Full formatted and posted to all links in profile (except amazon) 4/3

Three Months

I read Burn Our Bodies Down, for the first time, in January. Yes. You read that sentence correctly. I read Burn Our Bodies down for the first time in January. Since then I have unsuccessfully tried to write a review for Rory Power's sophomore follow-up to the New York Time's Best Seller, Wilder Girls. Why? Glad you asked, as always. Website issues, aside. Every time I've tried to write said review, one of two things have happened.

I stare blankly at the screen with my fingers on the keyboard, frozen.
After doing the above for so long that bodily functions need attending to, I come back and start running through my ARC praying for a starting point. This then leads to me rereading whole chunks of Burn Our Bodies Down. This has happened a multitude of times.

It happened again yesterday but I was determined to do the thing when I woke up this morning. At 10:00 AM #1 started. I refuse to be beaten. I will write this review.

Disclaimer

Everyone has a right to their feels. I've said that before. I believe this in my core. No matter the book. Right down to Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. I believe this whole heatedly. I kid, I tease, but at the end of the day everyone's opinions are valid. That is, as long as it isn't filled with personal attacks and hate speech etc... (which should go without saying but lately, I feel like I need to say it).

Why do I say this, now? Again! Glad you asked! You can hate Wilder Girls and you can hate Burn Our Bodies Down. This is well within your rights. Your feelings and opinions are yours and no one has a right to tell you otherwise. Here is what you can't do <deep breath>. You can't change facts. Facts are facts. They are not opinions.

ARCs are ARCs and I understand that, as well. If there was confusion between what could be formatting issues in an ARC and author intentions? While, in context of reading Wilder Girls with rang clear to me, but that is me and there are plenty of things that ring clear to others that I'm just sitting there like... I didn't get that at all.  So, completely understand.

Where I was blown away that what was actually happening, was the conveyance of a character's mind breaking down through the syntax, sentence structure, word play, and break in grammatical norms, when reading the ARC? Others saw a mess. And so OK, if that is a misunderstanding and/or if you got it but it just wasn't what you liked.

What isn't OK? Calling out the author, editor and publishing house as grammatically and generally speaking, inept. That is not OK. Whether you think it was a formatting blunder or it just wasn't for you? Those are opinions that do not lead to it being OK to call the aforementioned inept.

Intentionality

What does this have to do with Burn Our Bodies Down? Simple. Power's ability to utilize grammar, sentence structure and syntax in beyond compare. It was not a fluke or lightning caught in a bottle. You don't just get away with that ability. To break the rules and have that kind of effect on the story, you must know the rules. An author must know exactly where they mean to end you end, and the literary tool(s) that will get them there. This is not haphazard. It is exact and if not wielded correctly? It would be a messy and disastrous.

Use it too much and it is overkill. Use it too little and it seems pointless. It is a balancing act. How it is done must convey exactly what you mean to convey about any piece(s) about the story. in Burn Our Bodies Down Power uses it to convey not just one character's changing state of mind overtime but an entire mood that hangs over past events. There is preciseness behind her choices in whether handwriting is "precise," or "jagged."

At times when a character is trying to keep themselves in a state of calm, the punctuation is more present. When panic sets, it becomes more sporadic and non-existent. As the character ages, it becomes more mature, dialogue between characters emerges. This gives insight to not just one character but many, as well as what was happening to an entire sequence of events. That structure and grammar provides an entire atmospheric tone to the events and people involved. That isn't happenstance or an accident. Not two books in a row.

To ignore that as a factual piece of structural intent, whether you like that writing style or not (which, again is completely valid either way), is to ignore a fact.

Similarities

While I'm doing the broken record. Here are the similarities.

I won't say when, where, why or how but you will find yourself rocking back and forth muttering why, why, why and why do I do this to myself
There are faces you make when you read certain books of a certain nature- books you shouldn't eat when you are reading them? Like parts of Girls with Sharp Sticks/Razor Hearts,- these pieces of horror-  that you will make for large chunks of Burn Our Bodies Down. I'm afraid my face might stay this way. I'm making it now and I'm not even reading the damn thing.
It is disturbing.
The heart of the matter- relationships. At the heart of both books are relationships. Different relationships, but relationships none-the-less.

