The audiobook of Burn Our Bodies Down is one you don't want to miss. The haunting narration adds another element to the already amazing story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the ALC of this one!

Rory Power, author of last year’s Wilder Girls (a book I thoroughly enjoyed), is back with another weird, mysterious thriller. If you’ve read my reviews at all, you know I love a good, weird fiction book that is unapologetically so. I also love horror elements that don’t feel the need to explain themselves. Sometimes, you can just let these things be, just go outside of your logical brain for a second, and it makes immersing yourself in the story so much more fun. Burn Our Bodies Down did that for me.

Margot and her Mom have always been at odds, and most of the time it feels like Margot is raising herself, that is, when she’s not taking care of her mother. It’s always been the two of them, and any inquiries into reasons behind that have been immediately squashed. When Margot finds a photograph leading her to family, history, and roots, she takes it. Even when her mother wants nothing to do with it. The further in Margot gets into the town of her ancestors, the weirder things start to get. Finding a body that looks strangely similar to her in a field is the first in a string of odd incidents. There are mysteries about her family that may be better left buried.

I listened to this one while working this past week, and it made some of my more monotonous tasks more enjoyable. I was fully enthralled in Margot’s world and loved that she acted as our guide into these uncharted fields of her family’s land. I enjoyed the characters, and I felt confusion, heartbreak, and anger right alongside Margot as she made her discoveries. It’s certainly a different story than Wilder Girls, but some of my favorite elements show up in these pages as well. It’s creepy. It’s mysterious. Not everything has a full-blown explanation. Bonus points for queer representation that doesn’t dominate the entire story.

Lauren Ezzo does an excellent job with the narration. I was with her 100%, had no trouble following character shifts, and I enjoyed the cadence. It was melodic while keeping me fully engaged. It’s out now, so if you need some more thriller-y titles to add to the last bit of your summer TBR, definitely check it out.

Rory Power definitely displays her prowess at writing stories with a strong creep factor. Margo is a sympathetic character who just wants to understand the idiosyncrasies of an emotionally absent mother. The opportunity to visit her estranged grandmother is just the impetus she needs to abandon her mother and go on a search for her family identity. A trip back to her roots, the discovery of the body of a girl who could be her twin in a burning field, and an enigmatic grandmother who alternates between caring and controlling make this story about finding your identity a great read for fans of Daniel Kraus. Readers looking for a quick resolution are going to have to be patient with this slow burn that is deliciously predictable--and yet not. Lauren Ezzo is a strong narrator. Though her cadence takes a little getting used to at first, her characterization and ability to inject emotion into the story make this a strong audiobook selection for fans of thrillers.

Can you truly know your self if you don't know your past? Margot doesn't know who she is because her mother does not disclose her past. Making Margot wonder what secrets she keeps. Burn Our Bodies Down is a suspense novel about the secrets families keep to protect their legacy and themselves. Power tries to build anticipation with children of the corn theme but falls short. The pace of this book is excruciatingly slow and bogged down with excessive detail. Margot has no time to develop and form a connection with the reader. Throughout the book, you have no reason to cheer on Margot and because of this, the family story feels superficial. The supporting characters feel vapid and forced on the reader. Gram is a shell of a person and her backstory is hardly expanded on. Her reason for what she does seemed rushed and not thought out. The climax felt hurried so the book could have closure. While there were instances of suspense and wonder, the dragged out mundane interactions outweighed those. A faster pace and more depth into the interactions and history of the family would have made this book a more suspenseful read.

The narrator's inflection helped the suspense the book lacked. although, sometimes the narration was overdone and made the actions of the characters or their dialect too much.

Loving this book was not surprising for me. I enjoyed Wilder Girls, but I will say that this book...this book was way better. It had purpose, the plot was driven by phenomenal characters, and it had a sense of brilliance that built over time through Power’s melodic writing style.

The story is about a young woman who is fed up with her mother’s emotional abuse and secret keeping. She sets out to find her extended family, something her mother keeps from her at all costs...until she’s had enough. When she arrives at the town her mother grew up in, she comes across a dead body—one that looks just like her. This is where the mystery begins.

