Burntown is the first book I've read by Jennifer McMahon...and I was rather underwhelmed. I think at first I was slightly ambivalent because I loved Theo and the premise was decent, but I didn't like the rest of the characters. Even Theo, after the closet scene, lacked any real depth of character other than a wingman to someone else. And there lies my issue with most of the characters in the book, they exist in a world of convenience. People appear without any explanation as to how they got there and they essentially "disappear" when there is no use longer a use for them.

Necco is a girl who from the age of 14 on had lived through numerous traumas and dealt with it just by not thinking about it. She continues to respond to tragedy with a "if I close my eyes I'm invisible" attitude that doesn't make any sense and doesn't make her at all relatable. Her mantra, that she's "Fire Girl" although repeatedly frequently is based off of one small scene in the book that hardly holds its weight. Necco's mother goes from being somewhat of a carefree spirit to a total whackjob and there is no reasonable explanation for the depth of the leap.

Pru and her circus fantasy starts out as quaint, if tipping the delusional scale, but it soon overwhelms the plot line beyond any believable amount of fantasizing. That her character ends up anywhere other than a mental hospital is hard to swallow. There is a huge gap in Errol's entire existence that isn't addressed in the beginning of the book (he just appears at the age of 8 even though only one child -who is now 3- was ever mentioned), and is poorly explained at the end of the book. It's like a puppet show where characters are dropped in, pulled up, and dropped back down when there's too much empty space on stage.

I think this book had endless potential, it just got lost in the cheesy muck of Pru's pretend circus and a parade of characters we have no attachment to. I didn't care if Necco died from the beginning and even Theo by the end of the book had lost any attraction. The writing was decent and sometimes even good, but very repetitive and although the very things I think would improve the book would have made it longer, I'm glad this one was relatively short.

I received an e-ARC of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had a difficult time with this book.  I did not feel like it was as good as some of the other books I've read from Jennifer McMahon.  I loved The Winter People and The Night Sister, but I really felt like this book fell short.  The characters didn't grab my attention and the storyline was a bit dull.  I enjoyed the idea of the story (without giving too much away), I just didn't become immersed in it like I have in her other novels.  I wouldn't say this read is bad, per say, just that it's completely different from Jennifer McMahon's style.  It's definitely a different read and one I wasn't quite expecting as a fan.

This review is scheduled to post on August 18, 2017 at 12:01PM.

Fast-paced and entertaining (even when it might make you sob just a little bit)... McMahon creates characters that you simply don't find elsewhere, and brings the reader close into their strange and delightful lives.

Before reading Burntown I had only read one book by Jennifer McMahon, Promise Not To Tell. I enjoyed that book and, though I was deeply intrigued by the synopsis, I was unsure of what to expect from this one. I really enjoyed how Burntown began, with a little glimpse into the beginning of the story and how everything started. It was a beginning that pulled you in and made you want to figure out what was going to happen next.

Flash forward a little further in the story and we begin learning about Eva and her family. We get to see the dynamic between the characters and little bits and pieces of their personalities as they interact with one another as well as the role that the machine plays into the story. I do believe that the talking machine added an interesting element to the book. It gave the story an odd sense of paranormalcy and a slight amount of creepiness, just enough to make you really wonder what it's all about.

Quickly we move to the time after "the Great Flood". This was honestly the hardest part of the book to get into for me. Right at the beginning of this period, things seemed to move a little too quickly but a little too slowly all at the same time. There wasn't much of a transition from Eva as a young innocent girl to Eva, The Fire Girl. It was a little hard for me to stay into the story during this part but things quickly picked up and the story became super interesting again and I couldn't put it down.

The characters in Burntown were so well done that I found myself curious about each and every one of them. What were their stories, their pasts, what role did they play in this new tangled web? And that was one of the beautiful things about this book. Every single character played a role and had their purpose.

I don't know how Jennifer McMahon comes up with these twisting, winding stories, but she does them so well. They're so full of mystery and oddity and I can't get enough of them. Burntown had me turning the pages quickly, one after the other, in search of the truth. It was truly a great, riveting story.

Rating: 4 Stars

So this book really has it all, mystery to paranormal, there is a lot going on. I find it really hard to describe my thoughts on it.

