Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

What a marvelous debut! It’s always satisfying and distressing to finish a five-star read. Something that caught your interest from the get-go and took you on a wild and unexpected ride. While We Were Burning is one of those novels; a timely mystery that tackles big ideas and big consequences, and had me turning pages faster than my fingers wanted to move.

WWWB follows two women, Elizabeth Smith and Brianna Thompson. After the death of a friend, Elizabeth is consumed with solving what she believes to be her murder, her life spinning out of control. Her husband, David, recommends hiring a personal assistant and in walks the perfect woman for the job: smart, savvy Brianna Thompson, who seems to know the answer to everything and be able to hold Elizabeth together. But Brianna has a secret too, and a reason for befriending Elizabeth and wanting to immerse herself in her white, privileged world. As both women seek to uncover the answers to their individual mysteries, the truths lie somewhere around them.

I’ve read dozens of domestic thrillers, and it was such an honor to read one grounded in something so important and so prevalent. Both Elizabeth and Brianna were wonderful narrators, one messy and unreliable and the other one methodical and intentional. I enjoyed spending time with both of them, and their relationship is the heart of WWWB, which is always a treat to read fiction built around women's’ relationships with each other. It all lights up to a fiery ending that proves that nothing quite burns as bright as the fire we carry inside ourselves, the fire we work so hard to never let go out.

After her best friend supposedly commits suicide, Elizabeth’s life starts to spiral out of control. Her husband suggests she get a personal assistant to help.

Brianna is exactly what Elizabeth needs and fits perfectly into Elizabeths life. Soon, Brianna is helping Elizabeth dig deeper into what really happened to Elizabeth’s friend.

Brianna has questions too. She is determined to figure out what happened to her son; why did the police kill him?

As the women continue to dig, it becomes clear that they are both keeping secrets.

This book was really entertaining. It took me a while to get into it, and figure out what was going on, but when the pieces started coming together, it was wonderful! So, if things don’t make sense right away, stick with it, it’ll all make sense soon and it will be amazing. This is one of those books that were so compelling that I didn’t want to put it down in fear that I would miss something. There were so many nuances.

The characters in this one were interesting. I did feel at times they were a little one dimensional, but they were still interesting and held my interest. Initially I thought Brianna was much younger than she ended up being, she seemed to be written very young to be in the beginning, but I later learned she was older. It wasn’t a huge deal, just something I needed to reconcile.

When the reveals started coming, they were just heartbreaking! Not what I usually expect from a thriller, and I really like that this one was different, it was refreshing and really made me think. I could put myself in the characters’ shoes as well. It was a very well done psychological domestic thriller.

This book also brought to light some issues that have plagued the country, and I really hope that by continuing to spread the word, and highlight these issues, change can be made. I’m hopeful at least. This book also touched on mental health issues. Lots of heavy topics were included in this book, and I think they were done well.

There were a few things that I wish we would have gotten a little more information about, but the book was so good anyway, it was still a five-star read. I’m still thinking about it.

I still can’t believe that this is a debut novel, and I am so excited to read more from this author.

Thank you so much to Penguin Group Putnam, G.P. Putnam’s Sons and Netgalley @Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This review will run on my blog, speedreadstagram.com during publication week.

4 stars

This is one of those books where everything seems kind of confusing until it all starts to come together towards the end. Both narrators are unhinged and unreliable and you don’t know who to believe.
I thought this was an interesting and unique story that really highlighted some important issues and gave us a compelling story about two women both searching for justice, albeit in opposite ways

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the ARC!

I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review

The description of it being a mix between Parasite and Such a Fun age is a great way to describe this book! The storyline follows Elizabeth and Brianna. Set in Tennessee, Elizabeth is mourning the loss of her friends supposed suicide and she wants to get to the bottom of what happened. She is obsessed with the details and her life is suffering because of it. She hires Brianna as an assistant to help get her life back on track. But Brianna is keeping a secret from Elizabeth that will change everything. The author has you falling in love with these characters and hating them at the same time. This book follows the topics of race, social class, mental illness, and abuse. (definitely read trigger warnings before reading this book)

Wish we would have gotten more background on Elizabeth to help see why she is the way she is, I think they do this well with Brianna. I can see how some people had problems with the believability of the book. I just chose to look past that

You will love it if you enjoy a good page turner, a book with a lot of twists and turns, and domestic thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for an ARC in exchange for a review. Book is set to release 4/16/2024.

Really fun but neither of the characters quite felt fully realized at times. It had all the right elements but at points I felt dazed by their actions as I felt they weren’t set up enough. Thanks for the arc. 3.5

Taut and propulsive—this one was hard to put down. A carefully woven web of a plot whose pieces drew tighter and tighter until the dramatic ending.

The premise of WHILE WE WERE BURNING is the foundation of a good domestic psychological thriller: an unstable woman hires a personal assistant who isn’t quite what she seems. The tension is amplified by race; the employer is white, her employee is Black. What unfolds is a page-turner about power and conflict in the gentrified South.

