I am a firm believer that people come into your life for a reason but sometimes they are only meant to be part of your life for a short time. Sometimes you outgrow them, you take different life paths or you just simply grow apart. This doesn’t make these uncouplings, platonic or romantic, any less painful sometimes but in the end they need to happen or they become toxic.
For the two girls in this book written in verse their love has burned brightly, has brought them together and has made them both realize things about themselves and what they want and need. As they grow and their fire together burns it will only be a matter of time before someone gets burned or their fire goes out.
This book was beautiful and made me think of all the friends and partners I have loved and lost and what they brought to my life. I can’t wait to share this one with my students!

I thought that this novel in verse was absolutely incredible - it is rich and vibrant and burns as bright as its title. Woodfolk does an amazing job of creating the world of the two main characters and the way that they weave in and out of friendship and in and out of relationship. Our relationships are often messy and not nearly as linear as books sometimes portray them, and this is one of the best novels I've seen that captures that messiness.

The note at the end from Woodfolk about heartbreak and queer love resonated deeply with me and I am so glad that this novel exists to show young queer kids that things are messy and we work through and with them anyway. People don't always love us or can't love us in the way we want them to.

Wow. Nothing burns as bright as you deals with two best friends who take their friendship one step further. The relationship between them is intense. Very intense and not particularly healthy for either. They both want things that neither can provide. A terrible night and a fire changes their lives forever and their worlds spiral out of control. Their pain is palpable. This book weaves itself in and out from past, present and back again though it is ultimately over the course of one day. This method allows the history of the girl's relationship to unfold slowly.
I love verse novels and this is up there in intensity and characterisation. An excellent read.

This is a very dramatic YA novel-in-verse about a toxic relationship between two queer girls. It's powerful, and I enjoyed it! I will definitely recommend this.