Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
Hardcover, 368 pages
Expected publication: Sept. 18th, 2012 by Simon & Schuster
Source: Borrowed
BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY...
THEY GET EVEN.
Lillia has never had any problems dealing with boys who like her. Not until this summer, when one went too far. No way will she let the same thing happen to her little sister.
Kat is tired of the rumours, the insults, the cruel jokes. It all goes back to one person– her ex-best friend– and she's ready to make her pay.
Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she's not the same girl anymore. And she's ready to prove it to him.
Three very different girls who want the same thing: sweet, sweet revenge. And they won't stop until they each had a taste.
Burn for Burn is mostly about three girls who want revenge because they've been wronged in some way. But while it is those three narrating in alternate chapters, we also get to see so much of the others in their lives. The 'friends' they feel have wronged them and those that are close to them. And because of this we really get a well rounded look at them all. And every single one of them we can look at and say how much we dislike them. But at other times, we see the vulnerable side of them, or the good side, and we see that maybe they aren't so bad... But that's what makes this so real, these characters are so relatable. Because we are able to connect with them in some way. I don't think any of them are people I would want to be friends with, but yet I don't really dislike them either...
The book has a bit of a slow start, the whole revenge thing doesn't even come into play until later. But it was okay because I was still interested in things. We got a good idea of everything that was going on and got to know all the characters before the crap went down.
While this was a book that really held my attention and I enjoyed every minute of it, there are a few bones I need to pick. First of all, that abrupt ending was not cool. I think we needed another chapter or two for more answers. Now it's possible my ARC was missing pages, so feel free to let me know if that's the case. But there's a few things I still needed to know. And there's something that happens to Lillia in the beginning and I don't feel like it was explored enough. We finally found out what happened, but it would have been nice if she'd at least got it off her chest or something. But no, it was just dropped and not brought up again. I also would have liked to know where the romances went as well.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book and I think it's important that teens read books like this. So they can see that the things they say and do really affect people. And that while bullying hurts, revenge can easily go too far.
This qualifies for the YA Contemporary Challenge 2012.
