***eArc provided by Netgalley & Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review***

It's easy to say that my visceral response to Rory Power's second novel was to curl up into myself while I was reading. But in the best possible way. It's a hard book that deals with mental and physical abuse at the hands of not just family, but specifically mothers and grandmothers. It's sci-fi, it's horror, and it's so emotionally raw that I'm surprised that Power has talked about how much of herself she had to rip out of herself for Margot's story - it shows and it's brutal.

I adored this book, but it was rough to get through. The mystery of it all, and seeing if Margot ever gets what she wants out of her relationships, though, was a strong propelling force. Not to mention that Power's writing is just as beautiful and tragic here as it was in her debut, Wilder Girls.

It was a stunning read that floored me as the hits kept coming in, and I'm so, so excited to see what Rory's next book will be like.

This is creepy AF and I loved it. I normally don't read thrillers but this sucked me in. A nonstop wild ride! Highly recommended. RTC.

3.5 stars

This was a very strange read for me, which would not normally be a bad thing per se, but I just couldn't seem to get into the storyline. I couldn't get past the weirdness. Rory Power is an excellent author. The writing was fantastic and the characters are well fleshed out and detailed. I did feel that it was a very original book for its genre, so that definitely is kudos to the author. I did enjoy the story and I would actually re-read it because maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind.

I would like to thank Rory Power, Random House Children's/Dela court Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I am really surprised by how much I liked this book after I was so incredibly disappointed by Wilder Girls last year. I told myself I would give Rory Power another chance, hoping I just didn't connect with her previous work and I am so glad I did. Burn Our Bodies down moved so smoothly and definitely gave me a creepy mystery horror theme I really needed. It reminded me a lot of the feelings I got watching In the Tall Grass or Pet Sematary. The whole story is very Stephen King-esque. I did start to get a little bored right before the story picked up at the end, but that is my only complaint. The creepy backstory of Margot's family was truly...well creepy...and disgusting...and I loved it. Excited to read more and more from Rory Power!

Thank you to Random House Children’s Books, Net Galley, and Rory Power for the opportunity to read Burn Our Bodies Down in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t know what I was thinking, but for some reason, despite the book description, I thought this would have a mild tie-in to Rory Powers’ debut novel, Wilder Girls. What a great book that was; I wanted more so bad that I was just hoping for this to link up somehow! But no. Despite this, Burn Our Bodies Down is still quite an intriguing book on its own. Not quite what I was expecting in terms of horror, though the mystery element is really what keeps the reader going with this novel.

Key elements of this novel include high-strung family drama and self-discovery.

As far as Margot can remember, it has always only been her and her mom. No father, aunts, uncles, or cousins that she can recall, and her mom refuses to tell her anything about her family. Margot eventually finds the clue she needs to reach the family she knows is out there.

After a phone call to a grandmother she has never known, Margot runs away from home to be with Gram, her aim to discover something about her family tree. She already has a million questions, but when a fire breaks out on her grandmother’s farm and she helps save a girl caught in the flames, her own face is mirrored back at her. Now a million more questions have been tacked on to everything Margot is trying to figure out about her family and how her life ties in, but nobody is willing to tell her anything!

What’s more, the girl is dead, and the same face keeps haunting Margot’s thoughts. Could the girl have been a sister she didn’t know about? A cousin? A trip to the morgue, rifling through old police files, and scrawled notes in a Bible are the only clues Margot finds. Each clue brings forth more questions, nothing seeming to connect at all, but Margot is determined enough to find out about whatever it is her family seems to be keeping from her.

The mystery element is what really drives this book. The whole time I was hoping for something paranormal, like witches or some such. On the contrary, the strange mystery is more scientific. It was quite interesting to finally discover the family secret, even though the book didn’t feel quite horrific or tense enough at times.

While this book wasn’t quite what I expected, the writing was still phenomenal and the story went swiftly. This is a book I certainly wouldn’t mind having on my free-choice shelf for students to choose from.

After being trapped for yearswith a rather dysfunctional/abusive mother, Margo is thrilled to discover the existence of a grandmother she never knew she had. But Margo's grandmother lives in a spooky, ramshackle town no one has heard of, a town where a girl who looks exactly like Margo has just died. Hmmm...

