This better be 2024’s it book for unhinged girlies. It was BONKERS in the best way. Parasite meets Such a Fun Age is an apt description. This is in the same vein as Disorientation and Yellowface if they were thrillers. I started to feel pretty skeptical when the cheating started but by the end, I was marveling at Sara’s vision. This was masterfully created.

My only huge complaint is everyone was calling each other by name way too much and according to my count baby was used 57 times. It immediately gave me the ick toward David.

While We Were Burning, while interesting in concept, was just too unbelievable for my taste. Brianna is a confusing character and her deeds go far beyond reality. I finished the book, but had a hard time reading it toward the end, as I was rolling my eyes so much.

2 stars

Brianna and Elizabeth end up on two sides of a tragedy as they both seek answers to questions that lead them towards things they didn’t know. I wanted to love this book but it didn’t quite do it for me. There was great potential with the plot and some twists that were good but predictable. I feel like there was opportunity for some really shocking unexpected events but they didn’t happen. Also, I know it’s unedited but at times, the formatting was a little difficult to follow. It was gripping enough that I finished but I would have liked more out of the thriller.

This book was like a car crash I couldn't look away from. I needed to know how it ended but had to physically set it down several times because of the anxiety it gave me. It started on the slow side but made up for it in the second half.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" haha yup that is the question I too was asking myself toward the end of the book.
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You have to love a book that has you loving and hating the characters all at the same time. A page turned for sure. Sensitive content when Lizzie's best friend is found dead of apparent suicide, but now how will she deal with it all?
David thinks getting her a personal assistant, which is more of a paid friend to be with her most of the time will do the trick. Well Brianna has other plans for this friendship.
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I would say that it started out a little slow for me but picked up very quickly. It's a hard one to review without giving away spoilers so I will say I would recommend to others. Thank you @Netgalley and @Penguin Group Putnam for the advanced copy for my honest review as well as @SaraKoffi for a great story.

Debut authors and stories are notable and this is no exception. Stunning success and entertaining to the end. You will not be disappointed.

This book had my heart literally racing towards the end. Which was completely delicious and twisted. Perfection. It's been compared to Such a fun age I actually think this was better. If you're looking for a fast thriller with multiple aspects, tensely plotted, beautifully written. Or if you like suburban drama and toes on race and class put this on your radar for April! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

I picked this book up because of the comparison to 'Such a Fun Age' and I wasn't disappointed. 'While we were burning' is a super twisty suburban thriller with race and class undertones. Elizabeth is a stay at home wife who occasionally teaches at a tutoring center, and her and her husband are considered the hottest couple in the area (no reason is given for this, I guess they're just rich and attractive).

Then, one of Elizabeth's friends is murdered but it's set up to look like a suicide. The book is halfheartedly about trying to figure out who murdered her, and Elizabeth slides further off the deep end trying to persuade people that it was an actual murder.

Brianna, a black woman who was studying to be a pharmacy technician, enters in at this point, sliding in to presumably be Elizabeth's personal assistant (aka her paid friend?) but secretly working her own motives. I don't want to say more than that to avoid spoilers.

The ending was delicious and unexpected and I couldn't put it down. I don't want to spoil it but I was semi screaming with all the reveals at the end. After finding out Brianna's motivations I was worried that would be it, but the author did save some good twists for the very end.

The description of While We Were Burning being a twist between Such a Fun Age and Parasite is completely accurate, in the best kind of way. This book was a page turner that I couldn’t put down; there was so much anticipation to know the ending. The main characters in this book - Elizabeth and Brianna are so unlikeable at times, yet you are simultaneously able to deeply empathize with them. This is rare and a testament to the author’s skillful writing.

My biggest criticism is that we never get enough background on Elizabeth to fully understand why she is the person she is. There’s a scene early on in the book, during a sexual encounter with her husband, where it’s clear she has some kind of sexual trauma in her past, yet we never find out more. Situations continue to arise throughout the book where it’s made clear that Elizabeth is a very “broken” woman with a lot of trauma. Outside of our exposure to her mother who is a narcissist, we never get any deeper background information. I think that I would better understand the book, as well as Elizabeth, if we’d been given more insight into her past.

