An incredible and poignant look at queer love, grief, and friendship between young women. There's also a great look at how relationships and the unpredictability of humans can transform a person.

Among the many layers of this captivating read, Woodfolk skillfully delves into the complexities of toxic relationships. The harmful dynamics between the characters add a gripping element to the narrative, creating a sense of tension and urgency that's hard to shake off.

The author doesn't shy away from exploring the darker aspects of relationships, portraying the impact of toxicity on the characters involved. It's a heartbreaking but essential component of the story, providing a realistic depiction of the challenges people face in navigating harmful connections. Woodfolk handles this theme with a nuanced touch, allowing readers to empathize with the characters and reflect on the broader implications of how harmful relationships can affect both people in said relationship.

So, if you're looking for a book that captures the beauty of love and self-discovery while also tackling the harsh realities of toxic dynamics, "Nothing Burns as Bright as You" is a powerful and thought-provoking choice for your reading list. Just be prepared for an emotional journey that'll stay with you long after you've turned the last page.

I discussed this on Book Riot's All the Books podcast. Here is a rough transcript.

I read the first book in this author’s Flyy Girls series and really liked it.
That one is a hi-lo book, meaning it’s aimed as a high school crowd but is written in a way that’s accessible to a middle grade reading level.
I found the characters fascinating, but hi-lo books are necessarily very pared down to the essentials,
so I’m looking forward to reading this standalone sapphic YA novel in verse to see her writing with a little more room to flesh it out.
This story begins with two unnamed Black teenage girls who break up after they set fire to a dumpster outside their school together.
Then the story backtracks to how they got to there, told non-linearly.
The two of them were first protective best friends to each other until they became a codependent, mutually destructive couple.
The first and last chapters are from one of the girl’s perspective, while the rest is from the other’s.
This promises to be a fast-paced and tense read with a very intense relationship.
I’m always interested in explorations of intense female friendships, especially in queer YA.
Those connections were such a huge part of my young life: your friends are often the most important people in your everyday life when you’re a teenager.
But they can also be destructive, not to mention extremely confusing when you add in a romantic element and figuring out your own identity.
From reading some of the reviews, it seems like people are interpreting this relationship in really different ways, which is interesting.
Some loved their intense relationship and wanted it to be more of a romance novel,
While others talk about it as toxic and even suffocating.
Back in October, I talked about The Falling Girls on this podcast, which also was an exploration of intense and unhealthy female friendships,
And I think that I’ll enjoy this one for the same reasons I did The Falling Girls.
I’m also glad that we’re at the point where we can tell complicated queer stories like this.
Not all queer relationships in books need to be happy, healthy ones, because we have a good foundation of that kind of representation, so there isn’t as much pressure, hopefully, to only tell a single kind of queer story.
That’s especially true considering these are two Black queer girls.
This got a starred Publisher’s Weekly review as well as a positive review from Kirkus, and School Library Journal recommends it for all libraries,
And the goodreads reviews all seem to be enthusiastic recommendations, and this promises to be an intense reading experience.
It also has a beautiful cover, so that’s always a plus.
And that’s Nothing Burns As Bright As You by Ashley Woodfolk

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

This was an excellent look at relationships (platonic and romantic) and how they shape young lives. I will be using this as part of a contemporary literature class during our unit on novels in verse.

I received this egalley as part of the ALAN conference and it is kept on a kindle in my classroom. My rating is based on the fact that my students have enjoyed this title and I look forward to when I get the chance to read it.

A beautifully narrated and powerful book addressing sensitive issues carefully. This is a tricky subject for YA fiction but Woodfolk has got this just right.

Incredibly intense, passionate, and beautiful love story, told in verse, about two teens girls who can't live with or without each other. I cold not put it down. It is a must add for any library serving Young Adults!

If you're looking for a book that will emotionally devastate you, this is the one! Seriously, if you need a good cry, try this book.

It's a story of an intimate friendship (or maybe more) between two queer Black girls whose entire lives have become intertwined. But then it all changes in one day--and one fire. Told in stunning verse, this book alternates between the time before the fire and the time after the fire. It's a story of female friendship but also of queer love and Black girlhood.

It's an utterly poetic, moving story that will especially hit home with teen readers. This one has already been really popular at my library and I'll continue to recommend it to fans of Rise to the Sun, Clap When You Land, and The Stars & the Blackness Between Them.

Have a box of tissues nearby!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Admittedly, I don't have a ton of experience reading poetry or novels in verse, so I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around my thoughts for this one. The writing itself was gorgeous - there were so many passages and metaphors that I wanted to write down somewhere, and I'm not usually someone who does that when reading.

The organization was interesting - it's told in both current day as well as in flashbacks leading up to the major events of the story (i.e. X days until the fire). I think this was important, as the flashbacks typically gave us important information for what was currently occurring, but it also tended to be a bit confusing/jarring at times. Maybe that was also part of the intent.