Power’s slow-burn writing style was extremely effective for this story and really put a lot of the metaphors she was alluding to in perspective. The idea of complex generational trauma was explored through the conflict that Margot, her mother, and Gram experienced with one another. This book also showed how family dysfunction can stem from a lack of insight and ability to communicate effectively. Sometimes you just wanted to shake the characters and say, “TELL THE TRUTH!” It was hard watching Margot experience passive aggression and emotional abuse from people in her life that were supposed to love her unconditionally. Margot was such a resilient character who learns overtime to set boundaries, especially complicated boundaries with your loved ones! And finally, the horror and thriller elements that Power used led the story into a stronger, more interesting narrative—which really pulls the reader into the mystery behind what the actually f**k is going on. I was on the edge of my seat at times, because the anticipation of what was going to come out at the ending was really exciting for me.

Overall, I loved this book so much. It’s been a long time since I’ve read something that I could psychoanalyze and have fun with.

Also before I go: I listened to the audiobook. Lauren Ezzo is a GODDESS! Great job Blackstone Audio!! Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for giving us this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Four stars for Burn Our Bodies Down!

I was hooked right at the beginning because the MC’s mother reminded me so much of my own - a specific set of psychological issues that are rare to find in books because they’re hard to explain. I immediately identified with Margot and the story grips you from the beginning. Family drama isn’t usually my forte, but I was so curious about her mysterious family and her weird circumstances that I flew through this to find out what the secret behind this family farm was. Boy oh boy, I was not disappointed. The ending was surprising and interesting, and although just a tad too ambiguous for me, I really enjoyed the book overall. My only major problem was with the audiobook itself — it echoed so badly that it took me awhile to get used to that. But the book was great and I’ll definitely be getting my hands on a hard copy!

This was a hauntingly beautiful thriller with a lot of shocking twists. Margot always feels her relationship with her mother is a bit off, so she goes to seek her roots based on a clue she finds in an old Bible. When she goes to visit her Gram, things go more awry by the minute. Family secrets, frustration, teen angst... I did not foresee the conclusion. Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

This book is definitely for fans of Rory Power's previous book, Wilder Girls, as much of it felt very reminiscent in tone and pace. As many other reviewers have noted, none of the characters are terribly likable. In fact, they are all so damaged and damaging that it occasionally makes reading about them a bit exasperating. That said, I personally found the honest and complicated portrayal of their relationships refreshing and made everything especially worthwhile. I cannot exactly say I enjoyed the ending but I very appreciated it and am glad I went along for the ride. It's worth the read/listen if this is your type of book.

Although I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as WILDER GIRLS, I still found this to be a great read. Rory Power is fantastic at creating an unsettling and eerie atmosphere in her books, and BURN OUR BODIES DOWN was no exception. I also really appreciated how the main character is queer, yet this book is not about romantic relationships. We need more YA novels that showcase characters of all backgrounds and identities whose first priority is not a romantic entanglement. I should also note that I read this one via audiobook format, and I highly recommend reading it this way. The narrator was perfect -- really set the tone for a spooky story!

Rory Power is a knockout author. Her debut novel,The Wilder Girls, is a creepy, atmospheric tale, that was a bestseller with my students in 2019. I could not keep enough copies on hand. With Burn Our Bodies Down, Powers has done it again.

Margot, the 17 year old central character, knows nothing about her past. For Margot, her whole world revolves around her mother Josephine. Margot and Josephine are hiding, but from what? As Margot goes in search of family and a past, the twisting tale provides moments of fear, doubt and intrigue to hook the reader. Margot's family past is more shocking that even she can fathom. This story will stay with the reader.

My teen readers will devour this book.

This was such an interesting read.
Burn Our Bodies Down is my first Rory Power and it was really surprising. I don't read as much YA as I used to, but the thought of YA Horror was very appealing to me and that's why I requested the audiobook from NetGalley.
This starts with Margot living with her mother, and they have an unstable relationship. When Margot discovers that she has a grandmother, she escapes town and goes to her grandma's farm. Coincidentally, the plantation is burning when Margot gets there and she finds a body amongst the flames. The story kicks off from there.
I had a bit of a problem with the writing of this book: it is very descriptive in every way, from the scenario to the main character's emotions. But I just wasn't feeling it: it was a lot of family drama and it became repetitive fast, especially since the audiobook narrator was intense every time that Margot was getting emotional (and she was angry for most of the book). But the ending of this: WOW. I did not expect that plot twist at all, everything came full circle and I just admire Rory Power's creativity.
If you like your YA totally twisted and disturbing, here's a good one!

This was an atmospheric mystery thriller with an interesting premise, however I found the plot somewhat underdeveloped and it was too predictable from very early on. I listened to this as an audio book and thought the narrator's performance was excellent. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me access to this ARC.

