Monday, August 26, 2013

Review: Fire with Fire (Burn for Burn #2) by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian

Fire with Fire (Burn for Burn, #2)Release date: August 13th 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis via Goodreads:

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’d 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’s meaner than she ever was before.

And then there’s sweet little Mary…she knows there’s something seriously wrong with her. If she can’t control her anger, she’s 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..


*A copy was provided by the publisher for an honest review.




After liking the plot laid out by the first book and biting my nails to continue the story in the second, I have to say Fire with Fire didn't blaze as interestingly as Burn for Burn did. In fact, the first half of the sequel was rather draggy, slowly picking up towards the end after drowning me with a massive amount of details that I felt a bit unnecessary at times. Also, even though I got to learn a tad bit about the creepiness surrounding Mary and her aunt (however puzzling it still was), and Kat starting to share about how she was dealing with the loss of her mother, Lillia still felt like the stronger character throughout the first book till now. 

There's just something about Lillia that's believable and relatable, especially after she landed in a position she never anticipated would happen when she was only doing it to help her friends. To be honest, I got to a point where all I wanted to read was Lillia's chapters because of how her feelings were starting to blossom. Not that Kat and Mary weren't interesting in their own way because all three had something going on, but once more Mary wasn't often in the story, still I feel like that hinted a lot to the significance of her overall presence and what she means to the lives of those connected to her. Kat on the other hand, is still this spunky, feisty, and sarcastic girl. She provided humor to crack tension around her and it was nice how she and Alex were starting to get friendly again. I would love for her to tone down the profanity a bit though and reveal more of her softer side.

So, what's up with Mary? Well, that side of the story from the first book leading up to the second still has me perplexed. By the time I got to the middle of Fire with Fire I was starting to wonder, when did that happen to her, how come no one knew, and why is she so annoying and still so caught up on that stupid boy. Some things were clearer, in particularly things her aunt would say. But then it all still seemed so puzzling and unrelating to the more contemporary driven story. Still, that's definitely something I'm longing to get more details about. I really wanted the authors to dive further into Mary's story and give us more of her character and the weird aspects of her life, but I guess they're holding off until the third and final book. 

Overall, it was a good read. The story is still intriguing, odd, dramatic, emotional, sweet and romantic at times, and definitely still keeping my interest. Aside from the overwhelming first half, I pushed to the end to find out how everything with Reeve and Rennie would turn out, and what happened to the latter really jerked me in those final chapters. Fire with Fire was a little faulty, but I really want to know what will happen to Lillia, Kat and Mary in the final book.




16 comments:

  1. This series is popular, but it just doesn't appeal to me. I guess if the second book isn't as good then I really don't need to go out and pick it up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope you give it a try someday though. It might be really good to you :)

      Delete
  2. I've heard such good things about this author and series. Sorry you didn't love it, Shane.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The story is good, the second book was just too draggy though, it didn't go as quick as the first.

      Thanks for stopping by Drea :)

      Delete
  3. Can you say middle book syndrome? Too bad about the first half, but glad you liked it enough to continue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yea, this definitely suffered the curse of the middle book :) but hopefully the final one won't be as draggy and more fast as the first.

      Delete
  4. awww too bad the sequel was a bit disappointing, i'd still like to read the first one though!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yea, you should. It's a interesting story, just doesn't need to be that many pages with unnecessary details.

      Delete
  5. I've been meaning to pick up this sequel ever since I read Burn for Burn! That's unfortunate that this book was a bit draggy in the beginning, as well as confusing. I agree, Lillia was the character that I connected more in book one. Hmm, there's still some unanswered questions about Mary? I'm curious now. Hopefully book three will wrap up the series nicely! Thanks for the honest review, Shane. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for stopping by. I'm really anticipating the third book and it sucks that we have to wait so long. But anyhoo, hope you read the second one soon :)

      Delete
  6. Awe, sometimes that middle book doesn't always live up. Hope the next one is great for you. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, it's a curse I tell you :)

      Thanks for stopping by Jenea.

      Delete
  7. I can't wait to start the first one and I think that I will like even if this isn't quite as good

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's how I feel too, the middle isn't always great but the final book always seem to end with a bang :)

      Delete
  8. Oh no! I thought they would stop with book two.

    ReplyDelete

Share your thoughts. I respect them. Leave a link to your blog and I'll stop by.

Related Posts