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A review by emmareadstoomuch
Nothing Left to Burn by Heather Ezell
4.0
Reading this book was an extremely weird experience.
When the synopsis of a book is “thrillerish contemporary in which a girl who just lost her virginity wakes up to a wildfire evacuation and the story expands from there, growing into an ever-darker web of lies and abuse and darkness,” you don’t exactly wanna be like…“Relatable.”
But as a wise group of extremely wealthy British men once sang-said: You can’t always get what you want.
This book follows Audrey, a teenage girl who, as mentioned, wakes up the morning after she lost her virginity to some extremely annoying loud knocking on her door. It’s firefighters, it’s a wildfire evacuation, she’s gotta get the hell out of dodge.
You (the reader) at first don’t know anything except that.
The story expands from there, alternating chapters between past and present, slowly giving you more and more answers until you reach a Big Reveal that has, at that point, become overwhelmingly obvious.
This is pretty much made up for, though, by the themes covered along the way. Themes like young love, and the nuances of emotional abuse, and the damage that can be wreaked by loving boys who think they’re damaged.
There are problems, too. Like the aforementioned bonkers obvious alleged “twist,” and a forced romance plotline, and the fact that sometimes it’s so boring you want to join a volunteer fire department in California because at least fighting wildfires would be more interesting.
But overall: the plot construction was SO COOL. You start out knowing absolutely nothing, and then gain more information as the story moves back and forth and the whole thing feels like being dropped in at the center of a spiral and then slowly looping outward.
Also, I really do think the exploration of young relationships and just what qualifies as emotionally abusive = dope.
And I read it in a day! Even though I was reading it on my phone, which I hate doing and firmly believe is the absolute worst way to consume any work of literature whatsoever! A true testament to the quality of this read!
Bottom line: Weird book? Not for everyone. Not perfect. But pretty rad all the same.
Thanks to Penguin First to Read for the ARC <3<3
When the synopsis of a book is “thrillerish contemporary in which a girl who just lost her virginity wakes up to a wildfire evacuation and the story expands from there, growing into an ever-darker web of lies and abuse and darkness,” you don’t exactly wanna be like…“Relatable.”
But as a wise group of extremely wealthy British men once sang-said: You can’t always get what you want.
This book follows Audrey, a teenage girl who, as mentioned, wakes up the morning after she lost her virginity to some extremely annoying loud knocking on her door. It’s firefighters, it’s a wildfire evacuation, she’s gotta get the hell out of dodge.
You (the reader) at first don’t know anything except that.
The story expands from there, alternating chapters between past and present, slowly giving you more and more answers until you reach a Big Reveal that has, at that point, become overwhelmingly obvious.
This is pretty much made up for, though, by the themes covered along the way. Themes like young love, and the nuances of emotional abuse, and the damage that can be wreaked by loving boys who think they’re damaged.
There are problems, too. Like the aforementioned bonkers obvious alleged “twist,” and a forced romance plotline, and the fact that sometimes it’s so boring you want to join a volunteer fire department in California because at least fighting wildfires would be more interesting.
But overall: the plot construction was SO COOL. You start out knowing absolutely nothing, and then gain more information as the story moves back and forth and the whole thing feels like being dropped in at the center of a spiral and then slowly looping outward.
Also, I really do think the exploration of young relationships and just what qualifies as emotionally abusive = dope.
And I read it in a day! Even though I was reading it on my phone, which I hate doing and firmly believe is the absolute worst way to consume any work of literature whatsoever! A true testament to the quality of this read!
Bottom line: Weird book? Not for everyone. Not perfect. But pretty rad all the same.
Thanks to Penguin First to Read for the ARC <3<3