Name: Ali Angco's review of Burn by Patrick Ness
Item: Burn
Rating: 3.5
Author: Ali Angco

Patrick Ness

An all-consuming story of revenge, redemption and dragons from the twice Carnegie Medal-winner Patrick Ness. "On a cold Sunday evening in early 1957, Sarah Dewhurst waited with her father in the parking lot of the Chevron Gas Station for the dragon he'd hired to help on the farm." This dragon, Kazimir, has more to him than meets the eye. Sarah can't help but be curious about him, an animal who supposedly doesn't have a soul but is seemingly intent on keeping her safe from the brutal attentions of Deputy Sheriff Emmett Kelby. Kazimir knows something she doesn't. He has arrived at the farm because of a prophecy. A prophecy that involves a deadly assassin, a cult of dragon worshippers, two FBI agents - and somehow, Sarah Dewhurst herself. From the bestselling author of the Chaos Walking trilogy comes a heart-stopping story of fanaticism, hope, bravery and impossible second chances, set in a world on the very brink of its own destruction.

Burn

Jacob Atchison

On a cold Sunday evening in early 1957, Sarah Dewhurst waited with her father in the parking lot of the Chevron gas station for the dragon he'd hired to help on the farm... Sarah Dewhurst and her father, outcasts in their little town of Frome, Washington, are forced to hire a dragon to work their farm, something only the poorest of the poor ever have to resort to. The dragon, Kazimir, has more to him than meets the eye, though. Sarah can't help but be curious about him, an animal who supposedly doesn't have a soul but who is seemingly intent on keeping her safe. Because the dragon knows something she doesn't. He has arrived at the farm with a prophecy on his mind. A prophecy that involves a deadly assassin, a cult of dragon worshippers, two FBI agents in hot pursuit--and somehow, Sarah Dewhurst herself.

Easy fantasy to read, great for those hoping to explore the genre!

Ali Angco

Loéva 

In my opinion it’s more of a middle school/early high school read 

Lizeth Esmeralda

Ben Bastow

Hm, i quite liked that 😂 full review soon!

Cassidy

This… was a wild ride. Not going to lie, I struggled to get I to it and am have actually dnfed it recently, but finally got around to finishing it on a plane ride. It made me think a lot and was very original and honestly I had no idea where it was going ever, so I loved the surprise lol. Still, it was hard to like ANY of the characters, which can be tough for me. Overall, if you are looking for a quirky read about dragons, the Cold War, and parallel universes, this is definitely the book for you.

Inga Kühn 

"He could already see the yearning in her, the reach so many humans had, when they wished for more, a reach that was almost a magic on its own, if they only knew it." 

So, Patrick Ness reliably got me out of a reading slump once more, I really have to thank him for that someday. Even though I know this isn't my favorite of his works, it's good and tackles some important issues. For example police brutality, racism, homophobia and grief are strong topics here. It's also the story of some places, where the cold war Suddenly got a little warmer and finally exploded. Thanks to a little (dragon) magic and science. I mean I bought this book because it has dragons in it and is written by Patrick Ness, I got a lot more than that out of it. The theory of parallel universes and all the potential it holds is currently one of the main surprises. It packed a lot of action and violence, it had also less relatable feelings for me, but that's besides the point. My main problem was, that the book, in the beginning felt a little bumpy. I stumbled over sentences and had to read paragraphs again. I have to admit, I wasn't entirely good at focusing while reading too, so I don't know what percentage of the problems I had where just my fault. Nevertheless I had some problems with it because all the input the author wanted to integrate into the story really influenced the pacing. Of course later in the book, he got right back to the wonderfully polished style I know from him, but still. I get that it's hard, to write about people and experiences you personally don't really have a connection to and I appreciate that he did it and quite well too, I think, I feel like there could have been more to it though. I just mean, that I know there are other forms of media out there that have portrayed similar problems in a more touching way, so I know it's possible,if that was his intention. Maybe he didn't want it to be as emotional as other books he wrote, I don't know. It's just something I personally would have changed. Still liked the book and dragons rule! ^^ 

" 'I'm just a girl.' 
'It is tragic, how well you have been taught to say that with sadness rather than triumph.'" 

