Review: Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Title - Burn for Burn
Author - Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
Publisher - Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published - 18th September 2012
Series - Burn For Burn #1
Source - Own Copy

BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY...
THEY GET EVEN.
Lillia has never had any problems dealing with boys who like her. Not until this summer, when one went too far. No way will she let the same thing happen to her little sister.
Kat is tired of the rumours, the insults, the cruel jokes. It all goes back to one person– her ex-best friend– and she's ready to make her pay.
Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she's not the same girl anymore. And she's ready to prove it to him.
Three very different girls who want the same thing: sweet, sweet revenge. And they won't stop until they each had a taste.

It's shallow, I know, but the reason I wanted to read this book was because it had a pretty cover and Jenny Han was involved with it. I didn't really know much about the story going into it, but I just dived right in. I started this book in the waiting room before a physio appointment, and I don't know if I was distracted, or just not paying attention, but the switching of narrator from one chapter to the next really threw me. Luckily for me I got over that super fast (I must have just been worried about my appointment) and each of the characters started to feel like they had their own voice.

This book took a long time to set up the premise of the story. I didn't mind this however as it gave me time to get to know the characters and their voices. At its core this is a book about revenge. Each of these girls has been wronged by someone that they want to get revenge on. This was really fun and I liked some of the ideas they came up with. I wished that the revenge had gone on for a bit longer for each of the victims as I would have liked to have seen some more of the suffering (does that make me a bit sick?)

I think what I liked most of all in this book, and what really stuck with me was that when you read about what the girls had been going through, their thoughts and fears about everything, we got to see that these girls are more similar that they appeared on the surface. The issues they were struggling with were great equalisers  showing that essentially we all have problems and no one has a charmed life.

I liked this book and enjoyed it on the whole. The one issue I had a little problem with was the Carrie style powers that appeared. This was not explained and we were left at the end of this book with only half of this story being told with no hint of an explanation to keep us excited until the next book. It left me wanting so much more and a little confused (did I just read a contemporary book or a paranormal book?). The whole ending felt rushed and cut off almost like it had been cut mid chapter. This little annoyance aside, I really enjoyed reading this and look forward to the next books in this series.