Just Couldn't...

I really have enjoyed Siobhan Vivian's book.  I just think that during this time of pandemic it is hard for me to keep focused and unless a book REALLY grabs me I don't respond to it as I normally would. I think that is the case for We Are the Wildcats and maybe I will revisit it when life seems more normal.  For this one I REALLY stress that this is NOT a book review blog.  It is just my own reflections on the books I read.  So don't pass this one by, I think it is important and I think it is well done and I think that people will be able to relate to it. 

Sweet Story

Siobhan Vivian is coming to my neighborhood!  And I am so glad I just finished Stay Sweet! One of the things I really loved about SS was that the teens in this book actually act and think like regular people, not poets or people who understand everything and know exactly what to say at exactly the right time.
I won't call out any specific authors, but have you ever read a book in which a character always has the most insightful thing to say in any situation?  And they are also able to quote a 14th century mystic to back it up their position?
In SS the main character experiences the death of someone.  Her best friend says things like "Don't cry!"  "It will be okay!'  "Everything happens for a reason!" and behaves like a REAL person! 
Or maybe just like I do.  Because I don't always have the right words.  And I know that I have asked people not to cry, when they had every right to do so.  So I appreciate that Vivian shows characters who make the same mistakes. 

The End of a Great Trilogy!

Ashes to Ashes is a fitting title for the last book in the Burn for Burn trilogy by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.  I loved Burn for Burn and Fire with Fire.  This was one of those trilogies that need to be a trilogy.  And it was consistent throughout.  Read the first one first!

Long but SO Good!

As you know, I am not usually a fan of really long books.  But man...Fire with Fire was just wonderful and didn't seem long at all!  Burn for Burn was the first and I think this one was just as great, if not better.   The POV switches between each of our three girls and we learn something about Mary that I didn't expect at all!  What a great, great book!  I can't wait until the next one!

Burning!

I have waited for Burn for Burn for so long and I was not disappointed at all.  It is hard to be disappointed in authors like these ladies.  Burn for Burn is the story of three girls living on Jar Island and coming together despite their differences, to exact revenge upon the three people who have hurt them the most.  The characters are exceptionally well-drawn and complex.  I enjoyed the multiple points of view and the supporting characters as well.
Some reviewers have complained about the supernatural element of the book, but in this first installment of the trilogy, there is not much of it to be had.  It is reads as very realistic fiction until one of the characters discovers that she has a power unlike anyone else.  A dangerous one, potentially.
The ending made me mad, because it is such a dramatic cliff-hanger, but I am not complaining, really.  I can't wait for the next one and will recommend this one to all!   I've already got it on pre-order for the Library!