I was so excited for this second novel because I loved Wilder Girlsfrom Rory Power last year.  Following her suspenseful writing and eerie style, Rory Power introduced us to an old kind of horror : families.

Burn Our Bodies Down delivers a strong atmospheric sense, with Margot at the center of the story. From the difficult mother-daughter relationships in the introduction, an almost toxic love-hate relationship to a suffocating for the truth in her grandmother’s farm. This book reminds me a blend of Roanoke Girls and Flowers in The Attic. 

There are a lot of concepts and themes in this book but one that’s worth mentioning is the Oppressiveness. In the beginning, the author wanted us to see how suffocating living with her mother was. How Margot would crave for single brand of attention from her mother and how self-aware she is of her own pitifulness.  That notion alone makes the beginning of the book uneasy to read. 

But as it goes on, the ignorance and rejection she got from her mother pushes her on the edges to discovering the other parts of her family. The parts that her mom keeps hidden for so long and even escapes from only to see Margot returns to it. The ending is almost as liberating, not because it was a good ending just because you have been craving for that resolution for so long I let out a big breathe out when I was done.

This is one of the rare YA books that gave me goosebumps. The suspense and the eerie feeling were so strong that I felt like I was watching a psychological thriller in my head. You know the movie Get Out? It has the same egdy and jittery feeling to it, you want to tell Margot to get out of that house, get out of that farm, far away from her suspiciously weird grandmother and yet you stuck around just to see what’s all the fuss is about.

Even though I don’t dig the weird ending (as it happens in all of Stephen King’s books), I would totally recommend this book for the whole ride ! 

RATING : 4.5/5

– Trang Tran