Series: Burn for Burn #1Released: September 18th 2012
Purblisher: Simon & Schuster
Purchase: Amazon
Synopsis via Goodreads:
BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY...
THEY GET EVEN.
Lillia has never had any problems dealing with boys who like her. Not until this summer, when one went too far. No way will she let the same thing happen to her little sister.
Kat is tired of the rumours, the insults, the cruel jokes. It all goes back to one person– her ex-best friend– and she's ready to make her pay.
Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she's not the same girl anymore. And she's ready to prove it to him.
Three very different girls who want the same thing: sweet, sweet revenge. And they won't stop until they each had a taste.
*Received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.
Teen drama, complicated friendships, emotional issues, and unsorted romance. To top it all, a bittersweet tale of revenge. Burn for Burn entertains from start to finish (or should I say to be concluded). It will truly be difficult for you to put it down once you've started reading. I know because I finished the book in one sitting. No lie. All 358 pages flew by swiftly without overwhelming me.
I had not read the synopsis before going into this one because as always, I wanted to be open minded and not have too much expectations. What I liked right off was how as the story began I dived into the minds of these three girls that had different, but at the same time not so far off, personalities. Mary was obviously more deeply troubled than the other two, in my opinion, while it seemed Lillia held back her honest opinion too much to consider the feelings of others, and Kat just did not give a damn. Of the three, the latter was more of the badass and seemed much more driven to carry out their plans without hesitation. At times, Kat actually scared me :)
In regards to each character portrayed, I loved Lillia more. She just won me over immediately from start. I liked her overprotective nature with her little sister, though at times it was a bit much. But looking back at what she had gone through that added to my understanding of her wanting to make sure her sister would be safe. I think Lillia made me invest myself more in the story because she seemed so together and all for peace on the surface. But internally, she was going through a lot. So, I was really looking forward to her depicting a different side. One that wasn't as goody-goody as others thought her to be. Lillia just as much as Kat and Mary wanted to get her so-called friends back for causing them pain. And I really want her relationship with Alex to develop after everything is resolved, even though that part will be difficult being that Kat is also hoping for something substantial with him as well. More drama.
When it came to Mary, I wanted badly to figure out what her deal was. I felt like I was seeing Kat and Lillia unravel more than she would and I was starting to get impatient with how out of the story she seemed at times. Thankfully as it progressed, I finally got to understand what happened to her and how seriously hurt she was on an emotional level. Like, I didn't understand why she would even want to surround herself with such a disgusting person like Reeve but then as Mary began to explain certain things I kind of understood where she was coming from. Not sure what was up with those unexpected moods that had me saying, "What the?" but it surely added to the unanswered questions of what to come in the second book.
Overall, I thought it was a great book. The story was well written and obviously kept me in tune since I just couldn't put it down all day. The only thing that tripped me was the ending, because it wasn't really an ending and not even enough to hold me off until reading the second. Fortunately, I received a copy of Fire with Fire so I won't have to wait too long. But I'm worried the sequel will leave me in limbo as did Burn for Burn, then I'll have to wait a year to find out how this all concludes and if the girls will have their worlds crumbling down on them. But I guess that's how interesting the story is and I'll stick with it to the end.
If you love YA high school with lots of drama and vengeful characters, or if you're a fan of the authors (though this is the first book I've read by both), then Burn for Burn is the book for you. I highly recommend.
