For as long as Margot can remember it has always been just her and her mother. The two have struggled with each other in showing signs of love and compassion. Jo, Margot’s mother, is barely able to take care of herself let alone Margot. Margot is left to defend for herself. Margot finds a photograph in an old Bible owned by her mother. On the back she finds a phone number and a name of Phalene. After calling and finding her lost grandmother, Vera, Margot defies her mother and makes her way to find the secrets to the family she has longed for.

When Margot gets to Phalene, it is nothing that she hopes for. A girl is found dead in the field owned by her grandmother and the local authorities believe Vera had something to do with it. But as Margot lingers in town and at Fairhaven, the Nielsen farm, she unearths secrets that her mother was running from. Vera is not the cozy grandmother that Margot is hoping for, in fact Margot finds that her mother and grandmother share the exact same qualities when it comes to the emotional abuse pinned against Margot. Margot starts to believe that maybe Vera did have a part in the girl’s death and that Vera is hiding a family secret that could poison them all.

I did not fall in love with this book. I had started and stopped this book multiple times. Although a slow start, they story did pick up within the last 5 chapters or so. I liked that there is unique plot line, but I found it a little to far out there for me. There were also no characters that I could connect with.

Thank you to Rory Power, Random House Children’s and NetGalley for reading this ARC.

paradoxically, i put off reading “burn our bodies down” for weeks because i knew i would love it. you only get one opportunity to read a book for the first time, and i wanted to savor the anticipation of devouring a new favorite. “wilder girls” was an instant favorite, and “burn our bodies down” is no different.

featuring complicated mother-daughter relationships, surviving the cycle of mental abuse, body horror, and corn, “burn our bodies down” is not an easy book to read, and yet i still read the entire book in one day. rory power’s writing is beautiful and haunting, like curling up in a blanket while a thunderstorm rages outside. she is a master at crafting speculative, sapphic horror starring young women full of anguish. “burn our bodies down” feels like it was written just for me, and cements my dedication to reading anything and everything rory power writes.

thank you to netgalley and random house children’s/delacourt press for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I truly do not know how to put into words how much I loved this book. Rory Power is such an incredible, unique voice and I feel so lucky to be able to read her words.

This book is a gut-punch of a novel. At it’s heart, it’s about working hard for relationships, when maybe your hard work isn’t deserved. This is about the complicated relationship between family dysfunction, how you can accept abuse and still feel dedication. It doesn’t shy away from how difficult and layered relationships can be.

It also manages to be an excellent thriller/horror novel.

More than anything, the sentences read like a mix of poetry and self-flagellation. This book read as if Power just bled out onto her keyboard and gave all of herself to us. Every sentence is so precise it leaves you breathless – as if you’ve been stabbed by a thousand tiny knives. I found myself rereading passages because I couldn’t believe how brutal yet beautiful they were. While I did figure out some of the twists in advance, I was so entranced by the tone and the destructive relationships between the characters that I couldn’t look away.

Fair warning: you may want to avoid corn on the cob for a while after reading.

No one writes like Rory Power and I can’t wait to devour every book she ever writes.


*I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you NetGalley so much for the early access to Burn our Bodies Down by Rory Powers. Her writing is intense, layered, thought provoking and heart wrenching. I read Wilder Girls a few months ago and when I found out she had another coming out, I was very excited. This book didn't disappoint. I was intrigued and my interest was peaked from the first scene with Margot to the last scene with her. I only knew as much as Rory shared. This was such an amazing book.

I got an ARC of this book.

This book is difficult to explain. It is wild in a way that I was not expecting based on the description which I actually read for once. I knew the author was capable of based on another book, so I was game for trying something that seemed to be out of my normal genres.

While this seems mostly marketed as a thriller/mystery sort of book, it is more like a contemporary horror/sci-fi book by the end. The ending was not a twist I was expecting, but I knew one was coming. I had read a few other reviews complaining about the random genre switch. This is one of the few times that a hardcore genre shift worked well for me. Other times I have been left feeling betrayed and like the story was significantly weakened by it. In this case it took the shift and bashed me over the head with it (please remember that I made this joke if you read the book, trust me, I’m funny).

There was so much emotional abuse. There was a lot of family dysfunction. It was so real and reminded me so much of being in a dysfunctional family. That level of abuse and dysfunction makes it hard for me to recommend this book. It will hit some people super hard and others will not understand just how intense the book really is. The abuse is what made me adore this book and also hate it. I was enthralled, but in the same way a car crash can ensnare you. You don’t want to watch, but you also can’t look away.

The characters felt a bit flat, but that was also part of the twist. The flatness made so much sense. It was annoying. The author played me. I was bested by the twist and I am seriously a fan of Power now. She already got me, but this just sealed it. I will be watching for her to put out more books.

