As a fan of Rory Power's other books- especially Sadie- I had high expectations for Burn Our Bodies Down. And there was so much there to almost sink your teeth into, unfortunately I fear for me, it fell short.

Now I must preface this by saying that I listened to the audio version so the narration must have colored my experience, BUT, there just felt like there was too much tension, too many unanswered questions, and little by way of answers and very very little by way of payoff.

Margot was crippled by her need to belong, to be loved, and it made me increasingly frustrated with bot her character and the story. I am trapped in a first person narrative, if Margot doesn't push for an answer, or she second guesses herself into a losing position in an argument, I have nowhere to go and feel relief from Margot's situation.

Her mother and grandmother are incredibly intransigent and dominate Margot completely. They refuse to answer even the simplest of questions, and if they do, they lie, so I felt like I was getting nowhere slowly. The town wasn't much help, and keeping rumors and knowledge out of reach.

And the ending..... I needed bloody satisfaction, and didn't get it.

As for the audio, my only complaint was that the narrator never changed her tone. Margot's voice was constantly fraught, so I felt like I was on the precipice of some huge moment that only came at the end of the book- and even so, it was underwhelming.

Yikes, it sounds like I hated Burn Our Bodies Down, but I didn't. I just feel like I could take it or leave it.

There was a lot of good things about this novel - the narrator, the familial relationship, the secrecy, and the eeriness. While the book was enjoyable, I was able to guess where it was heading.

This book is about a girl, Margot, who has lived her life according to the rules her mother has laid out for her. As curiosity about her family becomes consuming, she searches for answers that her mother has not given her. When she finally gets a sliver of hope, she's thrown off by more lies - everyone has decided to keep the truth from her, if they even know the truth at all. Will Margot find her family? Will she finally seek the answers she wants? And what will happen when she starts to see the whole picture?

Rory Power's debut Wilder Girls was one of my favorite books that I read last year, and I've been eagerly looking forward to reading her next book, Burn Our Bodies Down. This one takes readers to a strange small town where Margot is searching for answers about her family's history. Along the way, she uncovers a horrifying secret that links herself, her mother, and her grandmother to the family farm.

It's eerie, unsettling, and really gross (seriously, Power has a gift for the gross). I can be a little squeamish, but it's Power's writing that keeps me coming back for more. Her heroines are always that perfect blend of sharp edges and a vulnerable core, her mysteries always unfurl in ways you don't expect. In particular, I loved the line she explores here between wanting to belong to someone and wanting to stand on your own. Margot longs for the kind of relationship with her mother that she'll never have, but also prides herself on her independence. She spends the book reconciling the two, a matter made all the more complicated as she learns the truth about their relationship.

It was narrated by Lauren Ezzo, who I was familiar with from the audiobook for Renée Ahdieh's The Beautiful. If you're looking for a YA novel that blends horror and mystery, and if you loved Wilder Girls, you won't want to miss Burn Our Bodies Down.

I think if a whole book revolves around a central mystery, then the unraveling of that mystery has to be 5/5 in order for the book to be 5 stars. It wasn't quite that level for me, but a fun read nonetheless. The audiobook was so theatrical, in a way I really enjoyed that made it feel like I was listening to a play rather than a single narrator (despite it only being one narrator -- Lauren Ezzo == who I'm definitely going to look up after this).

The only family Margot has ever known has been her mother. The two of them face the world together, but rarely form an united front to do so. Margot raised herself and now, with her teen years soon ending, she wants to find someone less cold and less calculating. She wants to find someone more willing to welcome her with open arms and a loving heart. She wants to find her family.

Margot was a brilliant protagonist and represented everything I love to see in my characters - resilience, vulnerability, a rebellious spirit, and a relentlessly curious nature. She had me invested in her fate, equally as perplexed by the mysteries surrounding her, and ever willing to venture into the murky past to find the answers she sought.

This was a tale just as dark and mysterious as Wilder Girls. However, the first and last quarters were by far my favourites with those inbetween feeling a little repetitive in events. I really appreciated the focus on themes of generational trauma and family bonds, and how sensitively they were confronted. I also really loved the slight vein of magical realism that run throughout, and tainted all events with an added miasma of bewilderment. This presented an abundance of mysteries and I remained relentlessly interested in finding the truth. However, I longed for something other than the cycle of events that occurred for much of the novel. I concluded the book satisfied and yet still, somehow, longing for something more. More events to have occurred, more secrets to have been unearthed, and ultimately, more of the magic that so captivated me throughout.

Burn Our Bodies Down is the second book I've read by Rory Power, and I'm really wondering if she is maybe just not the author for me. Wilder Girls was enticing but the ending just left me a bit dissatisfied because I was expecting more, and Burn Our Bodies down had such potential to discuss a tense mother-daughter relationship but instead it was a slow burn story that, again, ended kind of strangely?

Also, this author has a real thing for plants.

I will say, though, that the audiobook was really well done. I really liked the narrator for it, which is a surprise to me because I often don't click with American narrators. So good job with that.

