Keep a fire burning; a fire is what saves you.”

4/5 stars!

Going into this book, I thought it was a bit slow at first until I eventually pretty much figured out what this book was about. I was kind of happy, kind of sad that I figured it out so early, but enjoyed the book nonetheless (it’s really hard not to). Most of my reaction to the book has to do with the ending and all answers to what’s happening, but in the interest of no-spoilers, I’ll be skirting over all that as best I can.

So this book is about Margot Nielsen, who’s living miserably with her mother in a corpse of a town when she finds information leading her to the rest of her family that she never knew. With this, she leaves for the town of Phalene to look for connection, more about her past, and maybe a family that she’s never had. But something isn’t right with Phalene and the consequences of finding out what may be too big to pay.

SO the one thing I have to talk about is, this book is literally terrifying. I mean- I liked Wilder Girls, don’t get me wrong, but I wasn’t scared of Wilder Girls. This book scared me. Part of it is because the twist of it all – which I said I knew quickly- is something that really freaks me out. Another part of it is the absolutely stellar writing.

The pacing of the story is an aching crawl, I was barely aware that anything had really happened before realizing that the book had past me by and oh my god I’m already in the third act. I honestly feel like the pace purposefully messes with you, I would think “wow, what a crazy way to start the book” then realize that I’m 40% into it and I suddenly remember everything else that already happened. It’s kind of hard to explain, but what I’m saying is that even the writing of the book freaked me out.

It’s also the setting. Phalene has the dangerous small town energy that scares me. I hate the idea of a whole small town bring in on a conspiracy and you’re the only one who doesn’t know. This town definitely had some of those vibes, where at any moments I thought that everyone might just start purging. I hate small rural towns, can’t trust um. The fact that Margot has the guts to go there and stay there is absolutely astonishing to me.

The one thing I wanted more of in this book, is character development for Margot. I didn’t quite feel like I had a reason to care about her or any way to emotionally connect to her. Granted, I was busying being terrified, but I just wish there was more to her. I thought it was great that she likes girls. I’m always here for it, but a lot of those scenes feel squeezed in and kind of awkward. They are probably the only scenes that contribute to her personality, but they just didn’t do much to get me to like her. Sure, I was rooting for her, but only because she’s the main character. I didn’t feel like I was rooting for her.

I don’t feel like I liked or enjoyed reading about any of the side characters either, except maybe one of the police officers, no idea why. But I don’t really care about that. What mattered most to me in this book, was getting closer to the true of the book and being happy when I realized I was right. Yay! But I was right about my terrifying fears! So….not yay?

TL;DR: Look, despite not really being a die-hard horror fan, I loved everything this book did to scare me. I think it shows amazing work on the author’s part and I applaud the book for it’s plot, pacing, and unique execution of a wild idea. (P.S: I ate some corn while reading this, big mistake.)

E-galley provided by Delacourte Press and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All quotations and opinions are based off an uncorrected proof.

I am so thankful for amazing books like this one that keep me sane during all this madness because I am so well entertained. I love creepy books and this one will have the hair on your arms sticking straight up. Don't start this at night because you'll never sleep. A must read and a top spot on your TBR stack. Happy reading!

I read Wilder Girls, by the same author and was intrigued for another of her books. This book fell flat for me, much like Wilder Girls. The synopsis of the book is great, her ideas in developing the book were also great, however the actual follow through not so much. This book seemed very choppy to me-situations in the book occurring and the author moving on with no explanation (ever). I was left with more questions than answers.

One thing I love about the horror genre is its potential as a way of talking about difficult and painful topics. Burn Our Bodies Down is a perfect example of that. This is a creepy YA horror novel that is really about cycles of violence and abuse in a family and the complexity of these relationships that carry both love and toxic hurt. It does an incredibly job of digging into those issues that lack easy answers.

Margot has only ever had her mother. Her secretive mother with strange rules who runs hot and cold, can barely take care of herself much less a daughter, who is emotionally abusive. Margot is 17 and longs for a family and for love, but her mother refuses to discuss whether they have any family or where they come from. So when she finds a photo of her mother as a child along with a phone number that turns out to be for her grandmother, she decides to finally leave her mother and travel to this small town to meet her previously unknown relative. But things are strange in this slowly dying midwestern town, her grandma might not be what she seems, and there may have been a good reason that her mother ran away and never looked back.

