Mother Charlotte and daughter Viva are pilot and co-pilot living life on the road, depending on the kindness of strangers in Mary Otis' BURST. Throughout the story, pitch perfect dialogue, realistic situations so well-done that I felt as if I were there, and complex intertwining of two exceptional women created a mesmerizing, delightful read. I cannot think of another story that so emphatically dropped me into a story world framed in exquisite, poetic language, deft and sure with every step. A fast read with an incredibly well-done story starring vivid characters, even the walk-on people. I received a copy of this novel and these opinions are my own unbiased thoughts.

I dove into this book not knowing what to expect, and when it knocked me over, I immediately bounced back up and into the fray. How do you cope with a parent that is a full bubble off plumb and yet knows you better than you know yourself? Mary Otis unpacks this complex tension layer by layer. The story is poignant, and fast moving. The writing is beautifully solid, filled with powerful imagery and emotionally rendered metaphor. This book completely exceeded my expectations.

Thank you to the author, Zibby Books and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This debut novel about a complicated mother/daughter relationship is beautifully written, but difficult to read due to the troubled nature of both personalities in the book. Lots of chaos, instability and co-dependency. The story is told from both POVs, and gives insight into the bleakness of life with inner demons - and the efforts to break away from what seems pre-ordained. I look forward to reading more from this author. And: What a gorgeous cover!

Here’s another fantastic debut to add to your TBR, friends. Burst by Mary Otis explores a complicated mother/daughter relationship that spans decades. In Burst, we meet Viva and her mother, Charlotte. Even though the novel is a short one, the reader witnesses the progression of their relationship from Viva’s childhood, teenage years, and into adulthood. To call their relationship complex is very much an understatement. Charlotte is the quite the character. She’s a tad unstable, a bit eccentric, and very irresponsible. Relying on the kindness of others for a meal or a bed to sleep in was a common practice throughout Viva’s childhood. It’s obvious that Viva adores her mom’s free spirit, but as she matures, she starts to wonder if the path of uncertainty is one that she wants to follow.

Given the subject matter, there’s no doubt about it - this book will make you think of your mother. Consider this a warning if that particular relationship is a trigger for you. I couldn’t help but think about my past, the strong bond I have with my own mother, and the whole nature vs. nurture philosophy. As I age, I can’t help but see my mom in my own reflection, and hear her voice as I speak to my children. There’s no denying it, I’m turning into my mother! Ha! Charlotte would always tell Viva that they were wired the same way, and it makes me wonder how often women are reminded of this every single day. How many times have these particular phrases been thrown my way:

“You two are cut from the same cloth.”
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
“You are your mother’s daughter.”

For the most part, these similarities are just surface level, but sometimes they can run deep. Most of the time, I just smirk or roll my eyes at such comments. Sometimes I even agree! So yeah, me becoming a version of my mother isn’t very concerning to me. Weirdly enough, I welcome it. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for Viva. She’d much rather be the opposite version of her mother. If you’re looking for a thought-provoking novel about mothers and daughters, this is it. 4/5 stars for Burst! Grab your copy on April 4th!

A debut novel that spins the relationship between Charlotte and her daughter Viva like a tilt-a-whirl, slowly spinning at a sluggish speed then slamming the reader into the atmosphere. Bizarre behavior, sobering, accurate analogies, painful consequences, rare musical ear syndrome MES; rolled into a mother daughter relationship over a lifetime of connection, mistakes, fond memories and a mysterious missing father. Themes of mother-daughter relationships, mistakes, and seeking control intertwined at a maniacal pace. Triggers: addiction, abandonment

Burst
Mary Otis

To say Viva’s relationship with her mother was complicated is an understatement. The only daughter of a single mother, most of her childhood spent was in a chaotic, nomadic existence, moving on from one place to another as her alcoholic mother burned the bridges of one relationship after another. Despite Viva’s deep desire to know who her father was, her mother keeps this secret her whole life. Viva becomes a professional dancer and leaves as soon as she is able to.
The pace of this book was pretty slow and much time was spent developing the characters. At time, I had a hard time figuring out where the story was going. I felt like I spent quite a bit of the book waiting for something to happen.
Thanks to Zibby books for the ARC! It’s always fun to check out a new writer.

Burst is a breath of fresh air! The author's writing flows naturally and she skillfully captures the complexities and push-pull of the mother-daughter relationship with rich, realistic and flawed characters.

Viva grew up being moved from place to place by her single, alcoholic mother, Charlotte, and has been watching out for/taking care of her mom for a long time. When she was little, her mom made it seem like a game - the two of them against the world. But as Viva enters her teen years, she's embarrassed by Charlotte. When it comes time for college, Viva takes the opportunity to assert her independence by choosing a school far away.

