Burn our Bodies Down has amazingly beautiful writing. However, The story just didn’t really do it for me. I felt as though some of the characters relationships were just filler as they were never fully developed. I also didn’t feel any connection to the characters, I mostly pushed through the book to find out the end and see if I was right about what happened to the farm/family. I also feel if it had picked up pace faster and spent more time on the mystery and dark aspect of it, the story would’ve been much better . While it wasn’t for me , the writing was still tremendous and that alone makes it worth reading .

Once I started reading Burn Our Bodies down, I couldn't put it down until I learned all the secrets the Neilsons were hiding as Margot tries to understand her family and where she came from.

"From the author of the New York Times bestseller Wilder Girls comes a new twisty thriller about a girl whose past has always been a mystery - until she decides to return to her mother's hometown... where history has a tendency to repeat itself.

Ever since Margot was born, it's been just her and her mother. No answers to Margot's questions about what came before. No history to hold on to. No relative to speak of. Just the two of them, stuck in their run-down apartment, struggling to get along.

But that's not enough for Margot. She wants family. She wants a past. And she just found the key she needs to get it: A photograph, pointing her to a town called Phalene. Pointing her home. Only, when Margot gets there, it's not what she bargained for.

Margot's mother left for a reason. But was it to hide her past? Or was it to protect Margot from what's still there?

The only thing Margot knows for sure is there's poison in their family tree, and their roots are dug so deeply into Phalene that now that she's there, she might never escape."

Oh, family secrets and hometown pilgrimages!

Thanks for the ARC!

This was my first Rory Power since I have not had the chance to read Wilder Girls by her but this book was well weird. It had a great start but the ending was weird and somewhat disturbing, it left me feeling like I didn't understand the hidden message because with a plot twist like that I needed a hidden and deeper meaning.to make sense of it all.

Margot was a great character though, I liked how well rounded and how much she aged in such a small amount of time, but it was all natural. She really was able to discover what she needed. But this book only really had development for that one character, none of the other characters developed that much and that was kind of a disappointment for me.

But the ending, the ending is what really threw me off. I thought it was really weird and added like a creepy magical aspect I did not expect nor did I want because the direction of the book led me to believe there would be no weird magical stuff, but lo and behold there was.

It was enjoyable for the most part though, so three stars.

So deeply strange! I didn't hate it but it sure was peculiar, almost like Gillian Flynn. I haven't read Wilder Girls and I'll be honest, I don't think I will after this. The prose is lovely though.

Margot has a strange and dysfunctional relationship with her mother. She has never heard anything about her family and her mother has always refused to answer her anything.
One day she finds something written in his mother's bible and manages to contact his grandmother. Margot decides to travel to meet her but realizes that her grandmother has many more secrets than her mother and decides once and for all to discover the truth and the secrets her family hides.
Burn Our Bodies Down is a great YA thriller that will keep you turning pages. Everything in this book will have you questioning things you thought you knew until the end.
4 stars for me
thanks to NetGalley and Random Children's books for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review

Rory Power is officially my go-to author for eerie reads that make your skin crawl. Burn Our Bodies Down is a perfect read for an endless hot summer day that will keep you turning pages. The plot is slowly revealed and just when you think you know what's going on, the author reveals something new. This book will have you questioning things you thought you knew for sure.

Not as strong of a narrative as Wilder Girls but an interesting take on modern day horror nonetheless. The last 80% of the book was fantastic!

I think the magic of this book is that the horror comes as a sneak attack. Everything seems as fine as it’s able for Margot. Her mother is distant, emotionally abuse, and she raises herself. But she wants a family, she wants to know where she came from. Then as she finds the freedom she’s longed for, in the bosom of her grandmother, the mystery unfolds. Things take a turn and the fantastical elements that we were expecting seep to the surface.

Margot is an abused teen. The mind games her mother plays are just unbelievable. And Margot, in typical abused kid fashion, has learned how to navigate the minefield of her mother’s psychological warfare. But it’s not enough for Margot, who knows there is a life out there waiting for her. Perhaps a family that has always wanted her, a place she can truly call home. Then you start to get a bad feeling, but it’s only slight, so you put that in the back of your mind, and continue reading, hopeful that your gut feeling is wrong...

The thing is, Margot is experiencing signs from her grandmother: the grip on the shoulders, the anger, and she just brushes them off. Why? Because for 17 years she’s lived abuse, and the power of family is stronger for her right now.

“But it’s not love, to give your wounds to someone else.”