i love patrick ness, i’ve read pretty much everything he’s ever written & i was so excited for this book. the beginning was good, interesting, intriguing, but then it just fell flat. it felt all over the place, rushed and like it needed a load more editing. cutting between so many different perspectives so quickly felt sloppy rather than interesting or insightful. the world and the idea is so good, but the second half of the book was slow and painful to get through :/

priya

3.5 stars

CW: (view spoiler)[homophobic slurs (potentially very upsetting), anti-Japanese racism, anti-Black racism, minor poc disowned for being gay, nuclear weapons, anti-Russian attitudes (during Space Race in the US). (hide spoiler)]

Burn was overall a very entertaining read. It’s very rare that a book with dragons (view spoiler)[ and alternative universes (hide spoiler)]goes wrong and this was no exception.

Burn has three POVs. The first is Sarah, a biracial Black and white teenage girl, who lives on a farm in a majority white town with her white father. Sarah and her father hire Kazimir, a blue scholarly dragon, to clear their land for farming.

"Even just this week, the Soviet Union had captured an American pilot spying on them. Eisenhower had threatened retaliation if the spy wasn’t returned, but retaliation these days meant bombs big enough to vaporize entire cities. Sarah knew kids at school who prayed every night that they’d wake up in the morning. Truly, despite their ability to squash, swallow, or melt any human with barely an effort, dragons were quite far down the list of human worries these days.
This hadn’t made Sarah and her father’s flight home in their truck any less harrowing." 

A small part of Sarah’s POV is set at school, but mostly in her farm and with Jason. Jason is by far my favourite character (view spoiler)[ and I will never get over his death. He deserved so much more!!!  (hide spoiler)] Jason is a Japanese boy who lives near Sarah and is in the same grade as her at school. He is somehow the most iconic, brave, sassy and pure boy at the same time. Oh also, he’s secretly dating Sarah because interracial relationships were despised in the 1950s much more than they are now.

"Nothing against the law," said Deputy Kelby, "about marrying outside your own kind." He spit again. "Don’t mean people gotta like it." He looked back out to the dragon. "Don’t mean people gotta put up with it."
"Well, yeah, actually," Jason said, "it kind of does."

Sarah is well portrayed as smart, brave and caring, but I found her personality lacking. We never really see her thoughts as we do with the other POVs and I feel like Ness could’ve written Sarah’s character with much more depth.

"She pulled herself up to her full height, anger blitzing away all the dizziness. "If you don’t give me a straight answer, I swear, I will beat you. I’m a farm girl. I’m stronger than you think."

"I’m just a girl."
"It is tragic how well you have been taught to say that with sadness rather than triumph."

The second POV is Malcolm, a teenage boy who is sent on a mission to kill someone by Mitera Thea, the goddess and leader of his cult. Most of Malcolm’s parts are of him travelling to Sarah’s town. Along the way, of course, he meets Nelson, a Guatemalan boy who was recently disowned by his religious, homophobic parents for being gay. Nelson’s story was very, very distressing to read. (Yes, I’m crying on the bus while writing this review -at least my mask will hide some of the tears.) Fuck anyone who uses religion as an excuse to abuse their children. I know homophobia isn’t as prevalent now as it was in the 1950s, but it really doesn’t feel that way when I personally know people who live in fear of being outted. Whoops, I wrote so much about Nelson when it’s actually Malcolm’s POV. Malcolm has some VERY questionable ideas about the world, but I guess that happens when you’re raised in a cult.

Since Malcolm has been raised to believe in the fluidity of sexuality, he’s fairly comfortable in his gayness (unlike Nelson). Most of the time, Ness portrays homosexuality well, and is generally unproblematic. But one scene was really disturbing. (view spoiler)[Malcolm jumps through a portal to an alternate universe, where he finds his alternate self.

 "So? So what? Sometimes volcanoes erupt. Why do you have my face?"

After convincing alternate-Malcolm of who he is, Malcolm kisses him to make alternate-Malcolm more comfortable/less ashamed of his homosexuality. (hide spoiler)] The idea of gay people kissing themselves or not being able to control their sexual urges is so harmful. Okay, so I looked up Patrick Ness and I think he's gay? I guess Ness entitled to depict gay characters how he wants, but yeah this part made me really uncomfortable.