Differences

Ultimately it is the differences between Wilder Girls and Burn Our Bodies Down that make the latter a far superior book. And for anyone who doesn't know (whether through my review of it or just generally speaking), my love of Wilder Girls? That is saying quite a lot.

In the context of genres, I would imagine (imagine because I have not written a book), it is easier to generate the level of horror and disturbance created in these books when writing one more along the lines of Wilder Girls. The ball so-to-speak, is in the author's court. Everything is playing by the Power's rules. She created the island, the tox and the rules by which it lives, infects and grows. What happens to the girls and the cascading affects are in her hands. She gets to determine these pieces.

Thank you to Delacorte Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

With Burn Our Bodies Down, it is not that simple. The parameters are much narrower because, in its essence, it is a contemporary family drama bending into horror. Whereas, Wilder Girls is sci-fi bending into horror. There are a lot more realistic rules in which Power has to adhere by to thread the story together. Even within the horror layer of the story, it has a level of realistic possibility. For that all to work, she has to meet the real-world half-way. With Wilder Girls, it was her world to bend and twist.

This holds true for the setting as well. Critical to the atmospheric creepiness of Burn Our Bodies Down is the land surrounding Gram's home. The cornfields and the grove are another character in this story. While the island was of Power's imagination, much of the cornfield and the grove had to play by the rules of nature. Yes, there is much left to her imagination, as well. But again, she does have to meet mother nature, half-way, which means the horror has to have at least one foot rooted in reality.

Family--The Ties that Bind . . . And Gag! 

That is a quote from Erma Bombeck, whom I started reading in like third grade. I'm surprised the librarian didn't call child protective services. I found her hysterical. I was an intuitive child. Anyhow, at the heart of Burn Our bodies Down is a child looking for belonging. More specifically, Margot wants to belong to her family. Having grown up in a very dysfunctional relationship with her mother, Jo, she is ready to search out the family that has been kept secret from her for seventeen years.

It is during the first part of Burn Our Bodies Down that you get a feel for this dysfunctional relationship, a few clues that something is heinously wrong, and Margot is about to open a Pandora's box that should have remained closed. Upon arriving in a small, seemingly sleepy Nebraska town where her grandmother lives, a major event hits and Margot knows that nothing is what it seems.

In Margot, it is easy to sympathize with a girl who wants a piece of normalcy, even if she doesn't quite know what that looks like. An adult figure in her life that is family, in the way family should be trusted to tell you the truth, to protect and love you. At the same time, it is easy to get whiplash as you volley between who the villain is between Margot's mother and grandmother, and who is really out to protect Margot. If at all? And from what?

Power's writing is much more laid back, at times in Burn Our Bodies Down, matching the atmosphere of long, summer Nebraska days. It almost lulls you into this nothing to see here kind of complacency. AND CRACK... Back to reality or as Margot says...

Sometimes life looks exactly the way you think it should.

And then we pass it and it doesn't anymore.

It is in those cracks that you will want to crawl across the floor, hand to mouth, rocking back and forth, heart in your throat, stomach where your heart should be. I don't know what Rory Power will do from here. Or what her work in the adult world will look like. But I am absolutely here for it.

Bonus points for having a main character that is just flat out single.

well how to review this, i started this without any idea what it was about, love the writing style of the author, poetic and deep, loved the main character, gutsy and damaged. loved the mystery and the startling quality to it. not as fond of the last third except for the resolution. But yes it was a statement on our times and a statement about relationships what to take with us and what to leave. a solid 4.5

*A big Thanks yo Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a review copy of this novel*

This was a weird one. There is just something about Rory Power's prose that pulls you in, and then you get smacked with this really compelling narrative that is so strange that you don't want to put it down.
Final rating: 4.25 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

"You learn how to be loved without any proof. Seventeen years and I'm still getting that part wrong"

I don't usually read Young Adult books, but when I do it's Horror and it's Rory Power.

Burn Our Bodies Down was intense. There's an awkward and abusive mother and daughter relationship at the heart of the novel and it resonated with me.
There's a mystery that slowly unraveled and then just burns out in the end.

