This book was a little weird. Stranger Things meets Flatliners. Are you up to playing a game? Just do not break the rules. I did enjoy the history of the burning of the Bronx.

✨ Stranger Things meets Get Out!

💜 People are disappearing in the Bronx, and when Charlize's cousin disappears, Racquel knows she must find him. Even if it takes her to a weird, evil, alternate reality game.

💥This book is creepy and at times scary, but the history of the Bronx was fascinating. This was probably my favorite thing, and since the author is from the Bronx, I appreciate the cultural information as well. The characters are scrappy and not afraid to fight for who they love.

My face at the end: 😬

🍪 I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Received from @Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire.

💯 For more details on the books we read, be sure to follow me on TikTok (@zaineylaney). I will give you a list of reasons to read! Or join us on Youtube (@zaineylaney) for our monthly wrapups and snap book decisions.

TWs: Body Horror, Cannibalism, Gore, Fire Injury/Death, Violence



BURN DOWN RISE UP is an incredibly creepy book! It's perfect for fans of YA thrillers and the TV show Stranger Things.

Unfortunately, this was not the book for me. I definitely appreciate the author's work, and do genuinely think they wrote a good story. It just didn't hold my attention. I definitely think my dislike is a me problem, not a book problem.

Horror is not my genre in the slightest. The overall plot was interesting, but I wasn't a fan of the aspect of the mold and creatures the teens encounter in the Echo.

I enjoyed the Sapphic representation in Burn Down Rise Up. It was not at the forefront of the plot, more so just a simple addition. I felt that it was great in that it helps to normalize same sex couplings.

The main character is bad ass. Raquel is funny and relatable, and her strength and perseverance is to be admired. She displays extreme bravery by going into the Echo not once, but twice.

I was absolutely the target audience for this book and I think it was great. Described as Stranger Things meets Get Out, this YA book is going to be easily sellable to teens and adults alike. Plus it's sapphic!

**I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!

For the most part I really enjoyed this book, I really love books surrounding the idea of history/the past influencing the present and this did a good job of handling it + it’s sapphic !! i was a little lost sometimes but that’s probably more of a me problem than the book itself. Overall i would definitely recommend

This was a fun one. If you like Stranger Things, Inception or Get Out you'll definitely want to read this one. Raquel and her friends suddenly find themselves playing the "Echo Game" and entering into a warped time in the Bronx's past to save a friend.

Burn Down, Rise Up is the perfect title for this allegory about the power of working together. I am seeing comparisons to Caraval and Stranger Things, but I am not familiar with either, so I can compare it to a mix of The Midnight Meat Train, Candyman, and the show Wishbone; you know, where the dog is transported into a different book each episode.
This story centers around Raquel, whose crush's cousin has just gone missing while playing some mysterious game on the subway in the Bronx. Digging through Reddit, using her dad's resguardos to connect to her spirituality, and teaming up with dreamy Charlize, Raquel must figure out the game and save the people she cares about.
I watch a lot of horror movies, and this book scared me. Being trapped underground with burning buildings above you and burning people around you and no one else is seeing it? Terrifying! But Raquel is able to see the positive in everything. Will it be enough to save her friends and the ghosts of the burning Bronx?

This book was very fast paced and non-stop action. The idea of the Echo Game was very creepy, especially since it revolved around a real event that happened in the Bronx history. There is a sweet sapphic romance and a great friendship. Overall, I really enjoyed this story!

Raquel lives a normal life in the Bronx and everything changes when her best friend Cisco disappears and her mother is sent into a medical coma because of some weird black mold. Then, her dreams start getting really weird. Raquel realizes she will have to team up with Cisco's sister Charlize with the threat of a mysterious game on the horizon.

I was absolutely hooked by this story! I really loved the concept of the Echo Game and the lore behind how it forms within the Bronx. It leaves room for the story to develop beyond just a typical horror book and something that leaves a commentary about the treatment of people of color within marginalized communities that have it out for them. I was a bit torn on the form that the main villain presents itself as, but when you take a step back and see how it fits into the larger picture of the Bronx, it makes a lot more sense. Although, I do think Raquel's tie-in to this figure was a bit too vague, even with the foreshadowing of her asthmatic condition throughout the story.

Each of the characters were super compelling, especially Raquel. She has really strong motivations throughout the story and also is just a extremely well-written character in that her dialogue and actions were realistic and made me want to root for her to make it out alive. Even though Raquel struggles to make some decisions in the story and they are highlighted as bad decisions by others, I personally felt for her struggle and didn't shame her for making those choices.

