I really loved the premise of this story, but while reading, my enthusiasm faded away. I think it's got something to do with the unlikable characters, even though I usually love flawed characters. I tried to start reading this several times, thinking I was in the wrong headspace at first for a story like this, but I kept struggling. That's why I chose to quit at 31%. Please check out other reviews if you want to read this story.

⚠️ cw: suicide, murder, death of a child, mental health issues, racism

After her friend's mysterious death is ruled a suicide, Elizabeth can’t shake the suspicion that her friend was actually murdered. As she spirals, her husband hires a personal assistant to keep her on track. Brianna is exactly who Elizabeth needs and soon, the assistant hired to distract Elizabeth from her obsession with her friend's death is the same person working with her to uncover the truth behind it. Because Brianna has questions too. She wants to know why a police killed her young Black son. Why someone in Elizabeth’s neighborhood called the cops on him that day. Who took that first step that stole her child away from her. And the only way she’s going to be able to find out is to infiltrate Elizabeth’s life, where the answers to her questions lie.

Thank you so much @netgalley, @sarathekoffi, and @putnambooks for the ARC! This book was a page turner for sure and I couldn’t put it down so it was a quick read! The blurb described the book as a mix of Such a Fun Age and Parasite. I haven’t seen Parasite, but I totally got Such a Fun Age vibes, but as a more of a domestic thriller. The way the secrets and mysteries were unfolded as the plot progressed was masterful and kept me engaged throughout. I loved the dual point of view and thought that both Brianna and Elizabeth were such well developed characters. The dual point of view really allowed the reader to get in their heads and empathize with them, despite how crazy and unlikeable they each are. A great domestic thriller, While We Were Burning releases April 16!

Parasite meets Such a Fun Age in a scorching debut that is as heartbreaking as it is thrilling, examining the intersection of race, class, and female friendship, and the devastating consequences of everyday actions.

When you dislike the characters and still want to keep reading.....testament to amazing writing. This book is 300 pages, yet I finished it quite quickly.

The quote that starts the book is by Kimberly Jones, “They’re lucky Black people are looking for equality and not revenge.” This was so perfectly fitting for this literary piece and how the story captured this message was exceptionally profound for a debut novel.

This book was a rollercoaster of emotions, with an ending that may leave you wishing you wore motion sick bands.

This book was wild!

So many unexpected twists and turns! Elizabeth is crazy but it seems almost environmental. Like her upbringing and life has contributed to it. Though I wish they dove into her past more to explain her. There’s hints but it’s not fully fleshed out.

While Brianna is just psychotic. As a mother I can’t even begin to understand the hurt she feels but her actions are beyond grief. She’s kinda evil. Not that I blame her.

What an exciting read. Just when you think you know, you don’t. It was a fast paced, page Turner that I didn’t want to put down.

I would be happy with more, maybe a flashback to college to explain Elizabeth a lot better. But it isn’t necessary. Maybe even a prequel at some point of college David and Lizzie.

Elizabeth and David are having some problems in their marriage. Elizabeth’s friend Patricia noticed and asks Elizabeth to get together the next day. Patricia ends up dying before they can get together, and Elizabeth is convinced she was murdered though the death was ruled a suicide. This leaves Elizabeth reeling and husband suggests hiring an assistant. Brianna and Charles are also having problems, and he leaves her. Brianna ends up becoming Elizabeth’s assistant…

I went into this book blindly and it was definitely something. I liked the alternating viewpoints and the couple of twists in the story. It did feel like it kind of abruptly ended - and I didn’t love the Brianna/David thing. It felt pretty forced. There was a lot of race and class commentary here as well, and it was relevant to the story. Overall, this was a three star read for me. It was a quick read, especially the last 30% or so.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review:

Part thriller, part exploration of contemporary race issues in America, part mirror to our online selves, this novel is all heart and hard to put down. I tore through While We Were Burning in about two sittings in the course of 24 hours and found myself fascinated by the characters and the story. The tale is perhaps a tad melodramatic at times near the end, but it hovers in the realm of believable in the way that our online selves have created a society where there is more melodrama.

