Originally written: 19/09/19. Contains spoilers and mentions of suicide.
I have no idea what to say. What was that ending? The whole book reads like your typical teen revenge flick, then one of the characters reveals that she once tried to commit suicide because of this Reeve boy? What?
I did enjoy reading this book. I did. Jenny Han is one of the only YA authors whose work I enjoy as a grown up, but the ending of Burn For Burn just tripped me up completely. Ending on a cliffhanger can work, but this didn’t feel at all earned. It came out of nowhere. About two thirds of the way through, I started thinking “shouldn’t the plot be reaching some sort of climax now?” Then I got to the final chapters; the Homecoming. I mean.
It got me. Whatever I had expected, it wasn’t that.
So Lillia is voted Homecoming Queen, Reeve is the King, then he has a seizure because the main characters had laced his drink with Ecstasy and he falls from the stage and breaks his spine. Then Mary screams bloody murder and makes all the electrics in the hall explode like she’s fucking Carrie, which is never explained at all, and only previously hinted at (very vaguely) once. Is the supernatural a thing in this universe?
And there’s no explanation given for anything. At first, the revenge was silly; post some embarrassing poems all over the school, switch out someone’s sun cream so that they get burned. Then by the final pages, Reeve is in the ICU and may never walk again, Mary may or may not actually be telekinetic (???), Kat’s all like “oops, better hope we don’t get found out” and then THAT’S IT. STORY OVER.
Is there a sequel? Even a planned one? Because never in my life have I read a book that ends so fucking abruptly. I’m so shocked I can’t even think of anything else to say about the rest of the book. I… liked it? I did! It was a lot of fun, but there was a red flag raised to me over Mary’s suicide attempt story and then the end was just bizarre.
Was it deliberate though? Like a PSA on how serious drugs are? Look at this quirky revenge story! Oh no, they’re bringing drugs in. See how dangerous they are? I’ve got no fucking clue.
The Tea Room 