more
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