Overall, I don't feel particularly qualified to give a lot of thoughts, but I know I enjoyed my reading experience. I definitely need to look for more from Ashley Woodfolk.

irst Impression: I love books in verse but they usually always make me cry

This book had me sobbing. It was hard to read and messy and complicated in all the ways I remember being a teen to feel like. Woodfolk mentions in her author’s note that those of us assumed female at birth are taught to be guarded from men but never from women. We inherently relax our shoulders but women and femmes can be not good for us, can harm us, can love us and not love us at the same time. Love is often complicated and heart wrenching, losing friendships have always stung me for longer than romantic ones. I think this is because of how much easier it is to love when you think you are safe because you feel safe. But feeling safe and being safe are two different things. I think this book really explores that side of messy romantic friendships. How you can love someone so much more than yourself that you would let the world burn if it meant you could better see their face. This book has me thinking all poetic.

I would recommend this book to any of my teens who like reading poetry & reading books that might make you cry

Wow, what a book. The verse poetry was brutal and beautiful. I loved the way the story moved around in time and the intensity of the love between the girls,

This book was beautifully written and the author has so much talent. However, oh my gosh the angst! Teenage me would have loved this so much, but adult me needed more characters, more plot, more anything besides unrequited moping.

This could easily have become a cliche of a book. I'm impressed that it doesn't give ground. While we get the sense pretty early on that there is an unhealthy aspect to the relationship between these girls. There are some nods at chances to make better choices, to pull their relationship into healthier spaces but ultimately they just self destruct. Woodfolk successfully avoids the inclination to have love conquer all. While I didn't love reading it, I found the ideas admirable.

Uhhh so unfortunately it turns out that I hate novels written in verse. I have no idea what happened in this book, but it did sound very pretty and it was very gay, which is also the experience of being gay (having no idea what is going on). I think literally anyone else reading this book would enjoy it, but it was Not For Me. I think it’s likely that I would like Ashley Woodfolk’s other books, though! Three stars

Throughout June, GeekMom celebrates Pride Month with lots of LGBTQ content. Follow the Pride Month tag to find all the content in one space (including LGBTQ content from previous years) and keep checking back for more throughout the month. Today’s book review is Nothing Burns As Bright As You by Ashley Woodfolk.

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Trigger Warnings: Toxic relationships, fire, drug use, racism, homophobia.

If you ever wanted to find a book that encapsulates the power and raw emotion of first love, the danger that comes with the knowledge that you would follow that person anywhere – even to your own doom – then Nothing Burns As Bright As You by Ashley Woodfolk might be exactly what you’re looking for. This YA novel in verse follows two teen girls so caught up in the gravity of one another that their pull causes everything else to collapse around them. It’s a book about first love but also the special kind of overwhelming grief that can only come from its loss.

If I’m honest, very little actually happens in this book; Nothing Burns As Bright As You is a book that is focused so strongly on character and emotion that the plot ended up being sacrificed somewhat. Yes, there are events: the fire, a party, trips to the beach, nights spent together in bed – but they too feel almost lost, caught up in the swell of the girls and their irresistible attraction. Looking back on the story, everything that happens seems blurred, as if being seen through a distorted lens. I suppose that’s how it often feels looking back on the early days of first love though, you don’t so much remember the specific events, you remember the feelings.

The book is told through strange, not quite dual timelines. In one we follow the events of a single day, the day the girls wake up early to set fire to a dumpster outside their high school, and the repercussions of that event. The other not-quite-timeline skips and jumps around the years running up to the day of the fire, giving us glances at the girls’ relationship as it grows in ways neither of them can predict. It’s proudly sapphic, but also confused, hesitant, and unsure in a way that many queer readers will instantly recognize.

Honestly, I did struggle with Nothing Burns As Bright As You. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been written in regular prose, the book in verse aesthetic made me struggle to follow what was going on and where in time I was at any given moment. However, I also appreciate that the disjointed writing style that came from this added to the overall feel of the book, adding extra layers of… Not quite confusion but that sense of being lost in someone else. Time and place no longer matter, only they do.

As it was, this wasn’t my favorite queer romance that I’ve read this year, but I appreciate what it does and feel that there will be many readers out there who will cling to it like a life vest during dark times. It wasn’t for me, but it could easily become a classic.

GeekMom received a copy of this title for review purposes.

Thank you NetGalley and Versify for giving me an early copy of this novel in verse about two girls and a wild and reckless day.

This book made me feel many emotions so deeply and was a great portrayal of strong and sometimes toxic relationships and how they grow and change. It is a young adult book and has mature content.

Thank you to Clarion Books, Versify, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this title.

This is a novel in verse. At times, the writing was stunning and always, it was captivating. Overall, the story flowed well, but there were a few times when I wasn't sure whose side of the story I was reading. For the longest time, I thought there was only one narrator, but every once and a while the voice and structure changed. This interrupted the flow for me. The biggest problem I had with this book was that the relationship between the two main characters was so toxic and one-sided. I understand that there is a need for this type of story, but it just wasn't for me.

I felt a sense of urgency reading this book due to the powerful prose and story. At the same time, the writing was so beautiful that I wanted to slowly treasure each word. I haven't read any books like this and definitely recommend it to all! You won't regret it!

This is a book about two girls falling in deep, intense love and realizing that their relationship is unsustainable. It is beautifully written and I love how there is intense drama, yet it is rooted in truth and real things so it didn't cross the line into melodrama. It all felt genuine and the two characters are so incredibly loveable. I think it's a great book to have on a classroom shelf, ready to hand to the student who just had a hard break-up, or simply available to a student who wants to read about how falling in love can feel like drowning.