This is a horror novel, so there are disturbing and violent scenes. But this is just so well-crafted and hits the right emotional notes. It's also queer without centering a romance. Margot is a lesbian and that plays into the story, but not in a way that overtakes anything and this is decidedly not a romance. I won't say more because of spoilers, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone who can handle horror. I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

BURN OUR BODIES DOWN: come for the family secrets, stay for the creepy corn.

Margot and her mother have a co-dependent and often adversarial relationship. They have no other family in the world, or so Margot thinks until finding a photograph in an old Bible. The writing on the back points her to Phalene, a small, economically-struggling former farm town. After a blow-up with her mother over her long-buried secrets, Margot hitch-hikes to her mother's birthplace and meets her grandmother for the first time. Gram runs the ancestral farm Fairhaven all by herself. It's a shadow of what it used to be. Hoping that she'll finally feel part of a family, Margot quickly discovers that Gram - like her mother - is also hiding many secrets. With the help of some new local friends, Margot works to figure out her family's dark and sinister secrets.

Like Power's debut WILDER GIRLS, BURN OUR BODIES DOWN is a tightly paced environmental/ecological horror-thriller. It's also a strong mediation on toxic family dynamics and the ways in which family can harm, as much as protect. Where Margot's mother refuses to have open and honest communication, Gram perpetually gaslights Margot. The prose is very strong and I never guessed the major twist(s). Reading BOBD felt like working on a jigsaw puzzle and once all the pieces came together, it was a deeply tragic and terrifying story.

CWs (copied from the author's website): Fire; Emotional abuse by a parent, including gaslighting. Familial and generational abuse; Nonconsensual pregnancy – note, no sexual assault or rape; Body horror, some gore, blood (lighter, relative to Wilder Girls); Death. On page character death. Child/infant death (takes place off page but implied violence – pages 301 and 308 in the print ARC); Off-page gun violence; Emesis (mention of vomiting).

Margot feels very alone. Her entire life has been with her mother … and no other family to speak of. Even her mother makes her feel alone, with a constant power struggle for even simple things. After Margot finds a picture leading her to a place called Phalene, she takes off without permission hoping to find out something about where she comes from. But there was a reason Margot’s mother left her home. What truths will Margot find out about her family tree? Why do other people know more about her past than she does?

Burn Our Bodies Down is a stand-alone novel that requires the readers to suspend their disbelief just a little bit. Power has created a story with many layers that readers will enjoy unraveling. I know that I thought I knew where the story was going and was pleasantly surprised when I was wrong. This would probably be considered 95% realistic fiction with about 5% supernatural. If that is not your thing, this is your warning. Burn Our Bodies Down has a good, firm ending and readers will close the book feeling like they know what needed to be known.

Things I liked:
- Ericen! He was by far my favorite character! I loved him becoming the main romantic interest because he was my preferred choice from book one (no shade to Caylus). I loved the slow burn, and the lengths he went to to get Thia to trust him. They are just such a cute couple :)
- I liked the continued depiction of mental health, specifically depression. Part of the reason I loved the first book was because of the way the author wrote Thia’s depression as a result of losing her mother. It felt so real, and the journey to recovery was not an easy one. In this book, This still gets her dark thoughts, but she is in such a better metal state (surrounded by people who love her), that she is able to continue healing. It was amazing to read
- I loved ALL the characters in this series. While they weren’t the most developed, I felt like they all were fun to read and learn about, and have such personality that you feel you know them. I especially loved reading about all the other kingdoms that This sought an alliance with

Things I didn’t like:
- When I first started The Crow Rider, I found myself confused and struggling to remember all the things that had happened in the first book, and I didn’t really feel like I knew exactly what was happening until about 35% into the book. I wish there had been a little more recap, and more development so I didn’t have to struggle to remember what the characters were referencing.
- When I finically did get into the story, I found myself wishing for more world and character development. While there was action, politics, and lots of battle scenes, the book left a lot to still be desired. The only character I was really invested in was Ericen, and he wasn’t in a ton of scenes.

Overall, this was a satifying conclusion to the duology, and I had a fun time with the story while it lasted.

