"Messud (The Woman Upstairs, 2013, etc.) investigates the fraught intricacies of friendship and adolescence as two girls grow up and grow apart in a small Massachusetts town....this is very much a book about masks and performances...Emotionally intense and quietly haunting." - Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"Julia and Cassie are childhood friends. We see them visiting each other's homes, doing what girl buddies do. While Julia is raised in a loving home that encourages education and being a good person, Cassie lives the opposite. She is raised by a working mom who doesn't seem to care about her yet is very religious. Cassie is pretty and popular but she longs for her phantom dad whom she tries to track down. Julia is relegated to a helpless observer as Cassie becomes consumed by her personal demons. Claire Messud is a master in dissecting fractured friendships and digging deep into her characters' psyche. This is a wonderful pick for a book discussion." - Andrienne Cruz, Azusa City Library

"Messud elegantly maps the geography of a teen girl's connection with her best friend in small town Massachusetts and brings to vibrant, pulsing life the power of friendship and connection that can only exist at a fundamental age. This compact novel is magic at all levels." - Gregg Winsor, Johnson County Library

“I thought the heartbreak of the loss and complication of friendships during the middle school years was long gone. However, when reading Clare Messud’s sagacious novel about girls’ relationships with each other and their mothers, all those feelings of confusion, allegiance, and insecurity resurfaced, showing me the bittersweet experience of growing up. The Burning Girl is an essential addition to the canon of 'coming of age' novels.” - Sarah Bagby, Watermark Books & Cafe