Burn Our Bodies Down is definitely eerie and weird. It takes a little while to get going, but when it finally does, it's a gripping book about toxic families, generations of abuse and weirdness. It's a dark book that has a whole bunch of trigger warnings and definitely won't be for everyone, but fans of horror should definitely check it out!

I was hesitant going into this book. Power's last book was highly anticipated for me with a stunning cover that drew us all in, but was a bit of a letdown... That's similar to how I felt with this book. I don't know what it is... The books oth sounded amazing and yet didn't quite hit the mark to make them great. 

This book started SLOW for me. I felt like it dragged and I just didn't care. But I needed to se what all this mystery and dark secrets were. At times I was all in while others, I felt like I was getting little to nothing with filler information that lead to nada.

When you FINALLY get to the good stuff, it all just seems so rushed. If we had gotten more of the ending vibes scattered throughout the rest of the story, I'm sure my opinion would have been much different. I get that the story all hinged on the big family secrets that her mother never wanted her to know about but it's a shame it was all saved for the end. I almost put it down long before the end.

Even with the dissapointment I have felt from both of these books, I do plan to check out any other works Powers puts out. She has a way of catching my interest with the synopsis, I just hope the next book I read from her doesn't leave it all for the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for this egalley in exchange for an honest review.

Even though I really loved Power's first book, this one wasn't the same. It's a different story, completely unrelated to the first, but much less so, in my opinion. I did read the whole thing, but I sort of felt like I could have spent my time doing other things. I was bored most of the time, and didn't care about much. I loved Power's first book enough that I would still consider myself a fan, and would read future books. But this one just wasn't for me.



Burn Our Bodies Down publishes 7.7.2020.



2/5 Stars

Burn Our Bodies Down is an great book. Compelling, gripping, and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

**I was provided an electronic ARC by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

Rory Power's newest release, Burn Our Bodies Down, is part mystery, part horror, and all page-turner. Readers follow Margot Nielsen, who has grown up as the only child of a neglectful parent. Margot has asked her mother about their family, only to be shut down at every turn. When Margot finds a phone number that belongs to her grandmother, Margot sets off for her mother's hometown. With the police investigating a dead girl that shares Margot's face, it doesn't take long for Margot to realize her mother left for a reason.

As with all mystery/horror/thriller type books, this book is very hard to discuss without giving away spoilers. I will say that both Wilder Girls and Burn Our Bodies Down were incredibly fast, engaging reads. Rory Power's approach to horror is one I particularly enjoy, and I feel that this novel in particular would be incredibly cool to see as a movie.

With Burn Our Bodies Down, Rory Power has moved into a space where I will absolutely read whatever she puts out next.

5 STARS


Rory Power has done it again.


It's not a shock to me that I love Rory Power's sophomore novel. Wilder Girls was an unexpected hit for me, given my typical aversion to horror, and in spite of its shortcomings. Burn Our Bodies Down, however, is on another level entirely for me. In some ways, I'm still processing the magnitude of it, the ins and outs and complicated corners. Could I have predicted where it would go? Maybe. But did I? 

Absolutely not, to my great delight. I turned page after page, hungry for more and terrified to understand why. Why the corn? Why the Nielsens? And why all of this in Phalene, where Margot's mother fears to return?

Focusing on Margot Nielsen, who has only ever known the same life with her mother, Burn Our Bodies Down gives her an escape. When she finds a link to her mother's past, for the family she so desperately wants, the family her mother desperately hides, she jumps at the chance to run towards it. 

And in true Rory Power fashion, she runs toward something more sinister than ever expected. 


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


There's two features that shine above all in Burn Our Bodies Down. The first is the atmosphere. From the opening pages, you can practically feel the oppressive heat, the swelter of summer at its humid peak. Everything in Margot's life is sluggish and scorched under direct sun, without ever saying so in a direct way. When this couples with the Midwestern gothic "there's something wrong in the corn" feeling introduced in Phalene, the effect only intensifies. You know something isn't right, but naming it? There's a haze in the way. All you can do is insist that you know, over and over and over.

