The plot itself – the bare bones of the story – made sense. It was also kinda interesting and fast paced. I’ve always had a soft spot for dragons, and I love the intricacies of this world. The inclusion of these wonderful creatures in a historical setting (America in 1957) was unique and captivating. Sometimes you just have to feel bad about a thing. Sometimes that's the only thing that makes you human. Kazimir the dragon is a small Russian Blue, not many are seen and certainly not working on a farm. The book might be set in a fantasy world but the racism and bigotry of the 50s are certainly present and the locals don’t like a Blue being close by, he could be a Russian spy. The local police officer already doesn’t like the family as Sarah is of mixed race. He also has an issue with her best friend Jason who is of Japanese descent.

BURN by Patrick Ness - Word Revel BURN by Patrick Ness - Word Revel

This novel has film-like qualities: the skies are big, the plot twists and turns and the action is both hard-hitting and quite astonishing. There is an emotional balance, however, as the teenagers begin relationships and experience grief as well as first love; the pain, confusion and bewilderment Sarah comes to experience will strike a chord with readers who themselves have lived through painful times. By the end the reader is left with the feeling that they have experienced something quite vast and somewhat indescribable. It is superb (as is the audio book) and will be an excellent addition to a secondary reader’s bookshelf. Disclosure: I received a review copy of Burn from HarperCollins Publishers, the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight But with the adding of all the secondary topics and arguments and problems, the plot got covered up, it got muddy; in fact, it suffocated under the weight of all these other topics. It lost its focus and drive.The twists and turns that it contains with, the teenage assassin Malcom of who discovers being gay does not matter and makes his alternate dimension self (Hugo) know that too.

Patrick Ness » About me Patrick Ness » About me

The story is set on a farm in Frome, Washington, in 1957. It begins when the father of a teenager, Sarah, hires a dragon to clear a field for them with his fiery breath, but the arrival of the dragon heralds a series of horrific events. A number of acutely drawn characters make this world authentic and fascinating. There is a bad cop whose hatred seeps throughout their small town and whose every move and word is toxic. There is Sarah herself, a teenager who lives alone with her farmer father after the death of her mother, and there’s the boy next door, Jason Inagawa, for whom Sarah has romantic feelings. There is also a cult of dragon worshippers who believe in a prophecy that predicts the end of the world. I think this book could have worked with a higher word count. More time to establish the world-building, more space for the characters to develop, more room for the story to breathe and settle. Because this was one wild ride and I believe it might have given me a concussion. As much as I enjoyed reading how the story unfolded during the first half of Burn, after some time I felt like things were beginning to drag on. In part, that stemmed from the choice to present Burn from multiple perspectives; too many perspectives, in my opinion. Frequently jumping around between scenes became quite jarring. I’d be so invested in learning what would happen next with Sarah, that I almost groaned whenever a new character was introduced.I have to admit that part of why I had such mixed feelings towards Burn was that it was one of my most anticipated reads of 2020. Ness has such a unique take on storytelling and injects a lot of creativity into his books. He did show some of his brilliance with his insightfulness into the human condition but I didn’t think that was enough to carry the rest of the book into four, let alone five stars from me. It's very much the 50s we know, including the racism, but it has dragons it. Somehow this never feels shoehorned in, it just works seamlessly. We have a full cast of diverse characters, the farm girl, her Japanese boyfriend, the gay assassin coming to kill her, the detectives following the assassin, the giant blue dragon I kinda want to marry? Is that weird? Sarah is a sweet young girl who has been brought up by her father alone on their farm since their mother died. To keep the farm and pay off the debts her father needs a bumper crop and harvest and to be able to afford this he hires a dragon. It is also just an incredible story with twists that I didn't see coming at all. Yeah, there's nothing more to say except I never wanted to put this book down and now I love it, the end. The dragon, Kazimir, has more to him than meets the eye, though. Sarah can’t help but be curious about him, an animal who supposedly doesn’t have a soul, but who is seemingly intent on keeping her safe.

Burn : Patrick Ness : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming Burn : Patrick Ness : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming

Ness has such a skill for seamlessly blending reality with more fantastical elements and yet maintaining the focus on real-world ambivalence with his running social commentary. Despite the plot being distinctly other-worldly this also opened up historical international conflicts as well as the sexism, racism, and homophobia rampant in this 1950's American setting. How Ness showcased and overcame this xenophobia was extraordinary and my favourite part of the book. Jun Aug » Tags 3 stars 4 stars book book haul book review books contemporary dystopia fantasy film monthly wrap up quote monday reading romance science-fiction Top 10 Top 10 Tuesday writing YA young adult Archives And another thing I strongly did not like was the ending. I thought it was cheap and just too easy. The fact that Sarah stayed in the parallel universe and all the deaths that happened on Earth #1 got reversed made me mad. Literally every single dead person got resurrected and she got to re-start a new perfect life – nah, fam, I’m not about that life. The use of the resurrection trope bothered me to no end and I simply could not get on board with all that. For these books, I’ve won the Carnegie Medal twice, the Costa Children’s Book Award, the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Red House Book Award, the Jugendliteratur Preis, the UKLA Award, the Booktrust Teenage Prize and the fabulous, fabulous, fabulous Jim Kay also won the Greenaway for his illustrations in A Monster Calls (so buy that version, would you?). Sarah has a long-standing friendship and evolving romance with Jason, her Japanese American neighbour, and together they face the challenges of the society they live in and the curse of a prophecy that brings death and destruction to Sarah’s doorstep. Both characters show tremendous courage and resilience fighting against societal prejudice, a vengeful goddess, small-minded and power-crazy local law enforcement and the growing acceptance that they are at the forefront of a war between humans and dragons.

The prophecy ends up being a real trip- both literally and figuratively. Literally for Malcolm, the young cult fellow who's supposed to be taking out Sarah, at the center of the prophecy, and figuratively for Sarah, her father, and her wonderful best-friend-with-benefits, Jason. Not only are they dealing with dwindling farm production and a new dragon, they're dealing with a very heavy dose of racist bullshit from the local police (holy relevancy), but now they've somehow found themselves at the epicenter of dragon cult prophecies. You would think that the story would conclude when Malcolm reaches his target, but it doesn’t. This is only partway through and another storyline begins. There were certainly plenty of twists and I wasn’t expecting the book to change the direction the way it did.

Burn by Patrick Ness | Waterstones

And once more Book Box Club got me a book that I wouldn't have bought myself. Of course, I had seen this book on the internet already. I know quite a few people who were really looking forward to this one and I came across it while making my wishlist for June. However, for some reason this book didn't really speak to me and I don't know why. Sometimes it happens. I read a blurb and somehow I kinda know that it's not gonna be my new favorite book. He was the thing the world had suffered from most in her four billion years of existence: a stupid man with power." There is SO much that I loved about this book that I cannot even tell you for the sake of spoilers. Places I did not see things going. And like, it's seriously SO GREAT so can you just trust me? Awesome thanks. Here's what I can tell you:

Another aspect that empasised the choppiness and fragmentation of the story was that there were two (2) distinctive parts with two (2), unfortunately, very similar build-ups. And this characteristic doomed the book, in my opinion, because it felt as if the story, in the second part, was repeating itself and that made for a dragged and boring reading experience. I am massively disappointed because I was expecting so much more and also because I was highly anticipating this novel. Sarah is a 16-year-old bi-racial teenager living on a remote farm with her father. They are both grieving the loss of her mother while struggling to keep the farm financially viable. A dragon is hired to clear some fields, but it soon becomes obvious that he has a greater mission, involving Sarah.