Favorite Quotes:

“But we have to move forward, and that means facing the problems we have now, the ones we can still do something about.”

“I wanted to disappear, To sink into a quiet darkness alone, where my own mind could no longer haunt me.”

“You only fail if you stop trying. Never stop fighting.”

While I can appreciate Rory Power's unique writing style, this is her second book that just fell flat for me. I tend to enjoy thrillers & horror that has some sort of resolution at the end. Personally I feel like her books don’t belong in the horror category. This was better than Wilder Girls and I look forward to trying more of her books in the future.

For as long as Margot can remember it has always been just her and her mother. The two have struggled with each other in showing signs of love and compassion. Jo, Margot’s mother, is barely able to take care of herself let alone Margot. Margot is left to defend for herself. Margot finds a photograph in an old Bible owned by her mother. On the back she finds a phone number and a name of Phalene. After calling and finding her lost grandmother, Vera, Margot defies her mother and makes her way to find the secrets to the family she has longed for.

When Margot gets to Phalene, it is nothing that she hopes for. A girl is found dead in the field owned by her grandmother and the local authorities believe Vera had something to do with it. But as Margot lingers in town and at Fairhaven, the Nielsen farm, she unearths secrets that her mother was running from. Vera is not the cozy grandmother that Margot is hoping for, in fact Margot finds that her mother and grandmother share the exact same qualities when it comes to the emotional abuse pinned against Margot. Margot starts to believe that maybe Vera did have a part in the girl’s death and that Vera is hiding a family secret that could poison them all.

I did not fall in love with this book. I had started and stopped this book multiple times. Although a slow start, they story did pick up within the last 5 chapters or so. I liked that there is unique plot line, but I found it a little to far out there for me. There were also no characters that I could connect with.

Thank you to Rory Power, Random House Children’s and NetGalley for reading this ARC.

paradoxically, i put off reading “burn our bodies down” for weeks because i knew i would love it. you only get one opportunity to read a book for the first time, and i wanted to savor the anticipation of devouring a new favorite. “wilder girls” was an instant favorite, and “burn our bodies down” is no different.

featuring complicated mother-daughter relationships, surviving the cycle of mental abuse, body horror, and corn, “burn our bodies down” is not an easy book to read, and yet i still read the entire book in one day. rory power’s writing is beautiful and haunting, like curling up in a blanket while a thunderstorm rages outside. she is a master at crafting speculative, sapphic horror starring young women full of anguish. “burn our bodies down” feels like it was written just for me, and cements my dedication to reading anything and everything rory power writes.

thank you to netgalley and random house children’s/delacourt press for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I truly do not know how to put into words how much I loved this book. Rory Power is such an incredible, unique voice and I feel so lucky to be able to read her words.

This book is a gut-punch of a novel. At it’s heart, it’s about working hard for relationships, when maybe your hard work isn’t deserved. This is about the complicated relationship between family dysfunction, how you can accept abuse and still feel dedication. It doesn’t shy away from how difficult and layered relationships can be.

It also manages to be an excellent thriller/horror novel.

More than anything, the sentences read like a mix of poetry and self-flagellation. This book read as if Power just bled out onto her keyboard and gave all of herself to us. Every sentence is so precise it leaves you breathless – as if you’ve been stabbed by a thousand tiny knives. I found myself rereading passages because I couldn’t believe how brutal yet beautiful they were. While I did figure out some of the twists in advance, I was so entranced by the tone and the destructive relationships between the characters that I couldn’t look away.

Fair warning: you may want to avoid corn on the cob for a while after reading.

No one writes like Rory Power and I can’t wait to devour every book she ever writes.


*I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you NetGalley so much for the early access to Burn our Bodies Down by Rory Powers. Her writing is intense, layered, thought provoking and heart wrenching. I read Wilder Girls a few months ago and when I found out she had another coming out, I was very excited. This book didn't disappoint. I was intrigued and my interest was peaked from the first scene with Margot to the last scene with her. I only knew as much as Rory shared. This was such an amazing book.

I got an ARC of this book.

This book is difficult to explain. It is wild in a way that I was not expecting based on the description which I actually read for once. I knew the author was capable of based on another book, so I was game for trying something that seemed to be out of my normal genres.