I'm still putting my thoughts together, but this was an interesting read that I'd recommend, but perhaps have something light to read after because this one is heavy.

The best thing about this book for me was the lyrical writing by this author. I am drawn to this kind of writing like a moth to a flame and this alone will have me seek out a different book by this author to see if I enjoy it a bit better.

Although the mystery behind the story line kept be engaged I felt the ending was rushed and even maybe a bit incomplete. There is this huge build up of secrets the entire book and I just felt a bit let down with the ending. It just didn't feel right when I closed this one. The characters also did not quite develop like I would have liked. I feel like every one of them could have done so much more for this story if written better.

Even with my issues with this story I can see why many enjoy this author and I will be on the lookout for something else to read before I decide whether to keep on a journey with her.

This is my first Rory Power novel, and after hearing great things about this and Wilder Girls, I can safely say that Rory Power is now one of my favorite authors.
I love books about secretive families, particularly when a main character discovers family they didn't know existed. I also like strange, secretive small towns, creepy houses, and science fiction blended with horror. Burn Our Bodies Down has all of this, as well as a complex, flawed main character, wlw representation, and exquisite writing.
This book was perfectly paced, perfectly structured, with amazing, complex characters that seemed very real. I loved the reveal at the end/the explanation of the mystery, as well as the diary entries dispersed among the chapters. Margot was such a great character, and the writing itself was haunting and beautiful.

Is it fair to start a review with, "This is one weird story?"
We meet Margot, who is living with her mother in rather abject circumstances. And their relationship is clearly dysfunctional. Margot's mother has "rules," and if Margot breaks them, or says or does anything her mother doesn't like, Margot must navigate through the situation like a starship through an asteroid field.
The first person narration helps readers immediately empathize with Margot and root for her as she leaves her abusive mother to try to find a family her mother has never talked about in a town a few hours away. Upon her arrival, Margot is immediately recognized as a Nielsen girl as Margot, her mother, and her grandmother share the same face. And this "Orphan Black" situation comes back in to play as Margot finds a girl killed in a fire who also shares their features!
Readers need to suspend a lot of disbelief while reading this novel. I kept wondering if it was a psychological thriller or if these events were really happening. In any case, it was enough to keep me turning the pages to get to the weird and twisty ending.
Hand this novel to readers who like thrillers, mysteries, psychological thrillers, and twisty tales.

I...almost have no words
I read this in ONE SITTING yesterday and needed a good nights sleep to process.
I really liked this. I'm not a thriller type person because I have high anxiety and NEEEED to know what happens and often spoil myself by reading the ending. I fought off the urge and powered through. Let me tell you I made some crazy guesses during the plot about what was happening and ONE OF THEM WAS RIGHT haha
This was just overall, extremely well done. I think the writing style was magical, the characters insane, and the plot line kept me guessing and guessing the entire time. I actually haven't read wilder girls yet and now feel like I absolutely need to. I'm pre-ordering this book immediately and y'all should too

This is the type of book that I look for. Thrilling page turner with a little bit of her or mixed in

I loved Wilder Girls by Rory Power so when I saw that she was realizing another horror novel I was super excited. Burn Our Bodies Down wasn’t a horrible book, it had me in its grips and I had to know what happened. But I’m a little disappointed in its execution.

Rory gave the creepy edge and prose that made these horrible things came alive in your mind. The climax of the story had me reading as fast as I could to know more and then putting the book down to gather my thoughts. I feel as if more explanation and detail could have been added in certain areas. There was room to expand on a lot of things.

I don’t hate this book, but I don’t love it either. I’m I excited for future books by Rory? Of course I am and I can see why so many people are going to love Burn Our Bodies Down, but this one wasn’t for me.

4 Stars

CW: mental and physical abuse (neglect & and a LOT gas-lighting); body horror / gore; graphic / on-page depictions of death and violence

Thanks so much to Netgalley and Delacourte Press for giving me an eARC of this novel. I can't wait to buy my own copy in July!