Fans of Power's debut 'Wilder Girls' will not disappointed with her latest 'Burn Our Bodies Down.' While 'Burn Our Bodies Down' has less of a science fiction feel with its chemical impacts, it will create no less terror and revolution than her first book. Following Margo to her ancestral home, readers are taken on a wild ride to learn to why Margo's mother left in the first place, the identity of the body she finds during a fire, and how those two stories converge. Like Margo, the reader knows something is off but it's not till the end that the cards are all laid out and the truth comes to bear. Lauren Ezzo captures the essence of an angry and lost teenage girl who is desperate for any sort of connection in the world. Ezzo's narrative in tandem with Power's writing will keep you on the edge of the seat till the credits literally start rolling.

Rory Power is an author I’ve wanted to read for a while, ever since her debut Wilder Girls took the YA world by storm. Thus it was with great excitement that I started Burn Our Bodies Down, which I was fortunate enough to receive from NetGalley’s new audiobook review program. I loved the description of the book, and the fact it sounded closer to an “American Farmland Gothic” than a true horror. So then, why didn’t I enjoy this more? Well…a lot of it to do with the main character.

Margot has always been something of an outsider. The only close relationship she’s ever had is with her mom Josephine, and she’s not exactly mother of the year. Josephine works a lot, and even when she’s at home in their tiny run-down apartment, she’s emotionally distant or volatile, causing Margot to tiptoe on eggshells whenever she’s around. And when she asks about her father, or any question about family really, Josephine simply shuts her out. Finally, Margot has had enough. Defying her mom, she uncovers an old photograph with a name and phone number of someone she believes is her maternal grandmother. After calling the number, the old woman who answers confirms Margot’s suspicions and extends an invitation to visit her in a nearby rural town called Phalene.

Excited at the prospect of answers at long last, Margot travels by herself to Phalene to meet her Gram. Upon her arrival though, Margot quickly gets the sense that things aren’t quite right. First, Vera, her grandmother, is not the exactly the kind little old lady she led Margot to believe. Her farm, Fairhaven, is an eerie place, yielding strange and unnatural crop. Soon, Margot starts seeing and experiencing disturbing things that defy explanation. She came to Phalene to learn more about where her family came from, but the longer she stays, the more she understands why her mother left this town, never to speak of it again.

As usual, I’ll start with the good. First, we have the incredible atmosphere. Burn Our Bodies Down is all about the setting—a creepy small town that feels isolated and forgotten by the rest of the world. What amazed me most was how such a wide open space with its sprawling fields and endless skies could still result in such a strong sensation of claustrophobia and suffocation. Phalene feels like its own little world, the tensions growing ever more stifling as the pressure builds within. As the reader, you’re made to feel acutely aware that this tight little bubble can burst at any time, and when it does, you know bad things are gonna be a-coming.

However, the trade-off for such thick and delectable atmosphere is a hit to the pacing. Admittedly, this is not a story that goes anywhere fast. While I think there’s plenty to keep the reader entertained, especially when Margot meets other people in town like Tess and Eli, for the most part the plot development chugs in place as the narrative focuses on establishing the mystery and immersing you into the setting. There’s also a lot that doesn’t make sense—at least at first. Rest assured things come together in the end—mostly. There will be some loose ends, and for a long time, it just feels like you’re supposed to ignore all the questions and inconsistencies, which might be a bit too much to ask.

And now, time for what I struggled with, which was mainly Margot. I know she was written to be a little abrasive and belligerent, but I could only put up with her attitude for so long. After a while, that massive chip on her shoulder started getting on my nerves and I just wanted to slap her every time she got snappy or confrontational—which was pretty much all the time. Unfortunately, the fact that I listened to the audiobook did not help, since the narrator tended to overact and made Margot sound even more hysterical and annoying.

Bottom line, the world-building was fantastic, but atmosphere alone couldn’t carry this novel, and ultimately I thought the story and characters were lacking. My experience was also affected by an overdramatic narrator, but if you’re not listening to the audiobook, you’ll most likely not encounter that issue, though I can’t say I was feeling all that sympathetic towards the protagonist regardless. At the end of the day, Burn Our Bodies Down wasn’t a bad book and I thought its premise was interesting, but overall, I can’t say I enjoyed it as much as I’d hoped.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for providing an earlier copy of this book to review. Everything is my opinion and my opinion alone.