The third POV is of Agent Dernovich. He is one of the two police detectives whose commissioned to capture an unknown murderer before they murder someone. Dernovich is an idiot. He is so oblivious, misogynistic, homophobic and overall terrible at his job (but still better than Deputy Kelby). (view spoiler)[ To be fair, Dernovich’s alternate self is much more intelligent and kind.  (hide spoiler)]Dernovich’s partner however, is the interesting one -Agent Veronica Woolf. I won’t say too much about her role, except that she’s smart and ruthless.

"If you think Deputy Kelby needs a reason, then there’s more about the world I need to teach you."
That had made Sarah think of her mother, who had also felt the need to teach Sarah a lot about a world where things might not be easy for her. Sarah felt that any world that needed this many lessons must have something deeply wrong with it."

Adrianne

It’s my first time reading a book by Patrick Ness, and I’ve been warned that his stories are... unique.

This one combines the racist and homophobic narrow-mindedness of the 50's with dragon prophecies and worshippers. You wouldn’t think it works, but it does! 
This story surprised me more than once, and I definitely need to read more from this author in the future.

Landri Driskill

Burn was really interesting. It wasn’t at all what I expected but the characters were enjoyable and fun to follow. Each chapter ended making you wish to read more, which is always a good sign! I was rather surprised at the ending, but also satisfied. It was a good mix of intrigue and conflict!

Hannah

I love books about Dragons especially talking wise dragons. This was a great fantasy about a girl and a dragon. It packed in so much in such a short book, about race and prejudice. Ness’s writing is so easy to read and follow, this was the first book by this author I’ve read and would certainly pick up more from him.

Paula Narvaez

It was such an incredible book, with so many amazing characters and an important an relevant storyline. This is not a book about dragons, this is a book about humans; a book about human passions, errors, desires, good and bad decisions, evil and pure cores. It is an important book, not only because it might help you understand yourself better, but because it shows a raw and very present aspect of our society, full of prejudices and power dynamics. I can't wait to read the sequel.

It was a great and important book, and I really enjoyed it, it just did not compare to the 4 and 5-star books I've read this year.

Pam Sartain

Burn by Patrick Ness is set in a world where it's 1957, and dragons are real.  Some humans worship them, and the rest of humanity is unsure, but happy with the truce that is between the dragons and the humans.

Sarah Dewhurst lives with her father on their farm.  They're struggling to make ends meet, and so when her father hires a dragon to clear some fields, she doesn't know how to feel.  She's fascinated by the dragon, but also being warned away by her father.

Meanwhile, a teenage boy is on a mission, sent by the head priestess of the dragon worshippers.  He knows his actions are going to prevent a war, and he has been trained to fight.  But he has 2 FBI agents on his tail.

This was a fast paced YA fantasy book, with dragons that act mysterious, teenagers discovering more about themselves, and the threat of war looming.

 Burn  was published on 6th May 2021 and is available from  Amazon ,  Waterstones  and  Bookshop.org .

You can follow Patrick Ness on  Instagram  or his  website .

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to  Walker Books .

Lovisa

Annorlunda mot i princip allt jag läst. Diversity i massor, så skönt. 
Jag tyckte om sättet Ness skriver på, på ett självklart sätt på något vis.

Manon van Heumen

I enjoyed this book! The first half was absolutely amazing, and it kept me hooked throughout. The second part was a little less thrilling, and I felt my attention straying at times, as the plot became a little hazy for me.

Drachen existieren – in all ihrer feuerspeienden Herrlichkeit! 

In Sarahs Welt herrscht seit Hunderten von Jahren ein prekärer Friede zwischen Menschen und Drachen. Doch das Misstrauen gegenüber allem Fremden nimmt zu. In ihrer ländlichen Gemeinde kontrollieren rassistische Cops die Straßen und drangsalieren die Schwachen. Jemand wie Sarah, deren Mutter eine Schwarze war, muss immer auf der Hut sein. Als ihr Vater als Hilfe für die Rodung der Felder ausgerechnet einen der russischen blauen Drachen anheuert, schwankt sie zwischen Furcht und Faszination. Denn dieser Drache, der, wie alle seiner Art, angeblich keine Seele besitzt, blickt in die ihre, wie keiner je zuvor und ist in Wahrheit gekommen, um Sarah und ihre Welt vor dem Abgrund zu retten ...

Jacob Atchison &
Burn by Patrick Ness

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