Set in Nebraska in the dead heat of summer, this YA horror mystery carries a tone and atmosphere akin to <i>Sharp Objects</i> and <i>Cujo</i>. Margot is a teenager on the cusp of adulthood, and she's never known anyone else in her family besides her mother, Jo. Despite their estranged relationship, all that Margot and Jo have is each other. But, it's not enough for Margot. Jo is a very particular person with a lot of pride and anger. She's defensive every time Margot asks about her family. So, a certain argument finally pushes Margot over the edge and she determines to find her family by herself. What follows is a gritty, unsettling narrative of familial and self-discovery.

I liken this narrative to <i>Sharp Objects</i> because of its exploration of complicated family dynamics with morally grey female characters. I also thought of <i>Cujo</i> due to the emphasis on consequences, survival, and small-town folklore. And yet, even with these similarities, <i>Burn Our Bodies Down</i> is a narrative unique on its own. The characters in this narrative are nuanced and oh so flawed. I loved them, even there were just a few minor characters I would have liked to get to know even more. I also love this narrative's exploration of inheritance and small town politics. The ending was really satisfying and well-developed.

I think you should go into this narrative as blind as possible. It's a wild ride, and the pacing is decent - that is, it feels slow for a bit in the middle but it pays off in the end. I read Power's debut last year, and, though I enjoyed it, there was a lot lacking in the narrative for me personally. If you felt similarly to me about <i>Wilder Girls</i>, you might like this sophomore novel even more. I don't think we've seen the best of Power yet, and I can't wait to read what she releases next.

I loved Rory Power's Wilder Girls, so I knew I had to read Burn Our Bodies Down this year! I was a little skeptical, simply because I LOVED Wilder Girls, but this book definitely topped it. It's one of those books that has an eerie element to it, but you can't pinpoint exactly what it is. As you progress, things get creepier but you can't understand why. And then the ending... WOW. Burn Our Bodies Down is now one of my new all time favorites!

Burn Our Bodies Down is one of those books that as soon as you pick it up you know you won't be putting it down until the very last page. It reminded me of Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn the way you can feel the heat and the menace lurking under every page and Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer the way it made me feel unhinged and searching but in the best way possible. The story builds slowly, but it grows like a weed closing itself around you until you are completely absorbed. It gets under your skin. It's a book that made me afraid to turn off the lights. Rory Power's mind is incredible, I've never read any other books like hers.

This was one of my most anticipated reads ! I loved the dynamics of the characters and the fact the author gives the characters struggles. This book was wild. It deals with things such as abuse which may be difficult for some to read. I won’t go into detail about the story just so it’s not spoiled. But this book is worth reading!

This book was very highly anticipated for me, as the author's second release following her epic debut last year, Wilder Girls, which was one of my top books read in 2019.


Although this book personally for me didn't live up to Wilder Girls, it was still a great read and I thoroughly enjoy Rory's writing style and building of weird and suspenseful stories.
Much like Wilder Girls, the book keeps you guessing up until the very end and trying to figure out what expactly is going on, with plenty of WTF moments along the way.


I especially love how the author writes family dynamics and relationships that arn't without struggles and hardships, they feel more realistic to me than reading about your typical happy families with seemingly no troubles.


I would still highly recommend both of Rory's books so far and am looking forward to reading her future releases.

Burn our bodies down is a twisty YA thriller set in Phalene, a small town where Margot goes to uncover a sinister family past. Rory Power’s writing is tight and easy to fly through with character that stick with you like dirt under a fingernail.

Her writing is a little young but she is writing for younger audiences. If you like subtly creepy/horror vibes this book is for you. I enjoyed my time reading it but have grown to understand my own standards in reading YA. I will still be recommending this to others because I feel as though her writing is engaging and unique, and can bring up interesting discussions.

