April

 

It's a blooming month this year, and the nominated book for April is

Ashes to Ashes 

by Jenny Han

Think Mary, Kat, and Lillia have nothing left to lose? Think again. The fiery conclusion to the Burn for Burn trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.

They only meant to right the wrongs. It was about getting even. Burn for burn.

Burn For Burn (#1, Burn for Burn by Jenny Han)

Goodreads Synopsis

Postcard-perfect Jar Island is home to charming tourist shops, pristine beaches, amazing oceanfront homes—and three girls secretly plotting revenge.

KAT is sick and tired of being bullied by her former best friend.

LILLIA has always looked out for her little sister, so when she discovers that one of her guy friends has been secretly hooking up with her, she’s going to put a stop to it.

MARY is perpetually haunted by a traumatic event from years past, and the boy who’s responsible has yet to get what’s coming to him.

None of the girls can act on their revenge fantasies alone without being suspected. But together…anything is possible.

With an alliance in place, there will be no more “I wish I’d said…” or “If I could go back and do things differently...” These girls will show Jar Island that revenge is a dish best enjoyed together.

Review

I give ★★★★✩

WELCOME TO THE BIGGEST MYSTERY OF YOUR LIFE.

This book was such an easy book to read start to finish. Not being an exactly big fan of Jenny Han's "The summer I turned pretty," It came off as a surprise that I had in fact enjoyed this book. 

The mystery is real as we don't know much about anyone's background story, but as the story progresses, I started getting to know each of the characters, Kat, Lilia and especially Mary as well as their intentions, personality and role. I'd say it's too early to choose a character I mostly like, or find interesting as all three of them seemed to play an important role in everything that has been going on. They're also extremely different people, the contrasting personalities made it more enjoyable to read because each one of them responded differently to certain situations, like for example, when they chose Alex to "bully."

The touch of the famous high school drama was the key to draw me in, no questions asked, i'm a sucker for those. Or at least used to be until I graduated, haha. But Mystery and high school is such a cool mix, definitely what i haven't come across just yet. I was used to reading from multiple perspectives, as I had just finished Game of Thrones, an incredibly complicated read if I must say, and reading this book immediately afterwards was like walking after a long run. 

The whole story flowed inconsistently, and everything was not as I had predicted,  if anything, I was convinced Mary would be in the spotlight. 

I had a hunch it would be supernatural, or at least more or less connected to something supernatural, but oh boy, i was wrong about the whole thing.  This is not your typical revenge-high-school-story. Na-na-nah. I can't wait to see what happens, there's so little I can say right now, it only feels like the beginning. 

  You would think I would pick a favourite out of Kat, Mary or Lilia, but I equally like them all, I suppose Kat is the one with the strongest personality out of all of them, and Mary has the best story behind her mysterious character, Lilia is just there, conflicted. I am not sure what is happening, the mystery is real.  I have a feeling the next book won't disappoint me.

Fire for Fire (Burn for Burn, #2 by Jenny Han)

Goodreads Synopsis

Lillia, Kat, and Mary had the perfect plan. Work together in secret to take down the people who wronged them. But things didn’t exactly go the way they’d hoped at the Homecoming Dance.

Not even close.

For now, it looks like they got away with it. All they have to do is move on and pick up the pieces, forget there ever was a pact. But it’s not easy, not when Reeve is still a total jerk and Rennie’s meaner than she ever was before.

And then there’s sweet little Mary…she knows there’s something seriously wrong with her. If she can’t control her anger, she’s sure that someone will get hurt even worse than Reeve was. Mary understands now that it’s not just that Reeve bullied her—it’s that he made her love him.

Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, burn for a burn. A broken heart for a broken heart. The girls are up to the task. They’ll make Reeve fall in love with Lillia and then they will crush him. It’s the only way he’ll learn.

It seems once a fire is lit, the only thing you can do is let it burn... 

Review

I give ★★★(½)✩

Here's a guide to how to get disorientated, a.k.a MIND-FUCKED.

Excuse my french while I rip out strands of hair because what the fuck duck?!

The last 100 pages have been the most confusing hour of my life ever! Yes Jenny Han must be hysterically laughing at how rage-ful her fans must've gotten because of this book. I don't deserve this. Nobody gets to mess with my feelings, but oh wait, this book just did. 

To hell with these girls, I'm not sleeping tonight. 

Okay, now that my feelings are somewhat out, let me get started on the stuff. I've been impatiently trying to finish this book because it was pretty B.O.R.I.N.G. Reading from Mary's perspective was like being forced to listen to this one person without an interesting story to share. Mary has like no place in here (Jar Island), I thought it would be cool at first because she was new, she tried to blend in, she spoke to Reeve, that made her interesting. I couldn't wait for her to like bump into the kid and get her shit problems together with him. But surprise surprise, there's no paradise and nobody fixes anything. On the other hand, Lilia made up for all those Mary-boring-whiny pages, because her story is just pretty great. Of course, the whole fighting with the mean girl thing was kind of a cliche for a story so freaking original.

Now this book would get more than 3½ stars but due to the lack of entertainment and rushed events, it felt like I was reading a summary of a much more interesting book. Every emotion, every action seemed way too rushed. I NEED MORE DETAILS ON THE KISSING. THE CRYING. THE HAPPINESS AND THE SADNESS.

Of course, it is a beautifully written book, and even though it is the longest book of the trilogy, where you find out everything, it felt like events were flying about left and right. This is worse than the Walking Dead and its sudden missing characters dying off and around everywhere.

➦SPOILER'S ALERT!

❗❗❗❗❗❗

Reenie dies?

What.

Well hold on I haven't even had the time to mourn the bitchiest meanest character in the story. Give me time! I'm slow with these. This book has left me with so many questions, I don't even know where to start. I suppose it's part of the book business technique to get us to buy the next book, which we obviously will because someone's gotta answer my questions.

Perhaps I should talk more about the characters, like Reeve. He may be the hottie, but what the hell is up with the getting drunk and acting like an idiot everytime? And his reaction to seeing Mary was like "what?!" and the way he goes to Rennie and then he believes they're just friends. What again? It doesn't take an idiot to see she was in love with him, and he just led her on and on and on, like give her a break.  And Alex was such a puppy throughout the whole novel. Grow some man stuff you pup, because I'd forget he was a guy or even slightly important despite the constant mention of his name. Our focus was Reeve. Manly, drunky, hottie Reeve. Alex was just Lilia's vacation toy to play with. It's a shame though because he's such a sweetheart and Kat would be perfect for him. Opposites attract right? 

Mary was such a shock, Holy Crap. I'm speechless on that matter.

This book was quite a blur, the only reason i'm up for the next book is because the ending was extraordinary. Pun intended. 

♥Goodnight♥