Truthfully, I can't get over how well crafted the atmosphere is. I really can't. Especially in horror, where atmosphere has a life of it's own? This truly is a standout summer read, for the days that burn away under a too bright sun.

The second point of excellence, though, is the characters. The Nielsens in particular are a messy lot, always entering and breaking free of toxic relationships with one another. They're not healthy by any means, and their secrets run deep. 

Normally, I hate miscommunication and outright lies as a plot device. This time, though, it weaves its way almost seamlessly, because you know they're lies and deflections from the start, and they intertwine deeply with the Nielsens themselves. It builds on the sense that something is wrong, even if you can't offer anything more specific than that, and it steadily leads you further and further into Margot's lonely, desperate corner. 

Essentially, Burn Our Bodies Down knocks it out of the park in crafting characters who are both fascinating and complex while also being terrible people. It's not necessarily an easy feat, either, and I'm quite pleased with how Rory Power pulls it off!


But that's not all that Burn Our Bodies Down does well.


A round of applause, please, for the treatment of emotional abuse. Margot suffers so much at the metaphorical hands of people who are supposed to love her, and so badly craves to be loved. At points, she even rationalizes basic acts of love and care offered to her by assuming her earlier actions mean she earned that one show of love. 

And yet! And yet! You know it's wrong and cruel from the start, and in a way that's as messy as it is necessary and grotesque overall, Margot learns that too. That she hasn't imagined her suffering, that she doesn't deserve love only when she's fallen in line and backed down. She owes it to herself and no one else to stand up for herself, and I love her for it. 

Additionally, and on a lighter note, I found it really refreshing to have a queer main character who doesn't have a romantic arc. Part of it is the Romance Grinch in me who's also aro and just really tired of romance in general. But a greater part of it is the relief in me at seeing someone exist and be queer without needing to be in an active relationship. People don't stop being queer if they're not in the middle of a crush or a relationship or what have you. They're still queer, 100%. And that was a bright spot, simple as it is, in this otherwise grim and unsettling book. We have a lesbian main character. She does not have a love interest. Life goes on (or doesn't, as the case may be for some characters).


The corn isn't so far away from here...


Overall, I'm excited to see Burn Our Bodies Down hitting shelves on July 7th, just around the bend (even if you don't live near any corn). That leaves just a little time to place a pre-order so you can get in on the eerie summer book too, in case you were thinking of it! Or, if buying it isn't on the table, see if your local library can get a copy, ebook or otherwise. Don't you want to dig into the Nielsen family secrets? Don't you want to know what's waiting in the corn?

Hopefully, your answer is yes. And the answers you'll find? We'll, you'll just have to pick it up and see for yourself how strange the Nielsens really are. 🌽💛🧡


CW: emotional abuse, gaslighting, body horror, gore (including eye gore), loss of a loved one, smoking, teen pregnancy, violence (including gun violence)

[This review will go live on Hail & Well Read at 10am EST on 6/29/20.]

I really wanted to love this book, but it was a bit too bizarre and with everything that happened it just didn’t work for me. I was not the biggest fan of Wilder Girls, and I know I’m in the small group with that opinion. I honestly was really excited about this book I wanted horror and insane twists and turns. I didn’t get that, but I don’t know what I got either.

We follow Margot who has a very strange relationship with her mother. It’s them against the world, no on else but them. Margot is on the cusp of her 18th birthday and she just wants to know more about her family and where she came from, but her mother doesn’t want any of that thinking. She digs by herself to find out more of where her mother came from and she figures it out. She runs away from her mother, and goes to the town where her mom grew up and finds her grandmother. It was very strange and I didn’t care about anything that was happening. I continued reading for one reason; I wanted to see some horrifying twist that made it worth it. I guessed what was going on pretty early, and I was very let down. I have read a lot of YA horror/thriller books and that may be why this one didn’t live up to the hype for me. I didn’t find it thrilling and I didn’t find any horror.

I know I am going to be in the small, small group of people who didn’t find this book amazing. That’s okay though, this is completely my opinion and this book was just not for me. I know so many people will devour this book in one sitting it was just not what I was hoping for. I think in my head I imagined this was going to be a crazy, mind boggling book, but even at the end my feelings were very meh.

