Elizabeth Smith’s best friend, mysteriously died and she can’t seem to get herself together. She is spiraling out of control. She can’t focus on anything but what happened to her friend? She needs to live her life but she can’t. She hires an assistant to help her organize and get back to life. Brianna is just what she needs to get back on track. Brianna can help her find peace but soon they find themselves looking into the murder. She has her own reasons. She wants to know why the police killed her young son. Brianna wants to stay close to Elizabeth’s world. She thinks it will help her investigate her son’s death. Soon the two find them deeper and deeper into the answers, they realize they may not have wanted to know the answers. Or better yet they may never be able to undo what that have done. While We Were Burning by Sara Koffi is supposed to be a thriller of sorts. It just wasn’t my favorite read. It was slow at points and the story missed something. I did finish it so, I guess it had something. This was a 3 star read for me. I want to thank Netgalley, the author and Penguin Group Putnam, for my copy, for an honest review. It was my pleasure to read and review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to be able to read and review this book!

5/5

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Team for this Advanced Digital Readers Copy, I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

This started off really strong, and I liked the thriller elements, but then it started losing momentum about five or six chapters in. I managed to finish the novel, but I just couldn't connect with the story and thought that it had some pacing issues.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I expected this to be more of a mystery than it actually was. It was more like a big revenge plot so there was no mystery to figure out. It was just a lot of characters behaving badly. I really, honestly didn’t like any of the characters. I wasn’t really rooting for any of them. While I empathized with Brianna, I just didn’t like her actions or how the book ended. I really just wanted them all to lose in the end.

This book has a strong premise and I went into it hoping for something that it didn’t offer. The discussion of race, class and female friendships was what got me in the beginning. I was hoping that this would be a book that would rattle me in a positive way. Honestly it was kind of boring and flat. There wasn’t much of a consistent pace and I found myself confused on the reasoning behind certain decisions being made. I wanted more from this book. Although this book does speak on the harsh realities of being black I wanted more to dissect instead of slow moving scenes.

This book was a departure for me—I typically don’t read thrillers and I’m usually wary of unlikeable or untrustworthy protagonists.

However, I couldn’t put it down. Everything about it was so well-crafted; I was constantly surprised by where it was headed, and the ending was both wild and fitting. My feelings about each main character shifted in fascinating ways as the story unfolded. I have to admit that I found myself drawn to one of the unlikeable protagonists, regardless of her actions, and I think the author shared that sentiment intentionally.

It’s a dark tale that tackles many of today’s contemporary challenges. I’m really looking forward to seeing what this author comes up with next!

I was excited for this book and the bones are there - characters you don't like, concerns you have about the world we're living in and the part you play, but in the end it got a little too off the rails.

Loved this bonkers psychological mind f*** ride of racism and classism packed in a revenge story!
It starts with a messed-up death - is it murder? It must be! It has to be! But is it? Elizabeth isn't sure. She's so busy though so she hires an assistant who ends up helping her uncover the truth around this death. Not all is what it seems and you cannot trust anyone.

It's crazy, I saw that this had just over a 3 avg in Goodreads, but another friend of mine in my thrillers book club also rated this a 5! I'm thinking you need to want "messed up" and revenge in your life to enjoy this one.

4.5 rounded up!

This has similar nuances to In a Lonely Place (which I love) but is less subtle. I appreciate the early revelation of the culprit and the way Sara Koffi doesn't shy away from racism and police brutality--the way Elizabeth's character development plays out is particularly effective--but I felt like there could have been more depth and emotion inherent in the characters. The conclusion also feels hollow and disconnected from the rest of the plot.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC!

While We Were Burning explores how racism and classism affects communities and how the truth and disaster impacts it too. An interesting and unique story worth picking up!

Wonderful read if you can handle that every single character is veryyy of messed up lol

This was an incredibly unique take on the thrillers-exploring-racism sub genre in ways that I don’t want to get into for fear of spoiling it for prospective readers! But it was inspired and interesting and thought provoking.

This one is hard for me to rate. There were a lot of things I enjoyed about this book, but many that I didn’t. The story started out strong and with a bang, but it took quite awhile for the action to pick up again. Then it seemed like things just went off the rails and then the book was over. I did enjoy this author’s writing style and even though it took awhile to get there, I was still invested in the story and motivated to keep reading. This author also did a great job of writing incredibly unlikeable characters. Even Brianna became hard to root for after while.

I will say I was not expecting that final scene at all, so bonus points for that!

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for a review copy. I’ll definitely read from this author again.

Koffi is clearly a smart writer, and I will definitely read her next work. I love a revenge thriller, but this one kind of went off track quickly with Patricia-- I just didn't buy it. The two central characters are interesting, and I was interested to see what they did.

Very slow and hard to connect with the characters. Picked up in the last 20% but took me forever to get to there and had already checked out.

This book was entertaining. The character development was so intriguing. The ending was unexpected and I recommend this books! hank You to Sara Koffi, Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Elizabeth's friend mysteriously dies and is certain that she was murdered. Her husband suggests that she get a personal assistant to help her get her life back into some semblance of order. In comes Brianna, who steps in seamlessly and helps get Elizabeth back on track. As they get closer, Elizabeth confides that she thinks her friend was murdered and now both of them are looking into her death although Brianna has her own reasoning for investigating. Overall, this book covers a lot of themes, from race, to class, to mental illness and even though none of the characters seem truthful with themselves, it deals with the responses to grief.

This was an enjoyable, entertaining read! I liked the character development and I wasn't expecting the ending. If you like books with unexpected endings, I would recommend this! Special Thank You to Sara Koffi, Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

While We Were Burning is a race-conscious debut thriller about Elizabeth Smith, a politically "progressive," White, suburban housewife whose friend dies suddenly under mysterious circumstances. As she works to put her life back together and understand what happened, she hires a personal assistant named Brianna, a Black woman working through her nursing degree and looking for answers to her son's death by police shooting.

Marketing this book as "Parasite meets Such a Fun Age" set my expectations tragically high. The story was entertaining, but I didn't find the overall themes to be very original and the character motivations seemed weak and inconsistent, particularly at the end when we find out how Elizabeth's friend died. That said, I still recommend this to anyone interested in the synopsis and I would read more from Sara Koffi in the future.

This one was okay. Ultimately it just couldn't keep me as engaged as other thrillers and it's hard to put my finger on why, This one didn't click for me but I think it will be a popular read this summer!