Elizabeth Smith lives in a nice, upper middle class Memphis community that is all networked online through a message board or app (think NextDoor). Her neighbors are do-gooder, not-in-my-background types who are concerned about the potential uptick in crimes in their safe neighborhood. Her marriage is boring, a tad under-utilized, and it’s clear that Elizabeth is trying to form a deeper connection with her neighbors and friends but is struggling. When she finds the body of her coworker and friend in what is quicky deemed a suicide, Elizabeth starts to spiral into her own theories which puts her squarely on the watch list of her husband and her therapist, who both consider Elizabeth’s theory of murder to be absurd and an indicator that she’s unhinged.

Across town, Brianna is reeling from the unexpected death of her young son and emotional loneliness that follows when her husband leaves to work through his grief on his own.

Soon, the stories of these two women collide when Elizabeth, seeking to appease her husband and therapist, hires a stranger as a personal assistant. Elizabeth and Brianna soon become close friends and start working together to figure out the truth behind her neighbor’s death.

While We Were Burning is an ode to regret and vigilante justice. The reader is in for a wild ride with twists and turns, and the novel should leave all readers contemplating the decisions they make and the unintended consequences that may follow.

I look forward to future works by Sara Koffi!

I was not able to finish the book and therefore do not feel that I can give an unbiased review about the book, its plot, characters, or the author's work. I might revisit this book at a later time and finish it then, but not right now.

This one was so confusing. I read it earlier in the year, zipped through it, and then, when I knew I needed to review it, went back in and liked it less. As others have said, the characters are unevenly drawn. We know lots about Brianna but not enough about what led Elizabeth to this point in her life where her husband is closely monitoring her mental health and sometimes in cahoots with her therapist (isn't this a violation of patient privacy, BTW?). I almost thought they were gaslighting her at certain points. And David--he's not fully drawn either. That contrasts heavily with Brianna's character.

I thought the race politics overarc was a good idea but the above factors distracted me from it. As if the characters couldn't support such an important theme well enough. Better character development!

And, yes, none of the characters were likeable but this isn't always a dealbreaker in fiction. But yes in this case.

I thought this book had real potential, but man, I ended up pretty disappointed and annoyed by the characters.

"While We Were Burning" follows the stories of two women connected by a tragic event. But honestly, I didn't really like Lizzie, Brianna, or Lizzie's husband, David. Jay, Brianna's son, was the only one I could root for, and I wish we got to know him better.

The book had a solid foundation with the social justice themes, but it felt like the author got a bit lost in the plot. Some characters did things that just didn't make sense, leaving me confused and disappointed, especially in the second half.

I enjoyed the first half, but the second half went kinda wild, and I was left with more questions than answers. The author's writing was good, though, and I'm looking forward to her next book.

There is not a single likable main character in this book, and yet the book elicits mounds of empathy from the reader for those very unlikable characters. Elizabeth and Brianna show us a unique female relationship that crosses class and race. It's not a friendship. It's more like a needship. Each one needs the other for purely selfish reasons. Against the backdrop of police brutality this thriller examines race, class, mental illness, and abuse with masterful character development. I was mad. I was on the edge of my seat. I was terrified - for all of the main characters! To create a story where the true "bad guy" doesn't even participate in the action of the story is also masterful. The emotional abuse was crafted in a way that really makes the reader stop and think about the meaning of abuse and what that really can look like

The only thing that would have improved this book for me was knowing more about how Elizabeth got to the point she is in the book. Brianna's character arc is clear and easy to understand, but Elizabeth's still left a lot to the imagination.

Thanks so much Penguin Group Putman and NetGalley.

Elizabeth's friend dies a mysterious death. Her life is now out of control so she hires Brianna as a personal assistant. Brianna has her own questions about death as her son was killed after someone in Elizabeth's neighborhood called the police.

I thought the author did a good job of exploring female relationships and addressing race, class and privilege. All the characters are flawed in some way, and the story has lots of complexities and twists.

Thanks to NetGalley and to GP Putnam and Sons for the digital ARC. I had high hopes for this one but it felt like a book that was searching for a social issue and just happened to land on the one it did relating to race and class. Brianna as a character felt unrealistic. I also felt like the story became predictable. It was not for me.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

In this novel, everyone is a manipulator. The storylines are fun but unrealistic.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the opportunity to read this debut novel!

Elizabeth hires an assistant to help her with the trauma of her best friends death. As we see the relationship between Elizabeth and Brianna progress, we start to understand why Brianna is there to begin with!