The characters played their roles perfectly. Even Margot’s impossible mother Jo was a good, wretched woman. This was a fun read from start to finish. I loved the farm setting, which made it perfectly creepy even if there wasn’t horror lurking around the corner. The creep factor made this book stand out for me. I was expecting it, but then bam, I wasn’t expecting *that*. A well-written and unnerving read. So much fun! Thank you, Random House Children’s/Delacorte Press, for sending this along.

Thank you to Delacorte Press and Netgalley for the complimentary advance readers’ edition of BURN OUR BODIES DOWN by Rory Power for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Rory Power’s WILDER GIRLS earlier this year, so I was thrilled to receive an e-galley of her newest book! BURN OUR BODIES DOWN follows Margot, a young woman who has only ever had her mother in her life. Her mother isn’t exactly what one might call “normal” and she refuses to answer any questions about Margot’s other family. The chief lesson that Margot’s mom passes on to her is that there is safety in the flames.

When looking through some of her mother’s belongings, Margot finds an old picture which includes a woman who must be her grandmother. On back there is a phone number and Margot reaches out. Her mother is irate, but Margot is determined to find out what her mother was running from when she left her old life behind. Soon Margot is in the town of Phalene, but it isn’t all that she had hoped for. There is darkness in the town and in her family and secrets are being kept by everyone.

I really went into this book pretty blind and it took a while to really figure out what to expect from the story. I wasn’t clear (and really still have some questions) about how much Margot’s mother was dealing with mental illness and how much there was something more supernatural in nature going on as there was in WILDER GIRLS. This book seems to take the two and really do a good job of keeping the reader guessing.

When Margot reaches Phalene there are again a mixture of things at play. It isn’t always clear what is going on in the environment and what is going on in peoples’ minds. I think that this successfully keeps up a very ominous tone over the book. The author does a fantastic job of building up a very atmospheric town and home for Margot’s family. Without getting into details, there is a bit of gore in this one, not unlike WILDER GIRLS.

The chief complaint I saw for WILDER GIRLS had to do with the somewhat ambiguous ending. With this book, I do feel like it comes to a more decisive conclusion, though I would say there were still some questions not entirely answered. It definitely is a book that would spark some excellent conversations.

This was a fascinating read and it kept my attention hooked! Look for BURN OUR BODIES DOWN when it is out on 7/7/2020!

Mothers don't always tell their daughters anything, but Margot Nielsen just really wants to connect with the family she had never known. Some secrets lead to a rabbit hole and the truth puts Margot and her new friends in danger.

Much like her debut, Wilder Girls, Power has such a knack for writing feral, unlikable main female characters. Margot is determined to survive and not afraid to put up a fight. The stream of conscious writing is excellent because it allows room for these asides that show just how pissed off Margot is at, well, everyone around her. In addition, even though it has no real bearing on the plot, Margot is a queer girl who loves girls and it's on the page.

The book is steeped in this creeping dread as the reader explores the notes and diaries left behind by Margot's mom. Gram is also sweetly unsettling, and to say anything more would absolutely be spoilers territory. There's definitely a sense of history in the farmhouse and the ruined cornfields, and the layers keep going and going.

A delightful Midwest horror in which family secrets are kept tucked away for good reason.

I loved this so much and I don’t even know how to put it into words. It was so strange in the best way. I don’t know what I was expecting, but i liked it so much.

Thank you for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I really enjoyed it! My review is below and a link to my blog review is included. The blog review will be posted July 23rd, two weeks prior to publication. I will also post to IG and goodreads the same day. I will post to amazon July 7th. Thanks again!

This book was so much more than I expected. I went into it thinking ya thriller, but what I got was horror, sci-fi, and mystery all rolled into one.
I couldn't help feeling for the main character Margo. She's like so many patients I see in my therapy practice; severely wounded by childhood trauma and as a result, viewing the world around them a bit differently. Trigger warnings in this book include emotional abuse such as gaslighting-manipulation, and depictions of bodily violence/death.
Margo has managed an insecure attachment with her mother for seventeen years. Learning to navigate her mother's emotional reactivity includes never again asking about family, about her mother's childhood, or about where she came from. Margo's mother made it clear, questions such as those would not be tolerated.
Eventually, Margo finds a clue that sets her on a path to answers but they may not be exactly what she's hoping to find. Margo is looking for what she's never been given; warmth, acceptance, love. Margo finds a grandmother who looks a lot like her mother, a lot like herself, and even more unanswered questions.
The town of Phalene, where her grandmother lives, has seen better days. Power paints a picture of a dusty, hot landscape, with weird crops of corn and something unnatural in the land. Margo quickly makes a friend in a neighbor, Tess, who seems ready to help at all costs but as Margo and Tess set out to find answers, will the cost be too much to bear?
I enjoyed reading this story. I thought Margo was very much a result of growing up with an abusive parent. I applauded Margo's tenacity as she was able to find the courage to take steps beyond her mother's manipulation to find the answers she needed and set out for herself. Margo does make some interesting choices but I thought Power did a good job of explaining Margo's rationalizations and ultimately they led to exciting events.
Overall, this was a quick and exciting read! I liked the pacing and felt the story becoming progressively weirder as it went, which made the book fly by. I haven't picked up Wilder Girls but now I'm thinking I will.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC of this book for an honest review.

