This one just wasn’t it for me. I think if I had read this one before reading Run by Blake Crouch, I would have maybe enjoyed it more. But the two books felt very similar. Dystopian, what world are we in kind of thing. It was weird jumping back and forth from the teenage years and the very strange and inappropriate relationship he had with his best friends mom that was also a turn off. I also felt like I never mind as able to have a great sense of what the purpose was, obviously they want to go home, but I still felt very confused.

I am a huge fan of Heller's work and he definitely did not disappoint with this one! This felt like nonstop, heart pumping action from the first page and, even though I've read quite a few apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic stories recently, this one really stands out! After the book was published, I purchased a copy for my husband and he could hardly put it down (high praise, since he is easily distracted) - highly recommend!

Normally my husband and I love the Peter Heller books. However, this was not one of our preferred titles. The story felt rushed and discombobulated at the end. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the ARC opportunity.

I think I've resigned myself to not liking a Heller book since The River but some of my pals loved this one. I found it over written and lacking the propulsion needed to carry me forward

I enjoyed this! I thought the writing was poetic and beautiful. The storyline was gripping and I always wanted to know what came next. I didn’t mind the flashbacks and I thought it helped the reader understand both Jess and Storey in a deeper way. The one storyline that I will keep to myself to avoid any spoilers was not my favorite addition to the novel and I don’t think added much to it, but I was able to overlook it for the sake of the other moments that were gripping, tense, and at times, heartbreaking. I rate it a 3.5!

I have devoured just about everything Peter Heller has written, ever since I fell in love years ago with The Dog Stars. Burn isn't the first 'buddies on the river' book he's written but for me it was by far the most intriguing with its apocalyptic focus of rebellious groups taking over parts of the U.S, which they first discovered while on a wilderness hunting trip, a long tradition of the two guys that almost didn't happen.

Lots of adventure but also some deep personal introspection, which I personally love. However, when I handed my Kindle over to my husband, who likes action/adventure, thinking he'd love the story, I was a bit disappointed but not surprised that he was not enthralled, probably because, for him, there was too much reflection and not enough action.

It was plenty of action for me, though, and I was on the edge of my seat more than once. It is a chilling, harrowing story, and also sad, but the redemption for me was the hopefulness that shone through, the humanity of the rescue of a child and a tentative yet unknown future spooling ahead of them all.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this as an eARC before publication. I apologize for such a late review.

A dystopian book with some action, but mostly introspection. The men know there is trouble occurring our in the world resulting in violence, but don’t know much more than that.

I would describe this book as tense and filled with uncertainty. The world building is top-notch and you will be transported to Maine. There are several unanswered questions at the end and I wanted a bit more closure.

3.5 stars
What the book summary said explains everything I love about Peter Heller books:

"Drenched in the beauty of the natural world and attuned to the specific cadences of male friendship, even here at the edge of doom, Burn is both a blistering warning about a divided country’s political strife and an ode to the salvation found in our chosen families."

Add to that the narration by my boyfriend, Mark Deakins, and I usually give 5 stars to Heller's books.

Usually.

But this one just didn't set my world on fire, although there's a lot of world burning in the book. Slow in parts, and the personal backgrounds of the two male friends did little to keep my interest.

Very good were the parts showing their current day relationship, to each other, to nature, and to some of the characters they encounter along their way.

Exemplary as usual was Mr. Deakins.

I had a NetGalley copy to read, couldn't get into it, so waited months for the audiobook. Heller's appeal is so much stronger when accompanied by Deakins.

Did I mention Mark Deakins narrates?

I have tried a few of Heller's books but they never seem to grab me plot wise. This was interesting enough.

I'm giving this book 2.5 stars because it wasn't as exciting as I had hoped despite it being well-written. The beginning was rather slow, the ending was abrupt, and questions were left unanswered.

The actual writing was beautiful and immersed you in the Maine wilderness, describing sights, smells, and sounds. The plot (two hunters unknowingly get thrown into a civil war) is intriguing and given our current political landscape not that far off from reality. However, there were gaps in plot and execution. The ending came up suddenly and didn't answer all the questions to bring it together in a clever way. I'm not sure how realistic a lot of it was, which made me wonder if the whole story was just a dream but even that plotline wasn't fully resolved.

I know the author has some really good reads and I do plan to try the ones recommended by reviewers of this book. However, "Burn" had potential it just wasn't executed well enough.

In a world gone mad, two friends share a bond of chosen families. Set in Maine, the men exit the woods to a burned out hull of towns, cars and people. Along the way, their morality, sensibilities, and friendship is tested to the limits. Who is friendly? Who is foe? Excellent dystopian novel and one of my favorites of the year.

In Burn, Jess and Storey – friends since childhood – enter the Maine wilderness for their annual hunting trip and emerge at their trip’s end to a world completely changed: entire rural towns burned to the ground, bridges blown apart, and no survivors as far as they can see. There were rumbles of secession talk throughout Maine all the previous summer, and while Jess and Storey were off the grid, it’s clear that something definitive happened. Not knowing who the true enemies are – the secessionists? the U.S. military? – Jess and Storey narrow their focus to one goal: getting home. But in a landscape patrolled by armed men who shoot first and ask questions later, their journey is a dangerous one…made even more complicated by a startling discovery in the recesses of a stolen boat.