This book is a lot like my favorite horror series. The atmosphere. The pacing. Everything built slowly. There was so much happening and so much that was revealed so slowly and so much more that was never revealed. It was a pretty wonderful read and one that I am glad I read. This is a great example of how horror should be. As a horror novel, it is wonderful. As a thriller, not so much.

The queer content was so minimal that it felt like it didn’t really belong. The book would not have read any differently without it. There was really no need for the two or three slight references to a queer MC. I am all for queer MCs, I live for them. It just felt like a detail that didn’t make any sense to share and that didn’t actually add anything to the story to know. I didn’t know anyone else’s sexuality. It didn’t make sense in the story for me to know her’s either. Power seems to give subtle queer and barely there queer. I can only hope there is some more queer in future books so I can really be happy and not teased.

Well: Rory does it again. With the huge success of wilder girls, I was so ecstatic when I was approved for a digital arc of this book. I’m a sucker for all things YA and for all things thriller. So for me this book just hit it out of the park. Literally as soon as I finish this art, I went online and pre-ordered a signed edition, because I love it so much. Stop what you’re doing and read this book.

Power's sophomore novel establishes her as a unique, exciting voice in the YA sphere. She's writing speculative thrillers, that have strong environmental overtones. I very much enjoy the brand she's building for herself and can't wait to see it continue.

BURN is Margot's story, and very much a family saga. The book is pondering, while still being a thriller. And I genuinely did not know what would come next. The themes, execution, and strong reliance on visual tone feel very much in the vein of film-maker Ari Aster's work.

I think Power excels in capturing characters at a snapshot in their lives. Her books are less the usual coming of age arc of YA books, that take place over long periods of time. But that's simply a way in which she departs from the typical style of YA.

4 stars

Burn Our Bodies Down is a wholly unique exploration of a broken family and the ways in which they love and ruin each other. I had not read Power's first novel Wilder Girls, so I had no expectations going into this. I think that freshness definitely helped since it left me completely at the mercy of this insane story.

I can see why Power received so much acclaim for Wilder Girls, especially if it is anything like this. The Midwestern Gothic feel that she imbues into the text is brilliantly executed and I found myself on the edge of my seat numerous times while navigating the various twists and turns. The family relationships are so unusual that you feel compelled to read on if only to find out how these people became so messed up.

My only complaint is that the pacing at the first half of the novel really dragged for me. There is a immediate grip that this book places you under, which is frustrating because you have to sit through so much exposition to get to the central conflict. It got so slow that I debated if I should even finish the book. Once the story got back on track in the second half, I was thankfully back onboard! I'm ultimately really happy that I stuck with it and I know that there will be so many people that will devour this.

If you enjoy books with dysfunctional family dynamics and weird/eerie settings, give this one a try! Even though I didn't feel very connected to the characters, the excellent writing pulled me along and compelled me to finish reading what might have otherwise been a DNF book for me.

5 burning stars

If the title makes you shiver, this is the book for you. Fires, secrets, mothers and daughters and daughters and mothers, the ties that bind and the ties that break, and sinister overtones come out to play in Rory Power's tour de force sophomore novel.

Writing: ★★★★★
Plot: ★★★★★
Pacing: ★★★★★
Atmosphere: ★★★★★

Burn Our Bodies Down comes out on July 7, 2020!

Margot and her mother could be sisters, they look so much alike. Margot doesn't see this as a compliment. Her relationship with her mother, Jo, is anything but sister-like—it is one of flight, hiding, fights, and fear. Margot's mother has been running from something all of Margot's life.

Margot is done with it. Now 17, she's decided it's time to find the family that her mother abandoned, with the hope that anyone—anyone—will accept and love her better than her own manipulative mother. When Margot finds the phone number in her mother's things, she doesn't hesitate. She gives it a ring.

Phalene is the type of Nebraskan small town in the middle of its decline. Once a booming farming community, there's almost nothing left. Margot's family, the Nielsens, used to be the source of the town's success. Now it's just Gram, and her weird golden corn that looks dead yet grows, and the secrets that the Nielsen farm keeps to itself.

Margot doesn't mind. Her mother has made her used to so many weird things. In her desperation for acceptance, Margot accepts everything about her Gram and slots herself into the Nielsen farm.

But Gram's not exactly normal, and Margot found a dead body of a girl who looks just like her on her first day in town. The town thinks Gram's hiding something, and Margot agrees.

Did she jump from the frying pan into the fire? There might be a reason her mother was so afraid after all...