This was going to be a three star, but I just loved that ending. The last few chapters of the book really are just the exact kind of creepy a girl needs. When I started the book, I felt like the MC was just being really dramatic without any backstory to back-up her feelings. She didn't have a good relationship with her mom at all, but we didn't spend a lot of time on that and so it felt kind of pushed. But like... gah, that whole ending of the book was CRAZY and I enjoyed it so much. I honestly think Rory writes such creepy-good books!

I didn't really enjoy this audiobook at all.
The story was kind of confusing, the characters were unlikeable and kind of awful, and the relationships were all very toxic.
The main character, Margot, was SO ANNOYING. Anytime something happened that mildly inconvenienced her, she runs away. Like, either LEAVES TOWN or just randomly turns up at the girl she likes' house. The relationships (especially Margot's family) was so toxic. Every relationship. Margot and her mother, her mother and her grandmother, her and her grandmother. GET THERAPY.
Most of the characters were annoying, frustrating, or just plain awful.
I didn't love the narration, sometimes you couldn't tell if the character was supposed to be thinking or speaking out loud? Which made an already kind of confusing book more confusing.

This time I read (listened) to the book in audiobook format, and it just enhanced the experience. The audiobook narrator was amazing, and her voice fit so well with Margot’s character, and she gave the book so much more life. One of my favorite things about reading in this format was how you could hear the anger in the narrator’s voice, especially nearing the last few chapters Margot found out the truth about her family, and it made it seem so much more

Burn our bodies down is a haunting and atmospheric tale of Margot who has a tumultous relationship with her mother and wants to find out more about the mystery surrounding her family, since her mother never talks about them.

I loved the premise of this book, and I loved how casually queer it was (Margot is a lesbian) but unfortunately it just fell a little bit flat for me. I don't know if this is because I'm not used to the thiller genre but I felt like the mystery element was kind of pointless because it was pretty clear what was going on. The ending felt like a bit of a let down, I felt like the climax happened really wuickly and there wasn't a lot of aftermath (which i always like seeinga bit of character growth after the ending)

I did like how it dealt with intergenational trauma, especially between women and I feel like I would have liked it more if it had leaned more into that rather than the mystery/thiller aspect.

ARC only feedback - I listened to the audiobook for thi son the netgally shelf app and I'm not sure if it was just this book or audiobook arcs in general but the sound was weirdly echo-y. I didn't mind, it fitted the book and was kind of asmr-y but i just wanted to point it out. Otherwise I thought the audiobook was excellent and the narrator did a really good job with Margot's voice.

As excited as I was for this (after loving Wilder Girls), I was left vaguely underwhelmed and frustrated. The last 20% was brilliant; gory and horrifying and clever and twisty. I could not stop reading and even now that ending is harrowing and haunting me (as it should; bless it). But I can't look past that first tedious 80% of the book.

The two main places it fell apart for me were:
(a) the writing and Margot's tedious and repetitious inner monologues. If there was dialogue, we'd barely have two sentences/replies back and forth before Margot had to rehash everything internally. But it was the same things over and over and over. She processed everything as being about HER. And while I get she was traumatised, I think that could've been shown with tightness. Show us Margot suffering through gaslighting and anxiety, but push the story along. Whole chapters would go past without any agency from Margot and, worse, without any real push to the plot.
(b) the entire plot is based off "miscommunication". Basically if Margot's mother had opened her mouth and spoken one word of information, the book wouldn't have happened. It was tear-your-hair-out-frustrating. And like...I get its about deeply rooted trauma, but there had to be some way to write that without 300+ pages of no one giving any information ever.

The themes of gaslighting and generational rooted secret horrors were brilliantly done though. Chilling and thoughtful. The ending threw me back into the mood of Wilder Girls (I had missed it!) and that absolutely bloody moment at the end? STRICKEN by it. The energy of the finale writing should have been in the beginning!

Audiobook notes: I struggled with the app crashing continually and the sped up audio. being echoey and awful. I also found this narrator really breathy and over-emotional, which actually detracted from the story. I wanted to figure out how I felt, but the narrator kinda felt like she was labouring overtime to make sure I was feeling the right emotions. So....honestly not my favourite.

It wasn't long into the book before I was hooked. Immediately, the reader realizes there is something odd about Margot's mother - she is hiding something. And the reader will realize it's too good to be true that Margot will find what she is looking for from her grandmother. What she finds when she arrives in town blew me away. A student who is looking for a good mystery/thriller will enjoy this book. While I was not a fan of the ending, it was a good ride!