Book Review: Fire With Fire (Burn For Burn Book #2) by Jenny Han

“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. a burn for a burn. a life for a life. that's how all this got started. and that's how it's going to end.”

― Jenny Han, Fire with Fire

The second book in Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian's Burn For Burn Trilogy is titled Fire With Fire. The second volume was published on August 13, 2013. Immediately after the previous book's conclusion, this one begins.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

When sweet revenge turns sour...

Lillia, Kat, and Mary had the perfect plan. Work together in secret to take down the people who wronged them. But things didn't exactly go the way they had hoped at the Homecoming Dance.

Not even close.

For now, it looks like they got away with it. All they have to do is move on and pick up the pieces, forget there ever was a pact. But it's not easy, not when Reeve is still a total jerk and Rennie is meaner than she ever was before. And then there's sweet little Mary. She knows there is something seriously wrong with her. If she can't control her anger, she is sure that someone will get hurt even worse than Reeve was. Mary understands now that it's not just that Reeve bullied her, it's that he made her love him.

Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, burn for a burn. A broken heart for a broken heart. The girls are up to the task. They'll make Reeve fall in love with Lillia and then they will crush him. It's the only way he'll learn.

It seems once a fire is lit, the only thing you can do is let it burn.

My reaction to this novel...

A fantastic continuation of the previous book in the series, Fire with Fire gave me the impression that reading it was similar to watching a chick-lit, unpredictability, and spooky film. Jenny Han is a fantastic author; her novels made me laugh out loud and sensational all over. You won't be able to put her books down most of the time, and I believe this book series to be equally adorable as the rest of her works. I stayed up late reading it because of its crazy narrative, which left me wanting to know more. Similar to Burn for Burn's opening, the majority of this book's opening has a present-day vibe, but the novel's intensity truly increases toward the finish. 

The characters undergo a couple brilliantly handled character shifts. The primary three protagonists provide a new point of view to reveal an alternative viewpoint on their circle of friends, similar to the first novel. It was enjoyable to read how the main characters was behaving a little more responsibly and reacting to events both that had already occurred and those that are still occurring. Although the overall pace was considerably improved, there were still a couple passages that felt very slow.

The conclusion also caught me off guard since I had no idea who Mary truly was; all I knew about her was that she was secretive, but I didn't anticipate that she would be that exceptional. It's amazing how my thoughts turned into several of the YA science fiction/thriller novels that I've read in the past. I actually imagined that she might have extraordinary abilities as a result of her skill. Thankfully, the writers' interpretation of the narrative differs from me and my supposition is incorrect.

Additionally, I can add that I found the finale to be exhilarating, intriguing, and all the other adjectives that describe a great and sudden end. It was like riding a crazy roller coaster. In spite of the fact that not all turns out well in this novel, the manner in which the female characters interact offers us personal objectives, and the conclusion raises the possibility of how it may end in disaster. I'm not sure what to make of it, but I know I'll read the subsequent book without a doubt. The authors gave off a frightening whiff of spooky and otherworldly aspects, which I don't really want, but because they make it seem so plausible, I believe they are capable of carrying it out. This book will without a doubt be recommended to other book lovers.

My Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐(4/5)

“It’s all about attitude. You act like you’re the shit and guys are so dumb they’ll totally believe it.”

There are times when someone in our life acts as if they have a lot of issues or loads that they can't bear so that we would pay attention to or feel compassion for them. Other times, people exaggerate their issues so that we will give them priority when they are in need. We trusted them because we thought they wouldn't lie to us and we assumed that they felt the same way about us as we did about them.

Where to buy this book...