Thank You NetGalley for the early copy of Burn our Bodies Down. This one was pretty good and kept my interest. It was very well written and a page turner. It had short chapters which I enjoyed. It was very different which was a good thing!

WOW! I wasn’t sure at first and didn’t really understand what this book was all about. It took me a little to ease into it, but once I did, I was thoroughly hooked. It was an intensely woven puzzle, all the way until the end. I was completely floored at how the author tied up every loose end and blew my mind by the explosive ending. I loved this story and I’m so very grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for my free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. Thanks so much!

*Thank you Delacorte Press for this eARC from Netgalley.

*includes a mention of genre that may be a slight spoiler

1.25 / 5 stars

Burn Our Bodies follows Margot who is searching for more information about her family. Margot knows that something must have happened to her mother in the past to make her so secretive of where she grew up. Margot finds a telephone number that links Margot to her mother’s past and she is determined to find out more.

This book is apparently being pitched as a “new twisty thriller,” but to me that is completely inaccurate. I would say this would be more suited as a mystery... at times; if we even need to link it to this genre. Overall, this book is magical realism with science fiction, and oh how I wish I would have known that. I have always struggled with magical realism so I tend to stay away from it most of the time. I thought this was a thriller, but to me it is nothing of the sort. I do see how it can be expressed this way, but overall I do not think it should be pitched this way. I know this is not up to the author, but it is troubling because had I known I would have probably skipped over this. But here we are.

I enjoyed the beginning. This book is very atmospheric and fairly well detailed. The beginning is pretty ominous and I did not know what to think of Margot’s mother. I was intrigued. As I kept reading I was able to pick up hints of magical realism, but I thought surely it was a ruse. It was not.

I did not enjoy the ending at all. I kept making my ending predictions fairly complex, because I thought that surely the book would not end the way it did. But it did. Granted, I did not predict everything, which I honestly think would be hard to do; especially if you think this is just a mystery / thriller book. In the end I was extremely disappointed in the ending and the fact that this book is pitched the wrong way. I was not a fan.

I will also add that I fell like the main plot is put too much on the back burner at times. The organization for incorporating main plot points with other scenes / detail was fairly weak throughout the book.

If you do like a mix of magical realism and science fiction, you will probably like this book. I thought that the characters were pretty interesting most of the time. I will add that the book does slow down quite a bit at parts. I feel like the beginning was strong, but then it all descended after that. The ending was too much for me, but like I said if you fit within this audience you will hopefully enjoy it more than me. Regardless, I also felt like the explanation at the end was a bit weak; especially with one of the final scenes at the end that was confusing and a little too rushed. The book was quite atmospheric at times with interesting detail so I’ll end with that on a more positive note.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the eARC of this vibrant second release from one of my favorite YA authors. I fell head over heels for Wilder Girls last year, and it was actually one of the first ARCs I ever received from NetGalley. Rory's work means a lot to me in that it was a huge moment for me when I received such an anticipated work as I was just starting out as a book blogger, and it gave me something to sink my teeth into as a review writer. In that vein, I was so excited to get Burn Our Bodies Down, and I had every faith that it would hold up to the standard that Wilder Girls set. I couldn't have been more right. Rory has delivered another gut-wrenching tale led by a fierce and aged-beyond-her-years spitfire of a girl inside a setting just close enough to the world we call home to strike a chord, yet far enough removed with supernatural elements to keep you up at night.

Margot greets us at the beginning of this journey with a heavy heart and seventeen years of weight on her shoulders. She survives a tense relationship with her strange mother, both because of and in spite of the woman. They fight and struggle to make ends meet, but at the end of the day, they are all the other has. For a long time, Margot pretended to be okay with that. However, a streak of boldness finds her uncovering a secret that her mother has hidden all of her life; a family. In a desperate attempt to scrounge up what normalcy and conclusion she can, this daughter of a fire long gone out makes it to her mother's hometown. She uncovers much more than she bargained for; walking straight into a blaze, one of splintered memories and actual flames. Margot learns something is very wrong in not only Phalene, but her own family tree.