Charlotte does the best she can, working any job she can find to be sure she can pay for the dance lessons that Viva adores. Dance is Viva's passion, just as art once was Charlotte's. She's determined to do what she can to see that her daughter's dream comes true. Yes, she does like to drink, but she's sure she can stop whenever she wants to do so.

A tragedy sends Viva reeling, and she finds herself becoming more like her mother than she ever planned to be. Will she be able to stop her downhill slide and once again become the woman she wants to be?

The story is told from each character's POV in various time frames. A very good read from an author I look forward to reading again.

My thanks to Zibby Books for allowing me to read an DRC of this novel via NetGalley. It is scheduled for publication on 4/4/23. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

A debut novel filled with lyrical writing, powerful themes on mother/daughter bonds, and the complexity of love and family. This is a perfect book club selection with many themes to explore! Thank you Zibby books for the ebook copy of Burst by Mary Otis

I applaud Mary Otis for so effectively creating characters that feel real, Charlotte and Viva are memorable, and for bravely asking readers to examine how loving relationships might not always be right or what we need, and that sometimes our passions and dreams and drive are tinged with elements of self-destruction and pain. The writing and character driven story drew me in and I was rewarded as a reader with an impactful read that I will think about for a long time.

Recommended for: fans of White Oleander, YaYA Sisterhood, and similar reads

@Burst is a wonderfully written story about the relationship of Charlotte and her daughter Viva. Charlotte wants the best for her daughter and tries to give her everything, including dance classes. Charlotte has an impulsive, eccentric, and addictive personality, constantly moving to a different place to live when things don't go her way. Viva longs to stability, purpose and to know who her father is. Over the years, Charlotte hasn't changed and Viva has made a great life for herself away from Charlotte, until an unfortunate accident. This is a turning point in their relationship, although still distant, they are pulled back to each other at various points in their lives.

“Her mother had two speeds: drunk or driven.”

Award-winning author, Mary Otis brings us her beautifully written debut novel, Burst, which explores the terrible, damaging closeness between mother and daughter.

The story takes us through decades of Charlotte and Viva’s story from alternating perspectives, beginning in the 70’s when Viva is a child and Charlotte is her peripatetic, alcoholic mother hauling them from place to place in her VW van.

“Viva has always found ways to manage her mother’s impulsive, eccentric, and addictive personality. She’s had to―for her entire life, it has always been Viva and Charlotte against the world. After accidentally discovering an innate ability for dance, Viva chases her new passion with the same fervor with which her mother chases the bottle. Over the years, Viva’s talent becomes a ticket to a life of her own, and as she moves further away from home to pursue her dream, Charlotte struggles to make peace with her own past as a failed artist and the effects of her addiction. When tragedy strikes, Viva begins a downward spiral and must decide whether she will repeat her mother’s mistakes or finally take control of her life.”

This book was gorgeously written and will resonate with anyone who has ever felt the fierce bond to, and overwhelming desire to escape from, the trajectory of our mothers.

Congratulations @maryotis on the release of this beautiful book!
Burst releases on April 4, 2023. Thank you to @maryotis @zibbybooks and @NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

Beautiful cover art!

This is the story of Charlotte and Viva, a mother daughter duo. Charlotte has struggled with alcohol dependence throughout her life, leaving Viva with a less than stable childhood. Charlotte and Viva bounce from place to place staying with friends and family. Eventually, Viva learns that she is a talented dancer. Viva's ability to dance is her ticket away from the unstable childhood home she has grown to know and her success is paving her way, until she experiences an injury. Once injured, Viva's path forward vanishes and she begins to struggle with her own inner demons and alcohol.

I appreciated that this novel explored a complicated mother-daughter relationship. It also touches on addiction and the cyclical nature of the disease. It was an enjoyable read.

BURST, an exquisitely-written novel by Mary Otis, won my heart. Charlotte, a single mother, is devoted to Viva, her super-talented daughter. Yet Charlotte’s increasing addiction to alcohol interferes with Viva’s success. The story’s told from both Charlotte and Viva’s perspectives, enabling a deeper understanding of their complex relationship. As I followed their peripatetic journey, I experienced Viva’s joy at going away to college and Charlotte’s mourning her loss. Otis captures Viva’s passion for dance choreography. “The dance is an abstraction about what endures and what disappears,” she writes.

What makes this mother-daughter story exceptional are Otis’s narrative twists and lyrical prose.
“The crickets were back and the news was bad. The first thing seemed to signal the other if one were to look for signs. Earlier that morning the sun lay on the horizon like an egg that didn’t break right, and all day it had threatened to rain.”

Viva and Charlotte are unforgettable.

Mary magically weaves the two worlds of a mother and a daughter into a beautifully chaotic blanket of life that compels the reader to wrap themselves in from the beginning to the end. Excellent and a MUST-READ.
!