It took a while for the book to draw me in, the second half is much easier to get through than the first. Her writing has a really lyrical style to it, making some parts super enjoyable and in other parts I found it kept from my getting into the story.

In the past I have really enjoyed McMahon's books, but this one just didn't do it for me. More like 3.o but her writing style really is so good that I can't rate it lower.

Loved this book
Didn't want it to end
Highly recommend

Necco has lived on the streets of a New England town ever since her father and brother died because of the mysterious ghost telephone her father constructed. Necco and her mother joined a clan of “fire eaters” – mystical women who use a drug called the Devil’s Snuff to see the future – but after her mother’s suicide, Necco left the company of the other women to live on her own in an abandoned car. When her boyfriend, Hermes, is murdered while they slept, Necco finds herself on the run from a man called Snake Eyes – the man who was after her father’s machine and is now after her. Necco finds her life intertwined with that of Theo, a high school girl who owes a man a lot of money for the drugs she was selling for him and Pru, a lunch lady who dreams of life at the circus. As the three women try to outwit Snake Eyes, Necco’s past is revealed to be far darker than she ever imagined.

This book is really hard to describe. For some reason, I thought it was going to be a post-apocalyptic deal, likely because I’m an ass and read the description a million years ago and then forgot it by the time I actually started reading this. It’s in no way post-apocalyptic and I’m totally ok with that. This is one of those books where I kept asking myself, “Is there magic, or not?” and I enjoyed the uncertainty. It’s a thriller/mystery with a dash of ‘protagonist who can’t remember which parts of her past are real’ thrown in (NOT unreliable narrator! There’s a difference, I’m sure.) and a sprinkle of magical possibilities. Yes, good.

The story is told from different characters viewpoints and we start off hearing from Necco’s father, Miles, and with what happened to his mother and father when he was young. Just as I was hooked, the story transitioned to Necco and I was like “wtf, get away” because I needed more Miles. Then Necco’s chapter ended and I met Theo (who is gay, or maybe bi, if that interests you) and I was like “omg, bring back Necco you b-“ AND THEN Theo’s view ended and I was like…well, you get the idea.

Basically, I enjoyed each character’s viewpoint and each chapter left me wanting more from them, but excited to be hearing from another character again. The narratives kept the plot moving and the slow reveal of Necco’s past and her family’s history with Snake Eyes kept me intrigued.

I did guess the final twist before it happened, but I’m not sure it was supposed to be some huge reveal anyway. I still enjoyed the ending and this story had quite a bit of depth.

If you’re looking for a character driven, thrilleresque, quasi-ghost story then I highly recommend this!

As a child, Eva watched as her father Miles created the most marvelous inventions in his workshop. Little machines and knickknacks, clockwork animals, but there was one that stood apart from the rest. Built from blueprints rumored to have been stolen from Thomas Edison himself, Miles constructed a machine that had the ability to communicate with the dead. Unfortunately for Miles, someone had been watching his family a little too closely for a little too long and before Eva knew it, she was all alone in the world.

It’s no secret that I absolutely adore Jennifer McMahon! Her books are always fab and often creepy enough for me to only read them in broad daylight – with every light on (I also highlighted her novels in a GoodReads Recommends post). We were even lucky enough to score her for a giveaway in a #HistoricalFix chat! So to say I was looking forward to Burntown is something of an understatement. I hate to say it, but this one just didn’t live up to what I’ve come to expect from McMahon’s novels and that’s such a disappointment.

Eva, now Necco, went from living with a band of women who eat fire and have visions to living in a car with her boyfriend (she later learns he’s the son of a pretty high profile political player). There’s a high school student who can’t believe it when a girl in college starts flirting with her, only to realize too late she was just a pawn for a guy who sells drugs (the oh so super hot college girl? turns out she’s the drug dealer’s girlfriend and they were only using her as a way to bring in some new customers, if you will). Finally, there’s a lunchlady who dreams of becoming as obese as possible and has crafted an elaborate circus inside her apartment. The big baddie is a man in a chicken mask. Burntown was just too odd and all over the place, part drug scene, part crime novel, part paranormal. I hate to say it but this one did NOT work for me.