The book takes us on a ride of self discovery, family ties, and wishes gone wrong. Margot grows up feeling like a carbon copy of her mother. Even as she escapes to Phalene, she feels as though she is carrying her decisions in her every step. Though this mystery that she is handed is one just past the folds of our reality, the sins of a past that isn't even hers is incredibly real and haunting; something that teenagers far and wide are sometimes saddled with. Margot is the epitome of strong, and I hope that this novel will remind readers who are wrestling with themselves that they are more than extensions of their loved ones. They can break out of these vicious cycles, burn down any expectations, and start anew. Picking up this story is a good place to start, and they can feel the beating of their own heart within their chest as they sift through the pain, the gore, and the twists and turns as Margot finds who she really needed all along; herself.

Rory has struck gold yet again. If you're looking for a page-turner mystery that will leave you as breathless as an inferno in a cornfield, this is it. As someone with a very strong bond with her mother and no father currently in the picture, I felt Margot's uncertainty to my core. I have no idea what I would do if handed the keys to all my family's secrets like she was. I was so proud of her strength and bravery, and admired how she handled herself in a small town that had already convinced itself of what she was. But she, like all of us, is not her last name. She's not even her face. She is her mind and her experiences, and that is heartening. No matter how duplicated you might feel, you are you, and that's enough. Burn Our Bodies Down is a thrilling and hopeful read, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

I loved <i>Wilder Girls</i>, so when I saw that Power was back with another book, I was very, very excited. This book is about the different ways we pass our sins on through our family, but very specifically what does a mother pass on to her daughter, to her granddaughter? Margot's life has always been just her and her mother, no information about anyone else, until one day she discovers the phone number of her grandmother. This leads her on a search for family, but what other secrets will be revealed?

There are some horror elements, but I almost prefer this one to other horror stories I've read, where the suspense builds and the actual gore is somewhat limited.

Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Margot has always wondered about her family’s history and her background but her mother is notoriously tight lipped and reserved when it comes to anything in her past. When Margot finds a clue that leads her to the farm her mother grew up on, she jumps at the chance. Now that she’s there and starting to unravel her family’s past secrets, she may come to regret her decision.

I’m not sure how to describe this book besides..... strange. It is definitely different and I had no idea where it was going. Now that I’m finished, I understand why. It’s a very abstract story, with a tie-up that can’t be figured out ahead of time. It wasn’t really my type read, but I think others may enjoy it. If you’re looking for an “out there” slow-burn thriller, with an ending you won’t see, this is your book.

“She built her family on sand and did nothing but watch as it fell apart.”

Ever since Margot was born, it’s just been her and her Mom. No other family around, no answers to where they came from, no nothing. Her Mom keeps everything to herself and Margot is tired of it. She wants a family that isn’t just her Mom and one day she finds a photograph that hints at something more. The photograph has a phone number, and when she calls it she finds out it’s her Grandmother, who she didn’t even know existed. Margot wants to meet her so she runs away to Phalene, where her Gram lives and where her mother grew up, hoping to find answers. It’s finally a chance for Margot to meet her family and to learn their history. Except when she gets there she learns that there are many more secrets hidden and it’s not what she thought.

Margot and her mother, Jo, have a pretty bad relationship with each other and also slightly weird. Her mother can barely take care of herself, let alone a daughter. She also insists on always having a candle lit for protection. This is mentioned right away so you don’t really know what it means but you assume it’s something important. You end up forgetting about it but it is mentioned a few times and at one point comes back in a big way.

This book has plenty of creepy, weird, wtf moments and I couldn’t put it down. It has that eerie, ominous atmosphere right from the beginning and I absolutely loved it.

This really is a story about a family mystery and how the Nielsons came to be the way they are today. I loved the way the story unraveled and how you found out about different things in the past. At times I thought the mystery was one thing but it’s really not, but it’s also not that other thing it could have been and it’s something completely different. It was written so well and kept me hooked all the way through.

Rory Power has easily become an auto buy author for me and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power is an incredible work. I loved the main character and the writing style takes your breath away.