Burn for Burn (Burn for Burn #1)

I love revenge stories. There’s just something so liberating about exacting your revenge upon someone who has wronged you – or so I’d imagine, considering I’ve never actually followed through with any of my elaborate schemes. Of course, even with the best laid plans, revenge is often messy and involves heavy consequences, which is a lesson that the girls learn the hard way.

At first glance, the three girls couldn’t be more different: Lillia is the pretty, popular cheerleader who seems to want for nothing; Kat is a strong, brash outcast with a rough home life; Mary is sweet, shy new girl with her fair share of secrets. As their desire for revenge brings them together, they slowly grow to care for one another and truly become a force to be reckoned with. The girls each have distinct voices and compelling stories, so you can’t help rooting for them even if you don’t support the idea of getting even. The supporting characters are just as fleshed out, blurring the line between “friend” and “foe” as the story progresses.

The revenge itself certainly can’t be described as “sweet.” It starts out as a series of pranks that are mostly innocent but quickly escalates as the reasons why each girl desires retribution come to light. The final revenge scheme is taken too far, causing everything to quickly spiral out of control.

Burn For Burn is primarily a contemporary novel, though small hints of paranormal activity crop up every once in a while. Towards the end, this paranormal aspect becomes more important (and more intriguing), culminating in a game-changing, cliffhanger ending. Although this twist was fairly unexpected, I loved it and can’t wait to see what it will mean for the girls and their schemes.

Overall, Burn For Burn is a dark, suspenseful tale of revenge and unexpected friendships. It’s an excellent start to a series, and I can’t wait to read the sequel!

I decided to switch things up a bit from my normal reading this month, and try Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian . I was expecting a typical teenage angst filled story full of revenge and back stabbing. What I ended up with was something slightly unexpected.

Yes, there was plenty of revenge seeking and back stabbing. There was also a fair amount of cheeky comments and sass. But the unexpected surprise hiding on these pages is the paranormal/supernatural element with one of the characters. Now, if you're one to avoid books that might lean toward the supernatural, do not fret. It is such a small detail in this book that you might even miss it.

One of the things I found the most interesting about this book was the characters. The three girls that tell their stories in alternating voice/chapters had very differing reasons for seeking revenge. I was worried it would be choppy with that many narrators, but I think the authors pulled it off well. They were able to make each girl's voice unique in the book. I also liked how the three girls (Lillia, Kat, and Mary) were so very different from one another. That really brought an interesting element to this group of revenge seekers.

For the most part this was a contemporary read. It takes place in a high school with typical and expected high school drama. There are some underlying subplots that are important, but don't take center stage in Burn for Burn. I expect they will get more face time in the next book, Fire with Fire.

So, overall, if you want a quick read that appeases your inner scorned teenage self, you'll probably enjoy this one.

Boys are just familiar with it. Girls know it. And that's why they do it better. Three girls, three stories, three revenge plans. One goal. Make the people who tortured and hurt them pay.
Lilia is overprotected as far as her sister is concerned and she won't let anybody hurt her.
Lilia is treated like a princess. She has money, popularity and friends. Anybody could think she has it all. But that's far from the truth. She wants a guy who is kind and cares about her. Thing is, she has him. But they are just friends and he will be the target of her revenge as well, because as cute as she seems, she can also be tough and sly.
Kat used to have friends and a best friend. Now she has herself and maybe a friend who happens to be a) a boy and b)one of her ex-best friend's closest friends. Tricky, right? But her revenge centers around a girl and in particular her ex best friend. She stayed in the shadows for too long, but now it's her time to shine. Because everybody deserves to have their moment.
And in the end we have Mary. A girl who had such a traumatic experience that she decided to leave her school and her old life behind and move forward. But in order to do so, she must face her demons or maybe one demon in particular. And he's a quite easy demon to find. The only thing she has to do is enroll in high school and just her luck; he's one of the first people to see. And the one who will pay for what he's done. Moreover Mary, apart from being a heart-broken and traumatized girl, she may have a secret talent she isn't even aware of. That's what the course of events leads us to believe throughout the book.

From the above, we can reach to the conclusion that these girls don't have anything that connects them. The truth is they have. They all live in the same island, go to the same school and pretty much know the same people.So when circumstances bring these three girls together, it's payback time. But not everything goes according to plan and people end up getting hurt.

Burn for burn, the first book in the Burn for Burn series is not a story of forgiveness. Who cares about forgiveness when revenge is so much more fun?

Wow. This is a pretty intense read. I mean...when I got done with the book, I sort of stared at it for a little while, digesting what I had just finished. The ending of this book is a head-rush of drama, action, mystery and terror; questions are answered but more are raised. While I think this particular book could have been wrapped up if it had just been a little longer, it seems like there are going to be more, turning it into a series. I don’t know if I’ll read them or not.

While 'Burn for Burn' held my attention thanks to the engaging writing style of the authors, I wasn’t exactly in love with the story. I don’t think revenge is ever a good way to handle being hurt by others, since it usually brings you down to their level or even lower. I was glad to see that the characters seeking revenge sometimes felt guilty or the acts of revenge didn’t go entirely as they had planned. It helped make the story realistic, and it showed that revenge might not actually be the best way to handle horrible things that happen to you.

Out of the three main girls, I think Kat is probably my favorite. She’s very rough around the edges, but she has a soft side too, even though she doesn't really acknowledge it. I didn’t really understand what was going on with Mary…I’m not going to say much about what happens so I can avoid spoilers, but there are certain events surrounding Mary that are strange and paranormal-ish. I really wish the authors had gone into more detail or explanation about the things that occur around Mary; it was just a little frustrating to not be given many hints. But since there are probably going to be more books in the series judging by the ending, I’m guessing we’ll hear more about that later.

The story has good pacing and the alternating POVs are handled expertly, but I didn't really connect with 'Burn for Burn'. I just couldn’t get into the idea of taking revenge to levels where real damage is done. However, some people may really enjoy this well-written tale of revenge, scheming and consequences.

Thank you to NetGalley.com and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for letting me read the ARC for this book.