The premise is brilliant. The characters have all the goods that make a story interesting. There are plot twists galore. And yet, it wasn’t (ironically) a slow enough burn. Parts of it felt rushed, with too much all at once, and then other parts felt like we didn’t quite get enough.

This is a good debut novel, and I look forward to reading the author’s work, because the ingredients are all there. They just didn’t land for me in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. All opinions are entirely my own.

I find myself being constantly disappointed by "psychological thrillers," and I have to take responsibility for this. I know what I like and what I don't like, and I should pick my thrillers accordingly. Unfortunately, this book did not work for me. I felt like DNF'ing for the first 20 percent or so. It actually did get better (I was much more invested once Brianna was introduced), and I love that the author gave us a big secret early on and didn't spend 300 pages annoyingly alluding to some mysterious connection from the past. Kudos for that! However, in the end I didn't really enjoy reading this book even though I wanted to love it. It was one of my most anticipated novels of the year. Better luck next time!

I wish I could read these but the ARC is a mess. Words are scattered across the page with random text breaks and font changing color. I’m just going to keep an eye out when it’s published.

I rated this a solid 4 stars on goodreads but for some reason my review did not post! A special thank you to Netgalley and Sara Koffi for the opportunity to read this book.

This novel is scorching. While the character development is at times one-dimensional, the plot is engaging and thrilling, and more than makes up for flatter characters. The themes are heavy and are presented matter-of-fact, leaving the readers with no choice but to confront these topics, all while we spiral to a conclusion that is certain to be explosive.

This is so good.
Liz is married to David and he is giving her grief. He isn't wanting to have sex and she's hearing weird things rom his bestie. After she loses a friend he convinces her to hire an assistant.
Brianna loses her beloved son the year before and then her man leaves. She is dealing with her own issues. She applies for the assistant job and she is hired.
The moment they meet you question Brianna's angle but also you want her to win whatever she needs to win. But then you're like "maybe not."
It just gets so good!
I love the thoughts on emotional labor and racism and calling the police. We need these in our books.
I will read everything this author writes.

I liked going into this book blind, and I would encourage others to do so. I felt like this was more slow burn suspense/mystery rather than thriller. If I had seen it marketed as thriller before starting I may have been disappointed because I was expecting something else.

I loved the unhinged and unlikeable main characters- it was fun to read Brianna and Elizabeth's scenes together. This kind of reminded of the main character in Yellowface. You can’t help but watch the chaos unfold.

Social issues were written in seamlessly and left me thinking about mental health, class, race, and female friendships. This was a strong debut that was unputdownable and easy to follow. Would recommend to people who love unlikeable and unhinged characters.

3.5 rounded up to 4

While We Were Burning is the thriller of all thrillers with nth degree of deceptions and plotting for revenge. Read only for expectation of exhilarating mental psychotic action in women's fiction.

Set in Memphis with both white and black protagonists, Sara Koffi’s debut novel, “While We Were Burning,” is a treatise on racism, bigotry, lies, deceit, adultery, and murder.

Elizabeth is a pretty white woman who lives in a posh neighborhood with her dishy successful husband. At his suggestion, and that of their therapist, Elizabeth hires a personal assistant to help her through an emotional breakdown.

Elizabeth and Brianna, an alluring Naomi Campbell model-look-alike with gleaming bronze skin, have instant chemistry and hit it off great during the interview.

Brianna, although not a college grad, is smart, calm and perfect for the PA position—or so it seems. The job appears ideal for her, too. It pays $25/hour to make sure that Elizabeth takes her meds, stays calm, and gets her daily tasks done. Great gig, right?

However, Brianna has ulterior motives for wanting to be in Elizabeth’s fancy neighborhood. Underneath her calm demeanor, Brianna is a pressure cooker ready to blow.

“Burning” is an emotional, controversial and disturbing testament to the often uneasy relationships between blacks and whites, police and minorities, and couples after tragedies.

JoyReaderGirl1 graciously thanks NetGalley, Author Sara Koffi, and G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC for this advanced reader’s copy (ARC) for review.

I got sucked into this book and ended up finishing it in one day. The storyline felt familiar while also being quite unique by the end of it. Some of the story felt a little far fetched but was still a good story.

Brianna’s gets a new job while seeking the truth about her son’s death. Elizabeth (Lizzie) is coupling with the death of a friend and trying to pick up her life. Brianna and Elizabeth’s lives intertwine in an unexpected way.

The premise to this novel sounded great, but it ended up being very bland. The writing was a bit too flat for me.

This book really drew me in right from the beginning with a great voice and style. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

tore through this book, which I knew I'd love as soon as I started it. it actually lives up to the such a fun age x parasite comparison! much like such a fun age, it is a very easy to follow page turner that thoughtfully explores themes of class and race. the relationship between the two main characters is sooo good- complex, playing with and then subverting tropes, and actually infused with a lot of careI . I thought it was very interesting how it uses 1st- and 3rd- narration and whose voice you become tangled up in. one of the early reveals is sooo good and really changes the tone of the book (a la parasite). don't go into this expecting lit fic, but this is a perfect read if you want a thriller with a little more heft. I wish there were more books like this! ty to netgalley for e-arc