DNF! Unfortunately I was unable to get interested enough to be able to finish. I usually give books 100 pages and if it has not got me by then I put it down. Since the other reviews I read I will try again to read and if I have a different result I will edit my review.

A BIG thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for providing an advanced copy of this book for my review. Oh my goodness! What did I just read? This book is atmospheric, twisted, unnerving, strange, and completely gripping. I LOVED every minute of it. It was like reading Flowers in the Attic (by VC Andrews, without the incest), mixed with 1922 by Stephen King.

Firstly, let me start off by saying that the plot is just amazing and the highlight of the book! It is completely unique and unlike anything I have ever read. Even though I thought of numerous possibilities as to what was happening, I was not prepared for what actually transpired. The twist came out of the blue and I was blown away. This is so much better than what I expected in a YA novel. Moreover, there’s not unnecessary romance at all to the plot. The pacing is awesome, where the author sticks to the mystery behind the Nielsen girls.

In my opinion, both Margot and Vera are stars of the show. They both complement each other so well in their scenes together. In fact, I feel like Vera is the star of the story. She is so complex and unpredictable, you never know what she will do. There are one a few prominent characters like Tess and Connors, but they also add well to the story.

This is the first book I read of Rory Power. I have not read Wilder Girls yet so I wasn’t sure if I would enjoyed this book or not. But the author wrote the story in such a compelling manner that I want to read Wilder Girls too! Overall, I loved Burn Our Bodies Down and have become a fan of the author!

DNF. At this point, I think this is a case of it's me and not Rory Power. While I commend her beautiful writing and willingness to not hold back when it comes to graphic details, her stories just end up not being for me. I was disappointed with Wilder Girls, and I couldn't even get myself to finish this one.

Rory Power is now an autobuy author!!!!! I wasn'y sure what to expect after Wilder Girls.

Our main character, Margot is conflicted. She goes searching for answers herself. The moment she really grows in the book, it is amazing! 10/10 stars on that.

Our story is weird, mysterious, and intriguing. I was really on edge the entire time wanting to know where we were going. Some things were slightly predictable, but it in no way ruined the story.

This town.... oh it has so many secrets. You have to read it for yourself. 4.5 stars for this book. I already ordered my copy.

I'm going to start off by saying that there will be mixed reviews with this author and their books and you either love their writing and stories or hate it. And for me, I love Rory's writing and story telling. Wilder Girls was so strange and weird but I love that kind of stuff so I was excited when I saw this book. I knew it was going to be weird and I was ready. Rory did not disappoint with this twisty horror thriller. I wish we could habe understood some of the characters more but I really loved the MC and was so interested in the small town.

Margo is the main character in the book who lives with her mom who isnt the best mom in the world and who has a secret past she has kept from Margo who ends up trying to unfold it all. Of course what Margo finds isnt at all what she expects and she uncovers something deeper that wasnt meant to be spread.

I dont want to spoil the story, if you loved Wilder Girls I think you would enjoy this story. Its fast paced and even though I wish their were more character development i still very much enjoyed this story.

Thanks NetGalley and Random House for the e-arc

This was as if I was watching an old horror movie along the lines of the Wicker Man or a Twilight Episode. The story and mystery was very interesting and I was invested in how the mystery would pan out. I liked the premise of the story and found it to be a good one. The way it wrapped up was pretty nice and I can honestly say this was a good fun read!

Thank You to Netgalley for the E-Arc.

Burn Down Our Bodies is one of my highly anticipated reads of this year and it did not disappoint. Rory Powers impressed with her Debut Novel Wilder Girls, she brought back the spooky, gripping atmosphere with Burn Down Our Bodies. From the beginning, the characters had me on edge and desperate for more information on what was going on. Burn Down Our Bodies was a fast paced novel and i really enjoyed that. We didn’t miss a moment of suspense and discovery. I give this a 4.5 star rating, I look forward to what Rory comes up with next.