Burst takes the reader on a bumpy, unpredictable ride as Viva’s eccentric, alcoholic mother teaches her unconventional ways to approach life. Viva finds the discipline of dance to be a way to keep herself steady amidst the chaos. As dysfunctional as her mother could be, she always managed to find a way to get Viva into dance classes. This redeems her in the eyes of the reader and makes us want to understand her mother better. A closer look at life growing up with a parent who you love, yet don’t want to follow in their footsteps.

United States Publication: April 4, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley and Zibby Books for this advanced reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.


Charlotte and Viva versus the world. It's always just been Viva and her mom, Charlotte. Charlotte is an on-again, off-again alcoholic and that means Viva is more often than not in a position of caretaker. Viva discovers her love of dance at a young age and despite the chaos of life with Charlotte she excels at dance and uses it as her way out of life with Charlotte. Yet, Viva cannot extricate herself from Charlotte because like it or not they are connected. As Viva pursues a life of dance and a life that leads her away from Charlotte she finds herself drawn to the very things that Charlotte uses to numb her pain. It's what Viva has feared and fought against the majority of her life - she is not, she cannot, be her mother.

Otis gives us a mother-daughter story in this debut full-length novel. That mother-daughter relationship is so complex and in this one, Otis gives the reader just enough of Charlotte's backstory so that the reader has just enough of an understanding of her reasons for drinking, how she chose to raise Viva, etc. She also explores, through Viva, human nature and our tendencies to fall into the very things we fight to stay away from. Viva's use of dance as a means to keep her from becoming like her mother will only serve her for so long. Viva learns, as the reader may or may not already realize, that she must do the work to keep from becoming like Charlotte.

This wasn't a mind-blowing piece of literature for me, yet. Yet I also had a hard time putting it down and I read it rather quickly. Otis' story of Charlotte and Viva kept me interested and engaged. I was equal parts ultimately disappointed in Viva and aching for her and I felt that how Otis chose to end their story was satisfying.

This was such a great take on the mother/daughter relationship and how entangled we become with our mothers. It was a heartbreaking read because you wanted so badly to root for the women in this book and for them both to find their ways to a happily ever after. Regardless of what your relationship with your mother has looked like, every daughter will see a part of themselves in this book.

Mary Otis has written such a beautiful, often sombre, story in BURST. Right from the start, her characters jump off the page, drawing us in to a mother-daughter relationship that feels so much like 'you and me against the world'. Especially resonant for any woman who has grown up with a single mum, the complexity of this dynamic dance of co-dependence and burgeoning independence really hits home. I particularly liked the way that Otis manages sharing the darker, harder aspects of this core relationship while writing with such lyricism. Themes of addiction, mental health, insecurity, discovering identity and mourning the loss of it - this book is thought provoking and a bit heartbreaking, but feels ultimately redemptive. I'll be thinking of Viva and Charlotte for ages.

Gorgeous writing a raw look at mother daughter relationships told over many years. I was so involved by Vthe mother and daughter was so real so vivid I could not stop turning the pages.A book that will delight readers.#netgalley #zibbybooks

Book Review of Burst

I love this title. The verb vibrates throughout the book—the characters burst through doors, across a stage, into laughter, into freedom. As author Mary Otis explores the visceral relationship between a mother and daughter who are both sensitive artists in her novel Burst, the characters themselves burst into life.

The mother Charlotte, an alcoholic painter, and her daughter Viva, a dancer, are brilliantly written. Their individual characters, personalities, relationships, and personal journeys are realistically drawn with beautiful, straightforward language.

The twosome evolves from their beginnings—Viva as a little girl learning to adapt to ever-changing homes—to living separate lives as Viva reaches for her dream of being a professional dancer.

This book richly paints a psychological portrait of strong women who battle seemingly insurmountable problems. You root for them while dreading what seems to be inevitable.

The emotional tie that exists between every mother and daughter is always fascinating as it’s unlike any other relationship in life. When you add alcoholism and single parenting to the equation, tension flares—bursts from both women with intensity.

Even if you have the best relationship with your mother or daughter, you’ll find ways to relate to Charlotte and Viva. No matter how close or distant we are from each other in these roles, we’ll always be connected. And we’ll never fully know what the other person struggles to overcome.

Burst is a lyrical, honest, heartbreaking story that ultimately leaves you with hope.

Five stars for this amazingly written book by Otis. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC for the purpose of this review.

The cover is gorgeous and my heart did burst while reading this mom/daughter story. Addiction and poverty and madness but the ties between a girl and her mom… what a book! I desire to reread this with my mom to see what she thinks! It was written in a very lyrical way which I found matched the parts about dancing and not knowing what would come next.

Well done!