While this seems mostly marketed as a thriller/mystery sort of book, it is more like a contemporary horror/sci-fi book by the end. The ending was not a twist I was expecting, but I knew one was coming. I had read a few other reviews complaining about the random genre switch. This is one of the few times that a hardcore genre shift worked well for me. Other times I have been left feeling betrayed and like the story was significantly weakened by it. In this case it took the shift and bashed me over the head with it (please remember that I made this joke if you read the book, trust me, I’m funny).

There was so much emotional abuse. There was a lot of family dysfunction. It was so real and reminded me so much of being in a dysfunctional family. That level of abuse and dysfunction makes it hard for me to recommend this book. It will hit some people super hard and others will not understand just how intense the book really is. The abuse is what made me adore this book and also hate it. I was enthralled, but in the same way a car crash can ensnare you. You don’t want to watch, but you also can’t look away.

The characters felt a bit flat, but that was also part of the twist. The flatness made so much sense. It was annoying. The author played me. I was bested by the twist and I am seriously a fan of Power now. She already got me, but this just sealed it. I will be watching for her to put out more books.

This book is a lot like my favorite horror series. The atmosphere. The pacing. Everything built slowly. There was so much happening and so much that was revealed so slowly and so much more that was never revealed. It was a pretty wonderful read and one that I am glad I read. This is a great example of how horror should be. As a horror novel, it is wonderful. As a thriller, not so much.

The queer content was so minimal that it felt like it didn’t really belong. The book would not have read any differently without it. There was really no need for the two or three slight references to a queer MC. I am all for queer MCs, I live for them. It just felt like a detail that didn’t make any sense to share and that didn’t actually add anything to the story to know. I didn’t know anyone else’s sexuality. It didn’t make sense in the story for me to know her’s either. Power seems to give subtle queer and barely there queer. I can only hope there is some more queer in future books so I can really be happy and not teased.

Well: Rory does it again. With the huge success of wilder girls, I was so ecstatic when I was approved for a digital arc of this book. I’m a sucker for all things YA and for all things thriller. So for me this book just hit it out of the park. Literally as soon as I finish this art, I went online and pre-ordered a signed edition, because I love it so much. Stop what you’re doing and read this book.

Power's sophomore novel establishes her as a unique, exciting voice in the YA sphere. She's writing speculative thrillers, that have strong environmental overtones. I very much enjoy the brand she's building for herself and can't wait to see it continue.

BURN is Margot's story, and very much a family saga. The book is pondering, while still being a thriller. And I genuinely did not know what would come next. The themes, execution, and strong reliance on visual tone feel very much in the vein of film-maker Ari Aster's work.

I think Power excels in capturing characters at a snapshot in their lives. Her books are less the usual coming of age arc of YA books, that take place over long periods of time. But that's simply a way in which she departs from the typical style of YA.

4 stars

Burn Our Bodies Down is a wholly unique exploration of a broken family and the ways in which they love and ruin each other. I had not read Power's first novel Wilder Girls, so I had no expectations going into this. I think that freshness definitely helped since it left me completely at the mercy of this insane story.

I can see why Power received so much acclaim for Wilder Girls, especially if it is anything like this. The Midwestern Gothic feel that she imbues into the text is brilliantly executed and I found myself on the edge of my seat numerous times while navigating the various twists and turns. The family relationships are so unusual that you feel compelled to read on if only to find out how these people became so messed up.

My only complaint is that the pacing at the first half of the novel really dragged for me. There is a immediate grip that this book places you under, which is frustrating because you have to sit through so much exposition to get to the central conflict. It got so slow that I debated if I should even finish the book. Once the story got back on track in the second half, I was thankfully back onboard! I'm ultimately really happy that I stuck with it and I know that there will be so many people that will devour this.

If you enjoy books with dysfunctional family dynamics and weird/eerie settings, give this one a try! Even though I didn't feel very connected to the characters, the excellent writing pulled me along and compelled me to finish reading what might have otherwise been a DNF book for me.

5 burning stars

If the title makes you shiver, this is the book for you. Fires, secrets, mothers and daughters and daughters and mothers, the ties that bind and the ties that break, and sinister overtones come out to play in Rory Power's tour de force sophomore novel.

Writing: ★★★★★
Plot: ★★★★★
Pacing: ★★★★★
Atmosphere: ★★★★★

Burn Our Bodies Down comes out on July 7, 2020!