Overall, I recommend this book. It’s a fast read that will keep you wondering.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House, G. P. Putnam’s Sons for an advanced digital copy of this book!

This book was a slow starter for me, but then, as the two women's stories began to intertwine, the complications became intriguing. No one was exactly as they appeared and all had agendas. I was frustrated by the speed with which each character was quick to accuse and blame others without complete information. Probably accurately reflects human nature.

What a page turner!!! This was a wonderful domestic thriller that encompassed friendship, marriage, mental health and loss. This book kept me fascinated and turning the pages wanting to know what was going to happen next. I loved that the setting was in Memphis. I both loved and was saddened by the relationships in the book. I felt the conflict of the intertwining of the relationships as will as the ending was compelling. Great book!!

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and NetGalley for sending me a digital ARC to review. I enjoyed it over a weekend!

While We Were Burning is a shocking domestic triller that is so believable it’s scary.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and NetGalley for sending me a digital ARC to review.

Though the main twist is introduced within the first act of the novel, the fear of “how could this get any worse?” keeps you turning the pages.

I loved the dynamic of the two main characters both being equally unlikable and perfectly wrong for each other. The idea of being so desperate for female companionship that they are blind to each others true motives was part of what made this novel so thrilling.

I felt that the conversation surrounding race, class, white feminism, etc were poignant enough and didn’t come off as awkward or forced.

I look forward to reading more from this author in the future!

More women’s fiction about race, friendship and motherhood than a thriller per se, but definitely relevant and readable.

⅘ I enjoyed this novel and would recommend it. The timeline seemed unnecessarily rushed -Jack had a pregnant wife 6m after Patricia died? David and Brianna are in love? Overall, it was an intriguing read. I enjoyed exploring the concept of holding “well meaning” 911 callers responsible.

Small issues:
-The excessive use of “baby” and other pet names
-David’s patronizing behavior towards Elizabeth
-Nina’s belief that those who die by suicide don’t go to heaven.

Small Joys:
-#FuckNashville
-Elizabeth being a perfect amalgamation of the worst try-hard woke white lady inserting herself in everyone else’s business.


-Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC.

Incredibly captivating and help me turning the page and wanting more. I hate I have to wait so long to shout this book from the rooftops and have friends buy, because everyone needs to read it.

Special thanks to Putnam Books for the ARC. I enjoyed this one and it doesn’t come out until my Birthday next year.

The writing was really good and a fast read!

While We Were Burning follows two women, Elizabeth and Brianna. Elizabeth has found the body of her best friend hanging; she knows that this isn’t a suicide despite what everyone around her says. Her life starts to pull apart at the seams, so she hires Brianna as an assistant to keep herself organized. Brianna is also dealing with her own trauma: the death of her son at the hands of the police in Elizabeth’s neighborhood. She doesn’t know what happened, but she wants answers. In order to get those answers, Brianna does everything she can to learn as much as possible by being around Elizabeth.

The characters in this novel are very well-fleshed out; I found myself both loving and hating Elizabeth and Brianna at different points throughout the story. Koffi makes both women painfully human and both just enough off their rockers that they never feel unbelievable.

This novel also addresses a ton of important social issues in a seamless way. Nothing felt too meta or was addressed in a way that took you out of the story, and in the end still provided great food for thought.

I did worry that the twist was given away too early on in the book but was pleasantly surprised with how the story continued to develop after. There were some elements that felt a little predictable and clichéd- namely when it’s overtly noted that Brianna and David have some unspoken tension going on and their subsequent affair. I think Brianna using her affair with David as a kind of escape would have been a bit more impactful if there’d been fewer lingering gazes and moments where they’re standing too close. That aside, there’s still plenty of enjoyable drama to be read.

Overall, I thought While We Were Burning was a decent domestic thriller, and definitely not a bad choice if you’re into that subgenre in particular.

What a debut! Powerful writing and an interesting book. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Four stars. I loved the Memphis setting and how Koffi told the character's stories.