While not as relentlessly creepy as some of McMahon's other novels, Burntown contains its fair share of horror. The story spans a few decades and the reader is given insight into several characters' perspectives. The main thread, though, follows the mysterious murder of a beautiful woman which leads to the supposed suicide of an important professor which leads to the horrific stabbing of the governor's son. McMahon weaves elements of horror, mystery, and just a touch of sarcastic comedy throughout her novel as she brings to life memorable characters who may or may not always be telling the truth to their friends and to themselves.

Wow, what an intricately woven take Burntown was! I wonder often where Jennifer McMahon gets her ideas. This was a wonderfully and originally crafted tale of mystery, murder and humankind. I would definitely recommend to those looking for a compelling, unique story.

I love, love, love Jennifer McMahon. I've been reading her for years. She only averages about one book a year, so I always have to remind myself to look for her but it's always worth it!

I read Burntown in one day - I had to get out of the pool finally because my Kindle was overheating. So I hunkered down under the patio umbrella to keep reading.

This book - the description didn't get me excited, and I probably would have passed it by except it was by McMahon. I wonder who writes the descriptions, is that a job? I'd like that job.

Anyway, don't be put off by the description. It's accurate but it doesn't really tell the story. The brilliance of McMahon is that she weaves in the unbelievable or magical into the mundane, or even sad lives of her characters.

And the characters she writes always hit you right in the feels. They are the people on the outskirts, usually living quiet lives, just trying to hold things together. I never read a McMahon book without reflecting on people I see every day and never consider the inner workings of their lives.

Burntown is the story of a woman trying to piece together the tragedy of her childhood, manage her current tumultuous life, and the other complex women that end up being part of her story- an overweight lunch lady and a teen caught up in a situation she isn't equipped to deal with.

If you enjoy Alice Hoffman, you will like Jennifer McMahon - Hoffman has a lot more magic, but the same undercurrent of sadness runs through both authors work.

Intriguing story of young woman with past she cannot remember. Complex family relationships. Lesson about believing in and living one's dreams.

Jennifer McMahon writes suspenseful thrillers with a touch of the supernatural to them. Her novels tend to be darkly atmospheric with a focus on the darkness of human nature. They tend to be intense and difficult to set aside. Her latest novel, Burntown, was dark and focused on the evil within human nature but it was anything but intense or difficult to stop reading. If anything, it is a disappointment for her fans who expect much better things from her.

The problems are not apparent in the beginning. There is a Before, which is Eva's father's story, that sets the stage for the rest of the novel as we learn his family's secret. The shocking nature of his mother's death also contrasts nicely with the method by which Miles fends off his mother's attacker. Later, the danger is palpable as he seeks to save his family from the same fate as that of his parents, set off more starkly by the happy life he led to that point. This section is crisp and effective, providing enough backstory to flesh out the danger Eva faces and highlighting the greed which drives man's behavior.
The problems start popping up during the After section as the focus shifts from Miles to Eva. Since the tragedy that befell her family all those years ago, her life has not been a traditional one. There is a touch of schizophrenia to Eva's actions that confuse the narrative, something which is only compounded later by Pru's active imagination and by the snuff the Fire Eaters imbibe. While I imagine this is deliberate in order to add an air of mystery to the story, it instead distances you from Eva. In turn, this makes it difficult to get involved in her search for answers, which is essentially the whole plot of the novel.

Making things worse is the fact that Eva is a mite too naive for someone who lives on the streets and has done so for five years. While there is obviously some PTSD at play here, she is too trusting of the stories her mother tells her, especially when she recognizes that they are far-fetched and highly unlikely. She is at once capable and yet not very street-savvy as she blunders several times until she meets Theo. In fact, it is not until she meets Theo for the second time where she finally puts together some modicum of a plan other than to hide and hope the danger passes. She may be the story's hero, but she is very passive and perhaps not as worthy of that moniker as one of the other women.

All three women are meant to be tragic figures, but out of the three, it is Eva who is truly tragic. Theo is nothing more than a teenage girl playing at being an adult until it catches up to her. Meanwhile, Pru is a woman with a huge fantasy life but one that does not impede her ability to function in real life. They are an unlikely trio, which is part of the problem. While Ms. McMahon attempts to explain why these three women would find themselves working together, the answer requires some stretch of the imagination.

