Burn for Burn by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian
Burn for Burn series #1
(2012) 356 pages

Final Rating: 8/10

Blurb:
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:
This book was honestly so much fun. A literal mess. Like an “I guess we’re all doomed” mess, but still so entertaining.

I had a blast reading this book, flipping through the pages like a girl on a mission: give me all that illegal revenge, messy romance plot, and dumpster fire drama. Now normally, those three things on my list would absolutely lower my rating for any book, but NOT for this one! This book was just so fast-paced, giving me one scene to the other, giving me steady teenage angst to feast my eyes upon.

If you still aren’t convinced that this book isn’t a joyride, think of it like this. This book is like potato chips. Does it have no nutritional value? Yes. But does it taste like love at first bite? Also yes. That is what this book is like. The quality of the plot and the characters are definitely below average, but it was just so addicting I could not stop reading it.

But getting onto the nitty-gritty details of the things this book can do better in my usual cynicalness, I want to talk about Mary. “Sweet little Mary”. I have anxious feelings when authors write characters that struggle with mental health, especially when that character is Mary because they often have very poor representations of them. Mary thought she was friends with this boy named Reeve when they were in seventh grade. Reeve was her only friend because she was known as the fat loner and everyone mocked her for her weight. However, when Reeve refuses to acknowledge that they’re friends in front of other classmates and peers, he also accidentally pushes Mary into the water in a desperate attempt to get away from her, resulting in her nearly drowning. Reeve never talked to her again. After that incident, Mary decided to commit suicide but managed to survive afterward since she was found on the noose while she was still alive. And even after all this trauma, Mary has the most confusing and unhealthy obsession with Reeve. She’s in love with him. Her entire personality is her trauma and her flip-flopping desire to either get revenge on Reeve or kiss him. Every time her chapter came up it was always “Reeve this” or “Reeve that”, to the point where she had nothing else to talk, think, or feel about. It was worryingly unhealthy for this character, but it was never addressed once, other than vague statements that she needed therapy.

Lillia’s reason for revenge was very poorly constructed, the romance plotline is messy, the ENTIRE plotline is messy, but damn, it’s really fun.