My thoughts:
This is a novel that will attract a certain type of reader, but keep only a few as it's not exactly what it appears to be. I think Rory Power might just be that type of author—which works for me, because I'm now 2/2 with her books. I've loved them both.

The story delivers on its advertising: this novel is SPOOKY, and the atmosphere was so taut throughout that I got a kink in my neck from holding myself so tense. If you like creeping suspense and lingering horror, this is the novel for you. There are no jump scares, no dramatic whodunits, but the lingering horror...is intense.

However, the main core of this story is not its plot, its genre, or even its character composition. It's in the character relationships. I make that nuance here because Margot, Jo, and Gram are not the most fleshed out characters. But their relationships with each other ARE, and that's where this novel sings. Mothers and daughters. Manipulation, secrets, and the ties that bind and break. This multi-generational character study of one family's method of parenting is singular in its focus and honestly fascinating in its rot. I would never want these relationships in my life—talk about unhealthy—but in their black and white reality it was easy to see the bones of fights I've had with my own mother, and vice versa. The growing pains of teenage girls versus their mothers is something most women can relate to, and in a way this is a horror novel about that experience amplified by a ton of speculative elements. Extremely cool, and extremely well done.

Thank you to Delacorte Press via NetGalley for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Burn our Bodies Down was both exquisite and terrifying. This fast-paced, gripping novel, kept me glued to the pages throughout. It became less of a want and more of a NEED to know what happened.

“Keep a fire burning; a fire is what saves you.”

This book’s best feature was the writing. Nobody hooks me as fast as Rory Power does. From chapter one the plot begins and the foreshadowing alone in that chapter, deserves five stars. That’s without the atomospheric way the author pulls you in. The descriptions of the old farm house and corn fields may have given me nightmares but it was WORTH it.

I adored the main protagonist. Margot was the type of unapologetic heroine you just don’t forget. She’s unreliable and clearly thorn between her quest for familial love and the fact that something is not right. She fit the story perfectly. In addition, I adored that Margot calls herself a lesbian on page and that we’ve some good lesbian representation that doesn’t involve a romance.

It was interesting to read the about the toxic relationship Margot has with her mother.
Usually when any sort of abuse handled in a thriller type novel- it’s not done well. However, I thought Rory did an excellent job with highlighting the physical and mental abuse Marion deals with throughout the novel.

Burn our Bodies down is a novel I won’t be forgetting. I read the whole book from start to finished within two days and it HURT when I had to put it down to sleep. It’s dark, twisty, and brilliant. In my ripe age of 23 I really didn’t think YA could shock me anymore but here we have it. I highly recommend, especially if you enjoyed the atmospheric writing of Wilder Girls or want something that will keep you guessing until the end.

I was very much anticipating this after how much I enjoyed Wilder Girls, and I’m happy to say I liked this one, too! The premise was really interesting and I loved our main character. The body horror was even more intense than in Power’s debut, and the ending of this one was much better than her first. You can definitely see improvements in her writing. Can’t wait to read more from this author in the future!

I love mystery thrillers. And this book was written very well. But I found myself feeling “eh” after finishing. It kept my interest up until the last few chapters. I wasn’t a huge fan of Power’s debut novel, but I liked this better. It’s perfect for someone who likes supernatural stories.

I'll be honest I don't know what this book was. I went into this book thinking I was going to get some big plot that will leave me shocked but this story only left me confused. We follow Margot and she lives with her mother who is barely a mother. Margot finds some information about her past and decides to go to her mom hometown. Once she get there things start getting weird. For one her grandmother's land is caught on fire and this is a huge scandal apparently. As Margot goes and live with her Grandmother in this town she finds out stuff about her mom and why her mother left this town at 18.

What I'll say that this book was a quick read. Short chapters. But it literally took the whole book before we find out why the Grandmother is so weird and why there was so many secrets. The grandmother was so annoying with her secrets.She was weird asf and I did not like her. The secret that ended up being revealed left me like " I knew this lady was a nutcase" but the actual secret MADE NO SENSE TO ME. No sense at all. I won't say what it is because of spoilers.

If this book didn't take forever to get to the point and that "plot twist" it probably would have got an extra star but I liked it enough since i did finish it.

This book was . . . interesting, to say the least and I am still not sure how I feel about it. The writing was pretty phenomenal. It made me want to keep reading to see if anything interesting happened. The problem was that it took so long to get to the interesting parts. The pace was very slow and it was also tough to connect to the main character, Margot. I did feel her desperation and frustration, but I didn’t really know much about her and there was a disconnect between the reader and her that made the story tough to enjoy. The ending was twisted, but it was also bizarre, and I am not really sure I understand it. This was just an okay read for me.

