Review: Burn for Burn

Today, I’m reviewing/recommending Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.

Here’s the Goodreads summary because if I were to write my own, I feel like I would spoil something, and I really don’t want to do that. (Unless you specifically ask me to spoil something for you. I have no qualms about that as you guys saw from my last blog post)

Summary: (from the goodreads page) 

Postcard-perfect Jar Island is the kind of place where nobody locks their doors at night, where parents can sleep easy, knowing their daughters are tucked away safe and sound in their beds. But bad things can happen, even to good girls . . . and sometimes, the only way to make things right is to do something wrong. 

Lillia used to trust boys, but not anymore. Not after what happened this summer. And she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her little sister from the same fate. 

Kat is over the rumors, the insults, the cruel jokes made at her expense. It all goes back to one person--her ex-best friend. Someone needs to teach her a lesson, and, with Lillia and Mary behind her, Kat feels up to the task.

Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she’s not the same girl anymore. Now that she’s got friends who have her back, he's going to be in big trouble.

Three very different girls who come together to make things right. Will they go too far?

Rating: 4/5 stars. 

Thoughts: 

Let me just start off by saying, that I finished this book in one sitting. Yep, I started at 10 o’clock at night and finished at about 1:45 in the morning. I initially picked up the book because I could tell I was going into a small book slump induced by the massive amounts of fantasy/sci-fi I was reading. Therefore, I wanted a little “slice of life” as my brother calls it. It’s just the way I read books: a "real-life" book thrown into the mix to keep my interest in reading piqued. Even though Burn for Burn isn't completely void of fantasy or magic. 

Either way, I was introduced to Burn for Burn after following Jenny Han on twitter. Burn for Burn actually caught my interest because the premise sounded similar to Revenge (a TV show) and I’m a huge fan of that show. And boy, it didn’t not disappoint. 

It was everything I wanted it to be. It has the perfect amount of revenge so I wasn’t bored and the revenge was the perfect amount of pettiness in combination with things that could actually get them in trouble (like serious trouble). It has amazing characters with rather valid grudges. Also, it definitely helped that one of the three main girls, Lillia, is a Korean American girl (like me!). It’s not something I see a lot in YA books and I really enjoyed it. Furthermore, the pacing was great; pacing is one of those things that make or break a book for me. A lot of books move a little too quickly for me and when it isn’t done right, I feel like I’m just panting for breath after a run. Burn for Burn wasn’t like that. It wasn’t too fast and it wasn’t too slow. It was just right. 

My only complaint was that some of the secondary character’s motivations and behavior felt a little off/fake. I think that will fade as the series goes on. Its a lot to juggle—three main characters and a whole boat of secondary characters. I’m excited to see more of the three main girls and all of the other characters in the second book. 

Last thing, the cliffhanger is practically a siren’s call to read the second book. So, if you’re going to read Burn for Burn, I suggest having the second one as close as possible. I completely regret not checking out Fire with Fire, but have no fear, I’ll be reading it soon! 

For those of you that have read Burn for Burn, what did you guys think? Any other books by Jenny Han or Siobhan Vivian that you would recommend? Any other books like Burn for Burn or Revenge I should pick up?