Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Burn by Patrick Ness

1 review

wizardingwisteria's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Patrick Ness was my absolute favorite author when I was in jr high.  I was obsessed with the Chaos Walking series and went on to read all of the books he had out at the time.  After devouring everything available I moved on to other books and series.  This was my first Ness novel in quite a few years and now I cannot believe I stopped keeping up with him.

I was enthralled from start to finish.  The setting was perfectly described.  All of the characters were dynamic with their own motivations and their own faults, and loves, and needs.  The character arcs were literally world altering.  The way Ness uses the perspectives is really the highlight of this novel.  At the start the reader is flipping between two totally different perspectives written with two entirely different voices, but as the story progresses they melt into one narrative that feels so natural.  I loved seeing the characters I had followed separately come together in both positive and negative ways.

And some of those characters were beautiful disasters.  At some point each of them experiences a massive shift in their worldview and it is both devastating and gorgeous to witness.

His writing style is so gorgeous and so purposeful that every emotional hit landed hard.  The plot twists kept me excited (and terrified) for what happened next.  None of the major narrative decisions felt out of place or disjointed.

I started and finished this book in a matter of days, which is pretty rare for me.  I simply couldn't put it down.  Even when I had finished it I couldn't stop thinking about it.  I loved the ending, but I wanted so much more.

A truly fantastic fantasy.  This book has made me excited to explore all of the other amazing works by Ness I have missed out on.

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