Burn For Burn by Siobhan Vivian and Jenny Han

Date Published: August 2013 (Reprint edition)
ISBN: 9781442440760

Review:

I got this as an advance for the reprint version, and it honestly took me awhile to pick it up. However, I've been in a contemporary kick and I needed a quick escape. This book has been beckoning from my shelf for eons, so I figured it was time.

And...OMG.

Seriously. Why did it take me so long to read this book? How did I not know this would be fabulous? The synopsis on the back cover is pretty meh, honestly, and I didn't think a book about high school revenge would be so utterly readable, but I'm gonna chalk one up to the superstar writers. This book totally hooked me. I read it in two sittings, right before bed and right after waking up (meals were eaten one-handedly, over the book).

I loved how readable and easy it was, but at the same time, this book covers some tough stuff. Rape, suicide, drugs, poverty, loss, privilege, and of course bullying are tackled with realistic and emotional characters at center stage. These girls are extraordinary, but at the same time, I had no problem putting myself in their places and wondering, would I have done the same? 

The characters make this book. Lillia, Mary, and Kat take turns narrating, and with every switch there was a little pang of "don't go!I want to know what happens to you!" mingled with "Ooo, who's next, I can't wait to find out what ___ thinks about ___!" The supporting characters are usually the love-to-hate type, with some just-love ones, especially Nadia, whose relationship with her sister Lillia is heartwarming, flawed, and a great addition to the book. I also want to take a minute to shout out the parents in this book, which are rare and endangered in the YA world. So, "Hi Parents!!! Good to see you! Please ground your children!"

I feel like I should mention at least one thing I didn't like, and that is probably the major unknown "THING" in Mary's story. I don't want to ruin too much, but the locker thing, and the exploding lights thing? What is going on there? Is this a contemporary or a paranormal? I keep thinking Mary might be more damaged than we realized.

I can't recommend Burn for Burn enough. This was just astounding, and I can't get my hands on Fire with Fire soon enough.

Rainbow Eucalyptus Tree: 5/5!

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (Audiobook Review)

Description from Goodreads:

Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.

ISBN: 9780316213103
Release date: September 3, 2013

Now the review!

I admit, I tried to quit this book. It was available on audio at the library, I needed a new audio, and I picked it up without knowing much about it. This was my first Holly Black novel as well, as none of her other works really ever caught my eye. So, I downloaded it, started it up, and actually enjoyed the beginning quite a bit: the house full of corpses, the suspense, the idea of glamorous Coldtowns. However, and maybe it was because I was haphazardly listening, I found myself lost rather quickly and quite confused, as if I had missed something that Tana hadn't. 

So after a few chapters of meh, I quit.

Then, a few weeks later, I noticed a 5-star review by my BFF and book soulmate, and knew I had to try it again. I picked up the hard copy to refresh my memory of the first few chapters, and dove back into the audiobook.

It was much better the second time, but maybe because I had my friend's voice in my head the whole time: do it! it was amazing! and because I had taken the time to remind myself what had happened. Honestly, I'm not sure why I didn't catch on the first time, but it may have been something to do with the audio narrator's voice, which was pretty grim-sounding, and a little boring, although I hate to admit it. Aidan sounded way less annoying on paper, as well.

However, I gave the audiobook another try, and it worked out much better. The world is so similar to our own, like a parallel timeline where Instagram and Tumblr exist, but so do murderous vampires. I LOVED that. It made me think about what my life would be like, what I would choose, and how the world would be different if monsters were real.

I was wary of another vampire/mortal romance, and while the story totally goes there, it was developed and slow enough to make sense. I liked Gavriel.

Tana, on the other hand, did not shine through as a genre-shaking heroine like I'd hoped. I feel like we are left guessing about what kind of person she is, besides utterly reckless. Valentina, Jameson, and other supporting characters are basically gray, blobby blips on Tana's radar that sometimes help and sometimes get in her way. The entire world of characters could have died, and Tana would have climbed over them to find Pearl. I understand, but still, I felt  the loss of connection to anyone besides Gavriel was a major down side of the book. She even leaves Aidan behind--admittedly for her own safety--with only a few regretful thoughts here and there which are drowned out by new boss fights in which Tana loses yet another dress.

