By: Rosemary
Cover Story: Montell Jordan
BFF Charm: Let Me Love You
Swoonworthy Scale:
Talky Talk: California Noir
Bonus Factor: The Californians
Relationship Status: Hot and Heavy
Read the full book report sitelinkhere.
Честно говоря, от книги я многого не ждала. Но оказалось все довольно интересно и необычно. Оригинальное повествование, необычный сюжет и непростые загадки.
Не припомню, чтобы читала нечто подобное. Мне, в целом, понравилось, не жаль времени.
Чемто напомнило Меняя лица и Мы были лжецами. Конечно, этой книге далеко до таких гигантов, но чтото общее всетаки есть.
,/Apparently I forgot to review this book after I read it, . . I blame baby brain! This is such a captivating debut, I couldn't stop turning pages because I absolutely had to know what happened, The external conflict a raging fire, leaving people with no choice but to depart their homes mirrors Audrey's internal turmoil as she grapples with her complicated relationship with the boy she loves.
Not to mention, the complicated relationship she has with herself, A totally intense and electric book, I am a Heather Ezell fangirl for life! Couldn't put this one down, This book is dark and compelling and chilling, lingering yet compleeeeeeetely intense, with the most beautiful proseif any/all of this sounds like your thing, please put this book on your TBR and/or preorder it! Also, I highly recommend going in blind to this oneI read the Kirkus review after reading the book, and while it's a good review, it's somewhat spoilery! Book Received in Exchange for Honest Opinion/
This book had the potential for greatness with a sizzling, unique plot, but the writing is so confusing.
I honestly spent the firstof the book wondering what the heck was going on, I didn't know who characters were, I didn't know how they were related and connected, nor did I know who was dating who, But wait, there is more, The confusion doesn't stop there as the chapters which are sometimes only a page long, alternate between hours of one day and the time line of the past week.
I felt like I needed to take notes on how everything was interconnected and how the plot was playing out so I could piece this puzzle together.
The plot concept itself was unique and refreshing, a romance, a wildfire, betrayal, and secrets, Something that I haven't come across in young adult literature, but it wasn't an easy read, I felt so much pity for Audrey it was beginning to hurt, I mean she had no identity, She was into ballet, and then she was into Brooks and that is what has defined the lastyears of her life, which is sad.
She lacks passion and personality, She was fickle, indecisive, and desperate for acceptance,
Brooks, well he was about ten levels of crazy but I couldn't walk away from this train wreck of a book, I had to see it through, The ending it wasn't even an ending, it was one of those I am going to leave you wondering how things really played out type of endings.
Which if you read any of my reviews where books end like this, . . I HATE IT! I was reading this book with the hope of closure and there was absolutely none, One word to describe this book would be frustrating, Audrey evacuates her Orange County home as a wildfire nears her home, Over the course of twentyfour hours, she goes back through her relationship with her firefighter boyfriend, Brooks, and everything that has gotten her to this hill, waiting for her home to burn.
All fires start small.
This is a gorgeously written book and I flew through it, Actually, flew through it in one sitting, I was so invested in both the characters and the story of this novel that I genuinely struggled to put it down,
The discomfort of Audreys relationship with Brooks serves as a major focal point of this book, The way this is played is really interesting at first, he actually doesnt come off as all that bad, His desire to not be around her friends at first feels almost excusable after all, hes been through trauma, is cripplingly shy, etc, Its only as the red flags start piling up that he
becomes someone else, Its this nuance that I enjoyed so much about the book, It would have been so easy to make Brooke caricaturally awful, and I loved that the book always strayed away from this.
Audrey is not always particularly likeable, but I got her, To her as a younger person, her older boyfriends interest in her is validation, exactly what she wants, And as the relationship is so attimes normal, its hard for her to identify what is happening, It is a first relationship, and though Audrey is not stupid, she doesn't see the signs, Or she ignores them. As girls, we're often taught a very romantic image of 'saving' our heroic, traumatized boyfriends, And when we read these stories, we internalize that message for ourselves, So when a heroic, traumatized boy comes along for us to love, who are we to ask for more, to put up boundaries, to ask for what we need
The fire, by the way, is the most claustrophobic a symbol has ever made me feel.
