Don’t just read Burn for Burn …Experience it. 

I picked up Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian after reading a teaser chapter at the end of another Jenny Han book. Prior to this book, my experience with Jenny Han came in the form of her two popular YA romance trilogies: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and The Summer I Turned Pretty. Burn for Burn isn’t a romance, it’s  better categorized as a darker friendship book with a layer of suspense. Since lately I’ve been trying my hand at different genres (adult romance and YA horror) I’ve been enjoying reading books authors have written that fall outside of the type I typically see sporting their name. Burn for Burn was perfect for this exercise. 

Here goes: Mary has struggled with self confidence  ever since a public humiliation left her traumatized. Lillia is disgusted to find a trusted friend has been hooking up with her little sister. Kat is fed up with the constant bullying at the hands of her former best friend. Each of the girls feel powerless to do anything about their situation…until a chance encounter leaves them thinking one thing might be possible if they work together: Revenge. So they make a plan to get back at the person they each hold responsible for their misery. But, getting even is tricky. When they don’t have all the facts and things begin spiraling will it be possible to right any wrongs, or only create more? 

Who doesn’t love a good revenge plot?  Granted, I can’t say I’ve actively pursued revenge, but I love the idea of an antagonist getting a taste of their own medicine. Maybe watching it happen in a fictional sense is cathartic in its own way. Mary, Lillia, and Kat banning together had me thinking about movies like John Tucker Must Die, The Other Woman, and, more recently, Do Revenge. So I headed over to Netflix and gave Do Revenge a watch. I quickly realized this particular movie took the tone of John Tucker Must Die and turned it up to eleven. Maybe the idea of revenge was just simpler back in 2006 when a group of high school girls elicited the help of Britney Snow, new girl at school, to get back at John Tucker for dating them all at the same time. Not to say that everything went as planned during revenge against John Tucker, but, man oh man, in Burn for Burn and Do Revenge, things take a turn, and not just in a way that leads to introspective contemplation. I’m talking in a way that makes you worried people may be doing time, Googling funeral parlors in the general vicinity, or possibly even hiding bodies.  

Honestly, while watching Do Revenge I had to regularly remind myself that the leading ladies, Maya Hawke and Camila Mendes, were playing high school students. Granted, I guess since they were going to an elite private school where the majority of the adults in their lives are so busy making millions, they have no time to check in with their kids (seriously, I never once saw a parent interact with a single teenager). I should just assume they teens were forced to develop a level of independence that leads to higher risk situations early in life. With my public school, middle class background this wasn’t particularly relatable. 

While Burn for Burn kept me guessing, and constantly interested, Do Revenge felt predictable in the early/middle stages. I got excited when a twist eventually took me by surprise. But at the same time I have to admit that the opportunity to really make the ending interesting felt squandered when the twist was glossed over and virtually erased from the character’s minds. I have one particular issue with the last quarter or so, which I can’t discuss because it would be a huge spoiler, but it was the type of turn of events that seemed too unrealistic to be believable and left me complaining to the unfortunate person who was close enough to be forced to listen. 

Do Revenge may not be a movie that I would watch a second time, but I’m not sorry I watched it. It made me truly appreciate the craft behind Burn for Burn. I often feel that many books just don’t translate to movie well. It’s something about the tone that can be captured with words, but comes off as cheesy or hokey when reworked for the big screen. Or maybe it’s something else entirely. Either way, I’m not sure I’d be excited if I heard Burn for Burn was being adapted for television, but I’m eager to pick up the next book in the series, Fire with Fire. 

There you have it. Do yourself a favor and read Burn for Burn. See if you can find a good revenge movie to watch, where it’s okay to root for bad things to happen to someone unsuspecting. I’d love to hear your pick in the comments section. 

If you haven’t already read  Burn for Burn what are you waiting for? If you already have, why not pick it up again? Either way, take my advice when you do—don’t just read it, experience it!

Want information about purchasing this book from Neighborhood Reads, a local Washington, MO book store? Click the book cover above!