Read and Reviewed

I first read the beginning of this book in BEA Buzz Books, which was auto-approved on NetGalley, and was instantly intrigued by the multiple narrations and the overall story: three girls who decide to right their wrongs by taking revenge on the perpetrators. I am going to say upfront that, as a general rule, I don't tend to subscribe to the "eye for an eye" school of thought; as an educator, I am always telling my students to not hit back, to tell someone if there's a problem, and to not take matters into their own hands. Therefore, the entire premise of this book made me slightly uncomfortable, particularly once we got into the girls' revenge. It was that slightly uncomfortable feeling that accounts for my rating. I just wanted to be upfront about that, because that's really my only "complaint" about this entire book.Burn for Burn is compulsively readable. Once I started, I had a very hard time putting it down. The story itself is gripping: you want to know what led these three girls to make the decision to punish those who'd wronged them. You wanted to learn more about their back-stories, and their histories with each other and the characters they were seeking revenge on. All three girls have very distinctive voices. You have Mary, who had a childhood trauma which has stayed with her the rest of her life. Kat, who used to be friends with the popular crowd but had a huge falling out, and has had to endure lies being spread about her and her family. And then there's Lillia, who is part of the popular crowd, but is suffering from something that happened that summer. Even without the authors' telling you who was speaking, I knew from whose point of view I was reading, the girls' voices were that unique. I give a definite two thumbs up in that regard. I also really loved watching the growing friendship between the girls, how they all balanced each other out, and how Lillia and Kat were able to overcome their pasts to work together for a common goal. The three girls' relationship was probably one of the strongest parts of this entire book.I have to admit to a bit of an embarrassment squick, which made the revenge schemes hard for me to read, particularly those taken against Alex. This was made even worse once you realize that things weren't quite as clear cut as the girls had thought. And then you had the wham, bam, thank you ma'am ending, in which the girls got in way over their heads; I didn't expect such a cliffhanger ending, and was shocked when my Kindle read 100% complete. What? You mean I have to wait to see the outcome of that ending? I know, I know, this is the first in a trilogy, but I wasn't quite expecting that I'd be left hanging in that manner. There's also the hint of a paranormal aspect that I likewise wasn't expecting, but instead of bothering me like it very well could have, I am instead intrigued to see where the authors are going with it, and what it will mean for the girls and their victims.All in all, Burn for Burn was a really gripping, suspenseful read that I absolutely couldn't put down. It is a super fast read with well designed characters; even the secondary characters are fully fleshed out. Just be aware that there isn't any closure here, no neat ending tied up in a bow. The book is fairly dark, particularly when talking about what each of the girls had to go through, so this isn't going to be a fluffy, realistic fictional read. But I would certainly recommend it for anyone, as I think there is something for everyone in this book. Burn for Burn will be released in North America on September 15, 2012. Do yourself a favor and check it out.An e-galley was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.