Actually, much of the novel requires some stretch of the imagination and not because of any supernatural element. It is because her characters, namely Eva, act in ways that do not feel natural. There are moments that make tremendous sense, but then there are too many others that have you scratching your head wondering what just happened.

Burntown is not a novel which completely absorbs your attention but rather is a novel that distracts and actively prevents you from getting caught up in the story. As part whodunit, part coming-of-age, part thriller, part cautionary tale, it is too many parts that do not mesh well together. It is a rare miss for Ms. McMahon, hopefully one of her last ones.

It was a good read. Winter People was my gateway drug and now I can't get enough of Jennifer McMahon!

Wow!! What a read. I don’t even know how to classify this book. Horror, murder/suspense, supernatural…it’s all in one. I so enjoyed trying to guess what happens next….I was wrong every. single. time!!
As a young boy, Miles witnesses his mother’s murder. His father then killed himself after being accused of the crime. Miles grows up, marries, becomes a professor at a college, has a child named Eva and builds a machine. The machine can talk to dead people. Miles wants to talk to his mother. There is a story which surround this machine. You need to read the book to find out. It is very intriguing! Then a flood happens and everything changes.

Eva, or Necco, as she calls herself now, is a homeless, young girl living in an abandoned car. She has lost everyone, her dad and her brother in “the great flood” and her mom to suicide. But, is that what really occurred ? Her life begins to unravel as the knowledge about what happened starts to reveal itself.

The story created around Eva is very uncommon. From the “great flood” to the homeless, fire-eating women, Eva becomes a strong, tough young girl living on the streets. Then she is accused of murder and everything changes once again.

I don’t even know how to describe the suspense which runs throughout this book. Jennifer McMahon knows how to calmly build a story then completely change all expectations. Her characters are all completely different, strong and purposeful. This is a unique and non stop read.

I received this novel from Netgalley for a honest review.

McMahon has always written unusual books and it's hard to define this one, but it kept me riveted from the first page to the last. A page-turning book that I will recommend to my customers very highly this summer.

Burntown had a lot packed into the beginning of the book and at times felt like an info dump. This was an average mystery/thriller with a little magical realism.

The characters were interesting but not memorable. I really enjoy Jennifer's writing but this book wasn't my favorite. There wasn't anything wrong with this book either it kept my attention until the end but it just didn't shock me like I wanted it to.

I will read more from Jennifer McMahon

Jennifer McMahon has always mixed ghost stories with mysteries. In this remarkable book she has gone over to the dark side completely, creating a spooky, imaginative tale set in a run-down New England town where a happy family faces a demonic power called up by the inventor-father's creation, a machine that enables communication with the dead. Necco, who was coached by her mother to live in the shadows, gradually discovers that everything her mother told her was false - except that she faces grave peril. This inventive, colorful, and beautifully-written novel would be a hit with young adult readers as well as not-so-young adults who enjoy exploring the supernatural.

For the most part, I enjoyed Burntown. It definitely didn't turn out to be what I was expecting. The book is split into two parts, before and after the great flood. The story mostly centers around Necco/Eva and her time after the flood. Someone is out to kill her and her family but she can't remember anything that happened the night her whole world fell apart.

As I said, I did like this book, I just didn't love it. I was expecting more of a supernatural/mystical story. Instead I pretty much got a straight up mystery with some possible mysticism. It's hard to call it mysticism really, when the people having visions are essentially snorting some type of drug. At any rate, I'm not going to give away the plot. There are a couple of twists toward the end that I definitely didn't see coming. I was disappointed that the machine mentioned in the synopsis didn't really play much part in the book. This isn't a fast paced book but it is worth stocking with to the conclusion.

This book was crazy. It had a little bit of paranormal, a lot of mystery, some light-hearted humor, and super suspense. It follows a group of people whose lives all intersect in unexpected ways, and get thrown into a series of events involving dangerous people and a long unsolved murder. I managed to figure out the ending with a pretty good accuracy by the 75% mark, but it didn't bother me because the first three quarters were so disturbing and vague that I was thoroughly intrigued, plus, I had to read to the end to find out if my guess was right! I really enjoy McMahon's writing style and would recommend this to anyone looking for an unusual suspense thriller.