Finished this book last weekend and I'm still thinking about it nonstop. And like. All the disclaimers in the world because I knew after reading WILDER GIRLS last year that I'd be Very Into whatever Rory Power writes next.

BURN OUR BODIES DOWN has:

🕯️ Messy + intense family dynamics

🌽 Creepy corn fields

🏘️ A small town where everyone knows everyone's business

👁️ Body horror (there were! moments! that I can't give away but that made me gasp out loud)

"It's not love, to give your wounds to someone else."

Rory Power is carving out that space for gritty, haunting, and disturbing, sapphic YA and I love to see it.

I can't tell you what expectations I had for this book but they were met. This cover exudes brittle, burning heat amongst other, darker feelings and I must say that not many covers hit the nail on its head like that. I still can't say that I love the cover - it looks muted and flat? - but it's genius in its own way.

I'm not going to say much about the plot because I would immediately give away far too much and you best go into this book without knowing much about it. It's a family thriller/mystery with a twist. Let that be all you know. Now I loved this book because I loved This Darkness Mine and Dig. and it felt like a weird combination of the two. (By the way, if you loved any of these three books, I recommend you read the others as well.)
The most important aspect of successful storytelling are the characters at its heart. At least, that's true for me. I need complex, flawed, interesting characters rather than shallow figures that have as much depth as the next puddle on your sidewalk. And all Rory's characters are super intriguing, their relationships frayed, often toxic, and very well written. Here's one of my favourite lines from the novel:

But she's shaking her heard. "You can't tell me what I meant."
I struggle to take a deep breath. "But it sounded that way to me. Doesn't that matter? Doesn't it matter how you made me feel?"

You see, good intentions are useless when the effect of your words or actions cause pain. Taken out of context, this can be widely applied, especially to conversations about white privilege and racism. Just a sidetone.

There's something about Rory's writing that I can't quite put my finger on. Something that causes an emotional disconnect and therefore fails to captivate me wholly. While I live for the horror and gore, and while I generally enjoy the prose, the words blur together and I often find myself skimming a few sentences before I can stop myself. I also found the ending ever so slightly anticlimactic. There were a few chapters when Rory had me glued to the pages and then, rather than ending with a bang, it was more of a rattle.

Still, it's a deeply fascinating novel, one that I believe would make a perfectly disturbing and moody film. I need it.

4 🌟
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this book was WACK
just whoa

SO, WHAT"S THIS BOOK ABOUT?
This book follows the story of Margot and her neglecting mother. As Margot struggles and yearns for love she goes in search of the family she wishes she has in her mother's hometown.

That's all you need to know
don't learn anything else
just know this a horror/thriller and it was WACK
I loved this book but it definitely isn't a new favorite and i definitely preferred Wilder Girls
And I think that was because this book was less character-focused and more plot-driven which I do not usually prefer. I felt disconnected from the characters and that made it harder for me to connect and care about the story in general. I found Margot interesting but I found the whole a bit rushed and I would have liked longer to sit in Margot's skin and fully understand her as a character for a bit longer. That is why as a whole I did prefer Wilder Girls over this book however I will definitely look at what the author produces in the future.
😄

I have been thinking about this book for days. It was much more different than I anticipated and one that I highly recommend for both YA and adult readers.

It was difficult to get into "Burn our Bodies to the Ground" because after the first few pages, I couldn't get past the reoccurring thought of, "ugh... another horrible mom+daughter relationship book." 6/9 books I've read in the past two months have had terrible mom+daughter relationships, and I almost had to pass on this one. Fortunately, this book is so much more than that. The whole first 3rd of the book to begin to get to the central plot- if you can get through that, then the rest of the book is worth it!
Margot is 17 years old and has never met any of her family. It bothers her that she isn't allowed to bring it up with her mom. They constantly fight, with Margot always capitulating- she knows exactly how her mom will react to everything and she knows that giving up on an argument is the easiest way to live in peace with her mom. One day, Margot finds a photograph of her grandma with a phone number on it--- which leads to one of the wildest rides of a book I've had in a while.

There were a few scenes were the "accidental" timing of things was TOO perfect. Of course, these moments are what push the plot forward, so they are necessary to the book. Throw in a little suspension of disbelief and keep reading- everything really picks up around 35% in the book and is tied up nicely together at the end.

Burn Our Bodies to the Ground was an unexpected thriller. The prose is eerie and I am impressed at how well Power created a horrific, but engaging setting. I never read Power's debut book "Wilder Girls," but it is now on the top of my "to-read" list!
Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children's/Delacorte Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly, this is a DNF for me. I got through about 30% of the book and I coudn't keep going. I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters and the writing fell flat for me. Keep in mind, this is just my opinion, I can see reasons why others would love this story!