This was probably one of my most hyped books to read since it was announced. I was a big fan of Wilder Girls, so when I was approved this I was extremely excited. However, it did come while I was having a rather big reading slump. Luckily me and my girlfriend decided to read this together. This book was probably the first book I’ve read in a few months that I’ve been able to finish and actually felt like I was getting somewhere with it. The story was quick and gripping, enough so that I didn’t realize I was more than 50% into the book until I finished reading for the night. The story itself was well done. It kept you guessing until the end, which isn’t something I can say often, but I didn’t see the ending coming for this one. Margot as a character wasn’t likeable, but you find yourself believing she’s real because of it. She was very much a teen making mistakes. She doesn’t listen to her mother. She runs off to her grandmothers. She wants to be loved, but finds herself completely out of water and in a situation she can’t expect to get out of. All of the characters in this book are unlikeable. Vera is ruthless and deceiving and terrifying. She leaves you questioning what you're told and also desperately wanting her approval. Josephine seems unhinged and broken down, someone you want Margot to leave only to find yourself screaming that she shouldn’t have left her. Most of the book you’re left thinking ‘did I read this right?’ and almost a sense of being gaslighted throughout it because you think you know what you read only to be told otherwise throughout it. You think you know where this story is going to go, that there’s something supernatural at work, that there’s more happening than it seems, only to find out it’s more rooted into something real and that makes it scarier. I loved this book, loved every second reading it and I’m afraid it’s going to make my reading slump worse because nothing can live up to this experience.

Oh, where to start? Wilder Girls was one of my favorite reads of 2019 and Rory Power knows how to WRITE. Like Her debut, I could stop reading until late at night/early morning — that’s how GOOD it is. Also, the plot is fantastic; I love premises/plots like this. Rory Power knows how to knock it out off the park every. single. time. I just want Rory to, like, let me adopt her brain because I could never come up with stories such as these. I will automatically be preordering this and future novels!

Margot has been secretly searching for her past behind her emotionally distant mother’s back for as long as she can remember. That’s a hard task to accomplish when you have to walk on egg shells in a tiny, run-down apartment in a city you hate. However, when buying back some of her mother’s possessions from the local pawn shop with squirreled away money, she finds a clue tucked away in an old bible on the back of a photo.

Phalene.

Margot plots an escape to the small farming town. Seeking her family and the story of her past, everyone seems to know who she is, but no one can tell her much of anything. Things turn hostile when she finds a dead girl who shares her own face in a blazing field fire. A girl no one seems to have ever seen before. A girl her grandmother also ever knowing.

As Margo dives deeper and deeper into the mystery of her own origins and searches for answers to who this doppelgänger girl could be, she finds herself in the middle of a dark, deep mystery spanning generations. As she spirals into the horrors of her family’s history, she struggles with the choice between keeping the family and sense of belonging she has finally found or the rabbit hole that is the past.

Burn Our Bodies Down was an unexpected ride. It was a slow, aching build up of intertwined mysteries that overflowed in a rush of blood and horror. It was one of those horror stories that keeps you guessing until the bitter end. The ideas were original, the setting and plot were well fleshed out, and the larger themes were made clear in the end.

I highly recommend this to any YA horror fans out there who want a summer mystery to sink their teeth into.

Haunting, terrifying, and brilliant.

Burn Our Bodies Down is about what happens when Margot Nielsen embarks on a journey to uncover the secrets of her past. As far as Margot has ever known, it's been just her and her mother, but a chance discovery leads her to a small town called Phalene, where her grandmother has been waiting for her.

This book was an absolutely wild journey told from Margot's point of view, and Powers' writing style is wonderfully poetic and engaging. The first 75% of it builds you up and with every word, there's a constant sense of dread lurking right underneath the surface. At times, it does seem to drag on, but there is always a feeling of unease. Then, the last quarter of the book jumps out from behind a tree, beats you up, and throws you off a cliff. There are breadcrumbs dropped along the way that hint at the ending, but I wasn't quite prepared for the terrifying outcome and resolution. I was somewhat disappointed by how quickly and abruptly everything was wrapped up; I had hoped for a more drawn-out reveal, but at the same time, it was scary enough that perhaps I should be thankful it was over so quickly.

The main characters in the book are built up very well, with deep and intricate flaws and characteristics. Margot's character is raw, emotional, and fierce, in contrast to her anxious and compulsive mother. However, I would have liked to see more of Tess, who seemed more important to the plot than as a stand-alone character. The relationship between Margot and Tess is a tentative alliance that grows into friendship, and their characters balance each other out well.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.