Book Review: Burn For Burn (Burn For Burn Book #1) by Jenny Han

“It took a long time for me to get better, but I did. I got better. But suddenly it's like the last four years never happened, and I'm feeling all the same terrible feelings about myself that I did back then.”

― Jenny Han, Burn for Burn

In this first installment of a trilogy by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian, authors of the New York Times bestselling books The List and To All the Boys I've Loved Before, revenge is beautiful.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Postcard-perfect Jar Island is home to charming tourist shops, pristine beaches, amazing oceanfront homes—and three girls secretly plotting revenge.

KAT is sick and tired of being bullied by her former best friend.

LILLIA has always looked out for her little sister, so when she discovers that one of her guy friends has been secretly hooking up with her, she’s going to put a stop to it.

MARY is perpetually haunted by a traumatic event from years past, and the boy who’s responsible has yet to get what’s coming to him.

None of the girls can act on their revenge fantasies alone without being suspected. But together…anything is possible.

With an alliance in place, there will be no more “I wish I’d said…” or “If I could go back and do things differently…” These girls will show Jar Island that revenge is a dish best enjoyed together.

My reaction to this novel...

Burn for Burn was a fantastic novel to read. It’s chock-full of logical secondary school dramatizations sprinkled with strange adventures that drew me in after only a few pages. I felt the constant feeling that I needed to recognize what had happened right away. If you think Burn for Burn will be a popular contemporary YA, believe me when I tell you won’t know what to expect until the very end.

Lillia, Mary, and Kat are my favorite characters. Every one of them, in my opinion, is extremely advanced. Furthermore, their relationship was something I treasured the most. They are, for the most part, diametrically opposed, yet they have one goal: vengeance. Han and Vivian created interesting personalities all around. Each character has their own personality, which is especially important given that the plot alternates between three first-person views. Many of the personalities seemed to emerge from nowhere.

I just noticed that this book covers some serious issues. I wasn’t surprised by this, but it’s definitely a novel for older kids. I genuinely feel that the concerns addressed by Han and Vivian in the storyline are critical for teens to be aware of, regardless of whether they know someone who has dealt with or is coping with them. I’m glad that two authors noticed and mentioned them in this book. Except for this, everything else was great! I thoroughly like the pacing of the story because it was neither too slow nor too fast. The writing was easy to read and had a distinct stream to it. It also made for a very quick read. Even if it’s still remarkable, I felt like I read it in such a little amount of time. Furthermore, we must not overlook the outstanding plot. To a large extent, I enjoyed the demonstrations of revenge. Some were more platitude than others, but the execution was superb, invigorating, and made me feel as if I were reading and watching it all at the same time.

I will definitely like to recommend this novel to those book lovers out there.

My Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐(4/5)

Where to buy this book...