I also felt the same about Charlize, and having Raquel and Charlize as a couple was a really nice way to thread in a romance in an otherwise dark horror story with a LOT of gore. However, my one caveat was that Charlize does not appear for the middle half of the story into the final act. As a result, there's a massive gap in build-up with these two characters that left the romance a tad lacking at the end of the story. There was also a side plot revealing the best friend of Raquel, Aaron, to also be in love with Charlize, and I personally felt that it could have been done away with since it's such an overused trope that didn't benefit the story.

Burn Down, Rise Up is a fast-paced horror story that I can absolutely see being turned into a movie one day with its disgusting visuals and compelling narrative.

I received a copy of this story from NetGalley as an e-arc. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I've barely read any YA horror mystery thriller book but I'm happy I read this one. The worldbuilding was easy to imagine and understand because of its clear imagery. The thrill, the mystery, everything kept me on my toes like it felt like I was engaged in it. I do have to point out that I love how the author portrayed certain social issues in the Black community and mixed it with some horror/mystery elements. Also, the tiny bit of sapphic romance was a cherry on top of this awesome book.

Thank you so much for the ARC! Burn Down, Rise Up is definitely a serve.

4.25 stars

This is a YA supernatural thriller pitched as Stranger Things meets Jordan Peele which is a fantastic combination to sell me a book. It describes our protagonist having to journey through the New York subway system in order to find what evil is lurking down there because there's been unexplainable disappearances in her city for over a year. This story involves a lot of mystery, some urban legends. Great rep as well since our main character is a young sapphic black girl so if you need more queer horror in your life, this is definitely one to check out.
Full review to come on YouTube.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks FIRE, and the author for providing me with an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book surprised me, in a good way. I had been starting to get tired of uninventive YA books, but this one excelled in a few key categories which kept it enthralling. I read it quite quickly, and was solidly hooked for the whole second half of the book.

This is effectively part of the thriller/ horror genre, but it's not too intense for a horror wimp like me. It was scary enough to thrill, but not so scary as to keep me up at night like Mexican Gothic did. Importantly, it also had a compelling YA storyline which involved interesting characters - particularly involving the Black community in Brooklyn, and a lesbian / queer romance.

On top of all that, this book dealt with classic YA themes - belonging, growing up, friendship, and romance - all while also addressing the deeper issues of police violence and shining a light on the historical oppression of the Brooklyn community. This is where horror books do their best work - where they use horror and mystery as a vehicle to investigate real-world issues.

Burn Down, Rise Up is a fun YA novel, full of classic YA issues and with realistic characters. Tirado has a great knack for the characters' voices and they feel alive. But Burn Down, Rise Up is also a novel which is about the way Black communities come together to deal with loss and oppression. There's a lot going on, and the author takes time to investigate these issues while also hooking you into one hell of a ride for the whole second half of the book (think: stressful Jumanji-style curse designed to ensnare kids, and creepy shadowy zombie people on a train).

Burn Down, Rise Up came out on 3 May 2022 - it has only been out in the world for just over a week!

This is a fast-paced YA debut that can only be described as Stranger Things meets the best of Reddit blackhole conspiracies. A mysterious game and missing teenagers - could the answer really be that there is a underground, "ghost" of lifetimes past? The atmosphere woven into Burn Down, Rise Up is dark and grisly, without being too grippingly horror. There are elements of community history, family disfunction, and the extent one would go for friendship.

The paranormal, magical-realistic elements are incredibly well done. Rooted in history, but fleshed out even further with online investigation and theories, it's a mystery that will keep readers sucked in late into the night. None of the elements are overdone or cheesy. Rather they are thoughtful and beautifully tied together, to create a fantastic story of loss and societal betrayal.

this is basically stranger things x caraval but sapphic :DD

this was such a grotesque but capturing read -- my heart is still beating and im definitely gonna get nightmares tonight in the best way possible!

the way the book tied in historical events from the lower-income neighborhoods and the things they faced in the past and how they shape them today made the shock factor so satisfying and the "mystery" of the game was so exciting to read about!

A sapphic Stranger Things?! Sign me up. This was a creepy wild ride and I enjoyed every minute of it. I found Raquel so interesting which made this an incredibly quick read. It does get a little confusing at parts but don’t let deter you from this mysterious story. I loved the monster hunting of it all and the setting really got me as well. I would definitely recommend this to friends looking for something unique.

I really liked this book. I have quite a few students who would enjoy that there is POC representation and that it is a dystopian-esque setting similar to Stranger Things.