Margot and her mother could be sisters, they look so much alike. Margot doesn't see this as a compliment. Her relationship with her mother, Jo, is anything but sister-like—it is one of flight, hiding, fights, and fear. Margot's mother has been running from something all of Margot's life.

Margot is done with it. Now 17, she's decided it's time to find the family that her mother abandoned, with the hope that anyone—anyone—will accept and love her better than her own manipulative mother. When Margot finds the phone number in her mother's things, she doesn't hesitate. She gives it a ring.

Phalene is the type of Nebraskan small town in the middle of its decline. Once a booming farming community, there's almost nothing left. Margot's family, the Nielsens, used to be the source of the town's success. Now it's just Gram, and her weird golden corn that looks dead yet grows, and the secrets that the Nielsen farm keeps to itself.

Margot doesn't mind. Her mother has made her used to so many weird things. In her desperation for acceptance, Margot accepts everything about her Gram and slots herself into the Nielsen farm.

But Gram's not exactly normal, and Margot found a dead body of a girl who looks just like her on her first day in town. The town thinks Gram's hiding something, and Margot agrees.

Did she jump from the frying pan into the fire? There might be a reason her mother was so afraid after all...

My thoughts:
This is a novel that will attract a certain type of reader, but keep only a few as it's not exactly what it appears to be. I think Rory Power might just be that type of author—which works for me, because I'm now 2/2 with her books. I've loved them both.

The story delivers on its advertising: this novel is SPOOKY, and the atmosphere was so taut throughout that I got a kink in my neck from holding myself so tense. If you like creeping suspense and lingering horror, this is the novel for you. There are no jump scares, no dramatic whodunits, but the lingering horror...is intense.

However, the main core of this story is not its plot, its genre, or even its character composition. It's in the character relationships. I make that nuance here because Margot, Jo, and Gram are not the most fleshed out characters. But their relationships with each other ARE, and that's where this novel sings. Mothers and daughters. Manipulation, secrets, and the ties that bind and break. This multi-generational character study of one family's method of parenting is singular in its focus and honestly fascinating in its rot. I would never want these relationships in my life—talk about unhealthy—but in their black and white reality it was easy to see the bones of fights I've had with my own mother, and vice versa. The growing pains of teenage girls versus their mothers is something most women can relate to, and in a way this is a horror novel about that experience amplified by a ton of speculative elements. Extremely cool, and extremely well done.

Thank you to Delacorte Press via NetGalley for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Burn our Bodies Down was both exquisite and terrifying. This fast-paced, gripping novel, kept me glued to the pages throughout. It became less of a want and more of a NEED to know what happened.

“Keep a fire burning; a fire is what saves you.”

This book’s best feature was the writing. Nobody hooks me as fast as Rory Power does. From chapter one the plot begins and the foreshadowing alone in that chapter, deserves five stars. That’s without the atomospheric way the author pulls you in. The descriptions of the old farm house and corn fields may have given me nightmares but it was WORTH it.

I adored the main protagonist. Margot was the type of unapologetic heroine you just don’t forget. She’s unreliable and clearly thorn between her quest for familial love and the fact that something is not right. She fit the story perfectly. In addition, I adored that Margot calls herself a lesbian on page and that we’ve some good lesbian representation that doesn’t involve a romance.

It was interesting to read the about the toxic relationship Margot has with her mother.
Usually when any sort of abuse handled in a thriller type novel- it’s not done well. However, I thought Rory did an excellent job with highlighting the physical and mental abuse Marion deals with throughout the novel.

Burn our Bodies down is a novel I won’t be forgetting. I read the whole book from start to finished within two days and it HURT when I had to put it down to sleep. It’s dark, twisty, and brilliant. In my ripe age of 23 I really didn’t think YA could shock me anymore but here we have it. I highly recommend, especially if you enjoyed the atmospheric writing of Wilder Girls or want something that will keep you guessing until the end.

I was very much anticipating this after how much I enjoyed Wilder Girls, and I’m happy to say I liked this one, too! The premise was really interesting and I loved our main character. The body horror was even more intense than in Power’s debut, and the ending of this one was much better than her first. You can definitely see improvements in her writing. Can’t wait to read more from this author in the future!