This book was a definite page turner for me!! It was interesting and intriguing and I finished it pretty quickly. I found a lot of the plot towards the end to be hyperbolic and over the top but that didn’t bother me. The issue of race, class, etc was the underlying theme which was definitely addressed.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC for this book.

After reading the description of this book I was super excited and hopeful for this thriller. I expected a suspenseful plot that would grip me from the beginning and keep me interested throughout.

While there was hope in the beginning with the shocking surprise at the very end of the opening that was a false positive. About 40% of the way into the book I was confused as to what I was reading and why we were still building the characters and their histories that far into it.

I felt there was a lot this author wanted to say, so they said it all. I loved the social issues they added, just leave out about half the past and edit down the character building and get to the suspense part faster. That for me would have kept me more engaged and helped me read this quicker and allowed me to rate this and review it higher.

Didn’t hate it, still was hopeful all the way until the ending, but not one I would tell someone to run out and buy.

For sure a check it out from the library read.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House

Baby the way i ate this book up. It was so good. Sara came in ready to jump things off. It definitely picked up quick. L The way the two characters stories came in line with one another. Wish we got a little more about Elizabeth’s up bringing but baby we got enough.

-Brianna got her lick back and then some. I’m not mad at. People need to stop with the bs. Y’all know how cops are towards black people. If we, Black people, really started getting y’all back things might change. The thing is we shouldn’t have to. Black people are some of the nicest people you’ll meet.
-Pat, sorry to you girl. However, you got on my nerves a little.
-David was not playing with Elizabeth. He told her all of how he felt.
-Nathan came and aired it out.
-Elizabeth’s mother is a narcissist, bully and straight up mean. Has no boundaries towards her daughter. No wonder Elizabeth is the way she is.
-Elizabeth. Girl you are something else. Talk about low down and dirty. I was trying to be in your side but what the hell.

Holy moly, I loved this book! It was utterly engrossing from the very first page, and I really enjoyed how the writing straddled the line between thriller and women's fiction. The dynamic between the two female main characters, Elizabeth and Brianna, with all its complexity and secrecy, was definitely the best part of the novel, in my opinion, but it also had such a great twist that I did not at all see coming. Really really cannot recommend this book enough!!

I have mixed feelings about this one. While the plot is a page turner, the story overall comes across as scattered and disjointed. It almost doesn't feel like a finished, polished draft. Also, the characters are pretty unlikable. Likability isn't a requirement, but in my opinion, we should at least feel like we empathize with or understand the main characters. That was a bit lacking here. However, don't get me wrong, this is a supremely entertaining story that kept my interest all the way through, and I liked how the author handled the twists and turns. The social issues are also handled expertly. I will look forward to more from this author.

While We Were Burning
By Sara Koffi
Pub Date: April 16, 2024
G.p. Putnam
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thriller
Debut novel set in a community in Tennessee. Elizabeth can’t let go of her friend’s supposed suicide.
Brianna is extremely helpful but she has a big secret she’s keeping from Elizabeth. A bit of a stretch but believable.
4 stars

I really enjoyed While We Were Burning. The lead character was Elizabeth, and her husband was David. It was assumed that Elizabeth's friend, Patricia, committed suicide, but Elizabeth believed she was killed. As Elizabeth was doing her murder research, she believed that Patricia's husband Jack, was the one who killed her.

David believed that Elizabeth was unstable, so He convinced her to hire an assistant. Enter. Brianna. It was clear from the beginning that Brianna had an ulterior motive but that wasn't revealed until the end. She was with Elizabeth through everything, she even tried to save her marriage, or at least allegedly. She ended up having an affair with David. Nevertheless, Brianna was with Elizabeth through everything. When the center that Elizabeth worked for burned down, Brianna was there. Even though Elizabeth was accused of burning the center down, Brianna stood by her. When Elizabeth was researching Patricia's death, Brianna was there helping her. And when David wanted to divorce her, Brianna was there to try to talk some sense into David. But as I said, Brianna betrayed her.

All sorts of truths came out in the end. And there was even a twist. While I'd love to share those truths, that was spoil it. Suffice it to say that Elizabeth was a nut case, and Brianna wasn't who she appeared to be. The author did a fine job weaving the story together, and his character development was excellent. I gave this book five stars.