Unfortunately, this was one of those books that I had a very "it's not you, it's me" relationship with. There wasn't anything wrong with it, and it's actually got a very compelling plot and interesting world building. Unfortunately, I found that I just didn't vibe the narrative voice, so I found myself drifting in and out of focus with it and couldn't get as engrossed in it as I wanted to.

Scheduled to post 5/14/22.
Literally everything I'm looking for in YA horror. EVERY. THING. I loved BURN DOWN, RISE UP. This is going to be one of those reviews where I struggle with what to say because it's just going to be me gushing.

I will say that I fully never expected to see Robert Moses' name pop up in any YA book, but I love how that piece of [racist] history is in there. If you want more history on some of the nonsense Moses did during his reign, listen to pretty much any Bowery Boys podcast featuring something from the 1940s forward. Moses is all over New York City. So if you read this book and ask yourself if the part about building the bridges so low the buses couldn't get through is true, yes, it very much is. Dude was a dick.

Maybe because I'm still old enough to remember those particular impressions of the Bronx, but I liked how that history was largely unknown to the kids living there today. This community has risen up from the literal ashes of the Bronx and insulated this generation, protected them. So while it's still not great, they still escaped the horror of what it was, until they all go down into the Echo and relive it first hand.

Loved Raquel as a character. So relatable in her approach to everything. She very much felt like a reactive teenager making the not-greatest decisions at times, but at the same time she kept her head for pretty much everything. Her drive to see everything through and save the girl had me rooting for her.

The book itself is pretty creepy too. Going back to my comment about how this younger generation has been insulated from what happened to the Bronx back in the day, that horror still exists not only in the memories of a lot of the people still alive, but in the Echo. So when Raquel and Charlize go down there and see these horrific memories brought to life, the past is no longer a memory but very real. On top of that, the manifestation of the Slumlord (capital S) as an evil villain is not a far reach for most people. He makes a perfect monster (mainly because they are). Then throw in the nightmare fuel bugs and EW. People trapped in a racist-fueled hellscape for eternity, kept there by the Slumlord, never to get out. You don't need to reach far to grasp that kind of terror.

I also amuse myself at how I hear stand clear of the closing doors, please when I read it on the page. That voice manifests fully in my head.

Tirado encapsulated New York's past and present perfectly in BURN DOWN, RISE UP, bringing a wholly reachable and relatable form of terror to the surface for characters that are instantly captivating. I got lost in their version of New York, both the modern day and the Echo, and my heart pounded as some intense moments and I cried at others, mostly in relief. I can't wait to see what Tirado cooks up next!

5

3.5/5 Stars

After several disappearances in the Bronx, 16-year old Racquel can no longer ignore what is happening when her crush's cousin goes missing. Her mother suddenly falls ill, and the mysterious disease seems to have a link to the disappearances. Charlize and Racquel must work together to beat the disturbing urban legend called the Echo Game.

This was a pretty interesting concept that I was intrigued to know more about when I read the synopsis. I listened to this on audio and think the narrator did a great job with the overall vibe of the story. The world building and pacing were a bit lack luster at times, but as the story progressed I became more invested in the story and the characters. I wasn't the biggest fan of Racquel, she just rubbed me the wrong way and I think she was pretty selfish, especially when it came to how she treated her best friend. I did enjoy the friendship aspect of this book more than the romance, and was glad the romance took more of a backseat. I also like how this had some historical fiction and supernatural elements thrown in as well, as I was expecting only a horror story, but got so much more.

What an absolutely splendid book! I was not sure what to expect going into this book, as it was compared to Stranger Things and I’m one of the few people who’ve never watched stranger things. I WAS BLOWN AWAY. Let’s start with the writing style. It was raw and gorgeous and literally sucked me in, right from the very first chapter. I’ve seen this book described by others as a “love letter to the Bronx” and that’s exactly what it is! I learned so much about the history of the Bronx, and the resilience and determination of the people who live there(I’m from Canada, so my knowledge of the Bronx is very limited) And the characters? Incredible. Raquel is the perfect main character: strong, flawed, emotional and determined. Another thing I really liked was the sapphic romance. It was cute and adorable, but also didn’t take away or overwhelm the plot, while also not fading into the background too much. I loved the plot. Plain and simple. It had one of my favourite things in a horror/thriller book, and that’s the ‘creepy cursed game’ trope. The whole concept of the Echo was so well thought out, and not confusing at all(I tend to get confused by these things if it’s not explained well). This book gets more points for being able to drag me out of my mini reading slump! I had started it a week ago but due to mental health and stuff fell into a slump, but yesterday I made myself focus and I ended up reading the whole book in three hours!! Overall, this is definitely among my top books of the year so far and I highly recommend it! 5/5 stars