I also liked that Audrey had a support system: her best friend, Grace, and Graces girlfriend, Quinn, are both really wonderful, I especially appreciated their attempts to get her away, and seeing those attempts fail I think weve all seen friends go down that road for relationships, and felt concerned as we saw the fallout.
I liked the little spots of brightness,
This was a really excellent book, a great bingeread, and an author I will absolutely be following from now on,
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Taking place overintense hours, Heather Ezell's debut, Nothing Left to Burn tells the story of sixteenyearold Audrey who is navigating her tumultuous and allconsuming relationship while also juggling her family's evacuation from the path of a deadly wildfire sweeping through Orange County, California.
Audrey not only wrestles with the possibility of losing her family home, but also with the secrets from her boyfriend's past coming to light and the danger lurking behind her feelings and the fire in the distance.
THIS WAS SO AMAZING EVERYONE PLEASE READ,
I totally was not expecting to like this so muchhonestly, I assumed it was like a lot of other contemporaries until I read the word "wildfire" and caved into requesting it on First to Read.
Because wildfires are exciting! I mean, boo, wildfires,
It justit all came together really nicely and it also built up really well and I could see the symbolism and parallels within the novel while it was also a very entertaining read.
I had to physically stop myself from bingeing it all inhours, cutting myself off because it was already midnight and I had to wake up atam.
But you better bet your whole bookshelf that one of the first things I did that morning was keep reading,
Not only was it very enjoyable to read and I was definitely entertained by the plot and pacing and just intensity of the story, but I could see how Ezell worked the novel to slowly reveal tidbits while simultaneously growing Audrey's character I did forget her name, but semantics.
At first you think it's just a wildfire and just a boyfriend, but it grows into so much more, The boyfriend has a past, The boyfriend has a dark past, The boyfriend is obsessed with fire,
Seriously, this book was on fire not only with the recurring theme of burning/fire/flames/ashes, but also just the parallels in it and how it grew more thrilling as you read on.
It's told from Audrey's POV, but it cycles in between what's happening now and things from the past like when she first met her boyfriend Brooks.
Sometimes when there's multiple POVs or there's multiple times, I get confused at what I'm reading because I don't pay too much attention to the title Thursday and:AM are just words to me.
But I was able to easily distinguish what point in time the story was from, and I think that's one of this story's biggest wins in helping the reader distinguish between what's happening when without the need for chapter titles.
Whether it was because of how Ezell structured the sentences or the tone or mood or atmosphere, she managed to successfully convey what was happening without the need for chapter titles, which was awesome for me to read.
Also, the plot just gets so intense and this mimics how the forest fire gets more intense and I just love all the connections between everything.
It's like all the parts of the novel are progressing at the same rateeven though the backstory, fire, and character development happen at different points in time amp with different mental states for Audrey.
It ended up feeling very cohesive and that's just part of why I loved this, Also, the thriller aspect the wildfire is suspected to be a product of arson, . . was super entertaining and I just thoroughly enjoyed the plot I never really understood the true effect and what happens during a wildfire and I'm moved by Ezell's portrayal.
I also really like the relationships in this novelwhether it was friends or family or talking about toxic relationships dangerous feelings, a boy consuming your life, etc.
It all had a very good message and I liked how Ezell was very honest about Audrey's views on sex despite her family's insistence on abstinence.
If I had to pick out something that could have used more work, I'd probably just say where the chapters ended and where the book ended.
Sometimes it ended a little abruptly with a cliffhanger, like in sitelinkEmpress of a Thousand Skies, and then picked up on a less intense moment and at times it felt a little bit like a cop out or a way to avoid writing those really intense scenes.
Also, it did end a lot sooner than I wanted it to because things happen at the end that are super ASDFKLJDLS.
But I can definitely see why Ezell ended everything this way, and so this isn't really something that needs to change,
Overall, I had an amazing time reading this book and was so surprised by how much I enjoyed it! I would definitely recommend this to everyonelovers of contemporary or scifi or fantasybecause of the awesome characterbased themes found in contemporaries that balances the action and intensity commonly found in SFF.
Thank you to Penguin Teen/First to Read for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review!
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