That, I was annoyed by. I mean, a girl needs friends. So I was relieved by Pauline's off-stage character, a little. I wish she would have been in there, it could have been fun!

What I did like about Tana was her fearlessness. Or rather, her ability to ignore fear and go plunging toward doom with a crossbow. She gets some serious vampire slaying on. The fights, the danger, and the inner workings of the Coldtown were interesting to read about. 

I also appreciated the flashbacks to Gavriel's past, which added a spicy layer to the vampire story casserole. The pieces of the puzzle were gradually laid out and only put together at the end. The end reveal was kind of abrupt, and I don't really know how Tana figured it out, but whatever. By that point I had to assume she was 100x smarter than I. 

The action was constant, if confusing and bloody. I was definitely interested at all times, which is a major plus. The suspense is intense, especially when the audio accompanies tense moments with creepy music, and I am alone at night walking to school, for instance. 

In summary, I enjoyed TCGiCT the second time, and I'm glad I gave it another chance. It wasn't my favorite vamp YA (Vampire Academy will forever hold that torch, perhaps), but it was a great take on the myths. The parallel world was eerily similar to ours, and the romance is well-developed, making for a beautiful, bloody read.     

Rating:







Banyan tree (4/5)

H2O (aka The Rain) by Virginia Bergin

• Description from Amazon:

They don't believe it at first. Crowded in Zak's kitchen, Ruby and the rest of the partygoers laugh at Zak's parents' frenzied push to get them all inside as it starts to drizzle. But then the radio comes on with the warning, "It's in the rain! It's fatal, it's contagious, and there's no cure."

Two weeks later, Ruby is alone. Anyone who's been touched by rain or washed their hands with tap water is dead. The only drinkable water is quickly running out. Ruby's only chance for survival is a treacherous hike across the country to find her father-if he's even still alive.

ISBN: 978-1492606543

Release Date: October 7, 2014

And now the review!

This book is a re-release of a novel previously published in the UK as The Rain. It was pretty obvious from the get-go that the book was written in the UK, and I actually enjoyed reading the book with an accent in my mind the whole time. Some of the little phrases Ruby uses were fun to read as an American obsessed with BBC and Masterpiece Classics. 

As it's a novel narrated by an only-just-turned-fifteen year-old British girl, the style was actually pretty nerve-grating at first. In fact, for the first 50 pages or so, I could hardly read the book for all the eye-rolling I was forced to perform, and I seriously considered quitting. For instance, there are A LOT of exclamation marks. And A LOT of ALL CAPS. Lots of "totally" and "ugh" and "huh?!" that really pushed me toward putting the book down and walking away. However, I was intrigued by the premise and I knew it would probably be a quick read.

Actually, I read pages 60-the end in a single day. I was determined to finish! And by halfway through, I was enjoying the book. I learned to take Ruby for what she was, a scared girl who was actually doing pretty well at the whole survival thing. She coped amazingly, considering. I probably would have kicked it immediately without showers, electricity, or Pinterest...Ruby is relatable (who WOULDN'T raid the fancy boutiques first?), and I can't say I was never frustrated with her (Ruby, look at the sky BEFORE you go running out into the wild?!) but her actions were probably some of the most realistic and, often, the smartest, I have read in a YA dystopian. 

There is no immediate and forced love-interest (serious cool points!). I appreciated her character development as she tried to survive alone, without any romantic tension or kissing scenes to distract us from Ruby's sheer power of will. She eventually takes on travelling companions, including a slew of animals, a teenage boy, and a silent little girl. I loved how they added to Ruby's character strength and helped along her development, rather than distracting from it. Darius and Princess were also three-dimensional--I grew to care about both of them just as much as Ruby.

The plot is constant and quick, and kept me reading all day long. It is an easy book to power through, especially as the prose is witty but easy to read. The constant action and the world-building are perhaps the novel's strongest points. The way the world went crazy, the infected water, and all of the simple ways to die, make for a world that is similar to other dystopia, but holds its own in the flooded YA market.

So, if they can make it through the first 50 pages, and the narrator's style doesn't send them running for the hills right off, I think YA fans will be welcoming this hilarious and realistic dystopia with love and a grain of salt.

Overall rating:

Banyan Tree
(4/5)