Burn is a pensive and quiet book…at once a literary survival thriller and thoughtful character study that reads like a meditation on male friendship, the beauty of the natural world, and found family. The political issues that serve as the background for the plot are, thankfully, left vague. This isn’t a book about secession and a fraught political climate; this is a book about survival, and about brotherhood. For a relatively short novel, it’s incredibly rich, with spare but stunning descriptions of the natural world, unexpected moments of tenderness, and a propulsive plot that is at turns violent and gentle.

The whole book just feels so…meaningful. Its overall message is about how, even when it seems like the world is falling apart, our only job is to take care of each other – that there are always good people who are trying to do the right thing. And I think that’s so beautiful, and something that we all need to be reminded of sometimes – especially right now.

I haven't read Peter Heller before, and I wonder if his writing style just isn't for me. I couldn't get into this book, and I have far too many on my list to keep reading when I'm not enjoying it.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Knopf for a free copy of #Burn by Peter Heller. All opinions are my own.

3 stars since I DNF'd and can't give an informed review.

I am not sure what I was expecting from this book, but I can honestly say that this was not it. Maybe it's just a case of me being the wrong audience for it, but phew... the amount of testosterone included was a bit too much for my enjoyment. I am all for a slow-burn, but this one bored me to the point of it feeling more like a chore to get through.

I'll read anything by Peter Heller if for no other reason than he writes about his settings in such a way that they just come to life for me. I just love that about all his works that I have read. Burn was different than any of his previous books I have encountered in that it is set in almost a dystopian future. The US or at least part of the US appears to be at war with itself. Two men who are old friends have been off grid camping and they come out of the woods to an unknown situation and have to work their way through it with a few quirky characters along the way. I loved the aspect of the mens' friendship and learning what they have been through and how they continue to navigate their friendship. I missed a bit of the setting I normally love so much in Peter Heller's novels as he is really describing a new, unfamiliar place and time. I enjoyed Burn, but it won't be as high on my recommendation list as some of his previous novels have been.

A gripping, dynamic, and compelling dystopian tale that hits unnervingly close to home in our current political & cultural climate. Heller fans will enjoy this latest tale, particularly the sudden shock of a world made terrifyingly new, and the character bonds made along the way.

Imagine you went hunting and camping in the deep woods. When you returned to "civilization" there was nothing civil about it besides war. That's the premise of Peter Heller's latest novel, Burn.

I love the concept, even though I have to laugh. Heller sure loves stories of two guys camping in the woods, surrounded by burning danger. That said, this is totally different from The River.

The concept is so compelling which is why I was frustrated that there was so much backstory. Jess, our main character, is facing life or death amidst two sides (Maine separatists and the U.S. military), neither of which is interested in taking prisoners. It's kill and ask questions later. Yet Jess spends so much time thinking about the ex-wife he cheated on, the dog he lost soon after the divorce, and his friend's mom to whom he lost his virginity and who he considers his first love.

If I were swept into the midst of a civil war, I would not be thinking about any of those things.

I'm sure many will hate the ending because it's vague and unfinished. But the ending actually worked for me. I liked that we don't know what happens next. I think we know enough (and I have honestly built my own epilogue). There was a lot of pathos there (and blessedly no flashbacks). To me it was just right.

I do wish the book would avoid website spacing. That is instead of intending the first line of a paragraph, everything is flush and there is a break between paragraphs. This works on a website, but not in a book - not even on a kindle. It makes it difficult to know where there are actual breaks in the story. It chops up your reading - which was already chopped up thanks to extensive (too long) flashbacks.

I also found the POV wavered toward the end. It's primarily in Jess's POV, but then suddenly switches to Storey's. And there wasn't a ton of need for it - plus it should've been truly set off (again with the spacing).

So a mixed bag for me.

This was like Jared Leto coming back from a silence retreat and finding the whole world under lockdown because of Covid. Two friends found out that the world that they left behind before their annual trip was not the same one once they left the woods. Tiny towns on their way out were destroyed and residents were nowhere to be seen

I sometimes have this thought: what if I get out of a plane and not find anything as it should be. Usually my flights are transatlantic and I spend too much time disconnected during them. Burn gave me an idea of what it would be like if thing went south. Obviously people are more oblivious to "good" changes and shook by dystopian ones. Events that create dystopian atmosphere change us faster and permanently. Two dudes in this book would never be the same

Unfortunately we are seeing these types of event more frequently and some of us have that fear of what if we wake up to a day like this in the backs of our minds. Realistic fiction is important because of this: allowing us to see the destruction in a fictional world so that we won't walk into the same trap

Several things caught my eye and raised my curiosity when I first glanced at this title as this is the first Peter Heller book I have read. I am a big reader of books that revolve around the female friendship arc and the fact that this book centered around a lifelong male friendship and the dynamics that created it made me want to read it. Also, I am a huge fan of books about the dystopian world and I wanted to see how this topic played out in a male-centered book. It did not disappoint!!! Jess and Storey gave me hope in a world that has gone crazy. The strength and power of their friendship, in such a dark and ugly setting, were beautiful. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC which I will be recommending to my friends since the world we live in today could very easily become like the subject matter of this book!

This may be the craziest book I've read in quite a while.

After going on a camping trip two friends return to a world that has turned upside down. Burned towns. People being killed. A type of civil war. How can they begin to not know this happened. I found it to be utterly crazy and unbelievable.

Thank you #netgalley for this ARC.