The rest of the book, though, felt very average. I think Rory Power might be better off writing adult fiction where she can really go to town with the horror elements, because Burn Our Bodies Down felt like it barely touched the surface of the true horror vibe it was going for.

As others have said, this is a tough one to review because it's definitely better that you don't know much before you go into it.

I was expecting more of a discussion about the mother-daughter relationship in this book, but unfortunately while there was a lot of that in the beginning, it kind of dropped off towards the end and left me hanging.

I would recommend giving Burn Our Bodies Down even if you didn't love Wilder Girls because the ending is nowhere near as frustrating and if you've read Wilder Girls then you're presumably ready for that kind of vibe, but a tighter storyline. Also, the main character is gay, but doesn't rush into a relationship! Love that. Overall, this book was just okay, and while I'm glad that I listened to it, I'm not sure I want to pick up any more books by Rory Power as I find her stuff quite underwhelming.

Yes, you saw that correctly. This book is a 1 star. One. Star. Yikes.

So before I get into this review, I think it's important to point out that I genuinely like the Rory Powers as a person. I have seen her speak at a few panels and she is so down to earth and funny. I think if I were an angsty teen, this book would be right up my ally. But it fell off a cliff and burned for me.

I went into this book with no expectations because after reading Wilder Girls and not liking it, I wanted to give Powers a second thought and this book seemed interesting enough. The premise is this girl named Margot and her mother live secluded away from the rest of their family. It has always just been the two of them, but Margot desired more. After snooping, she comes across a photograph which leads her to her mother's hometown in Phalene. There she meets her grandmother and finally feels as if she can connect with more of her family. But the town isn't what she thinks and when Margot discovers a dead girl that looks exactly like her, she realizes that this town holds more secrets than answers.

Doesn't this sound cool? Because it sucked me in. I was a fool.

This book is told in first person through Margot's POV. Margot is not a happy character, literally nothing makes her happy and we are stuck inside her ramblings the entire time. She is extremely dramatic, which I can understand to an extent due to the craziness of this town. But her inner ramblings get sillier and sillier as they go on and it soon becomes a story about her thoughts and loses all semblance of a plot.

After twenty off pages of her dramatic inner dialogue, we finally get the plot moving. The thing is, the book could have been done so well. It had all the creepy elements, but the execution of these plot points were hidden beneath layers and layers of stream of consciousness. This town is creepy. People are getting killed. Girls are miraculously getting pregnant (yeah, you read that correctly) and then more death.

I am not going to skip over this miraculous pregnancy, which could have had the potential to be really cool...but once again Power let me down in some major ways. If you are going to add a weird/crazy plot point like this, you have to play it up correctly. It was just absurd and left more questions than answers. And when you think that there is finally some clarity...BAM they dead now.

This book is marked as a new twisted thriller, but it should be filed as "This book is too absurd to comprehend, trying something else." Anyway, I read this so you guys did not have to. You're welcome and I'm done taking one for the team.

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.

This creepy thriller is perfect for the summer heat. Yet again Rory Power has crafted a strange tale that I'm perfectly willing to suspense my disbelief to follow. Burn Our Bodies Down definitely has more inner monologue and less action than Wilder Girls, but I loved the deeper, more nuanced maternal relationships in this one. And the setting up of the small farm town with secrets was just right - loved the mood.

Narrator Lauren Ezzo does an excellent job conveying the full range of emotions for the first person narrative and well-done, subtle character voices. The dramatic pauses are just a touch too much for me, especially in the first half of the audio, but by the end they felt earned. Occasionally it was unclear if I was hearing Margot's inner monologue or if she was speaking aloud, but it wasn't not too problematic. Overall I'm glad I had the audio of this this one instead of reading it myself. If I'm going to listen to 10 hours of a creepy story, she's the one I want reading it.

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.

Burn Our Bodies Down it's my first Rory Power book. I have heard it's less weird than her first, but let me tell you, it's still very weird.
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The book follows Margot who is living in a small town with her mother who she has a very bad relationship with. Her mother is neglectful and emotionally abusive and has been keeping Margot away from her family. Margot finds information about her grandmother and after a bad argument runs off to live with her grandmother. We follow her as she delves into the secrets of her families past and what that means for her now.
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This book is expectantly dark and eerie. There are in particular a couple of body horror scenes that are fantastically written and utterly disturbing. But the book can at times be almost too real especially with the elements of gaslighting and emotional abuse. I don't have a major history of that but it was still very difficult to read at times. On the same note, Margot reads like an abuse victim. She doubts her own memory, and she is desperate for any approval anyone will give her. This is realistic, but very difficult if it's in anyway reminiscent of your past.
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If these are things that will not bother you, then I think the book is an entertaining wild ride. I guessed part of the reveal pretty early but that didn't ruin the book for me. The other part was too weird for me to get to on my own even when the book was explicitly leading me there. The build up to the reveal was well done. I think how the book ended makes a lot of sense. This book wasn't life changing for me, but I enjoyed it and think others could too. Thanks to Netgalley to providing this in exchange for a honest review!

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!