Burn Our Bodies Down
"Hits like a lightning strike." —Melissa Albert, New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel Wood
From the author of the New York Times bestseller Wilder Girls comes a feverishly 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.
It's always just been Margot and her mother, struggling to get along. But Margot wants more. She wants family. She wants a past. And she may have just found a clue: an old photograph of her mother's, pointing Margot to a town called Phalene.
Yet when Margot gets there, she feels it in her gut—there's something not right about Phalene. The towering fields of dying corn, odd looks from the locals . . . Then a mysterious girl who could be Margot's twin is pulled from a fire, and Margot realizes that her mother left this town for a reason. But was it to hide her past? Or to protect Margot from what's still here?
The only thing Margot knows for sure is there's poison in her family tree, and its roots are dug so deeply into Phalene that now that she's here, she might never escape.
Praise for Burn Our Bodies Down:
3 STARRED REVIEWS!
“Gritty and strange, this sophomore novel is utterly compelling.” —Booklist, starred review
“Creates a vivid world with a gothic horror–like setting. . . . A riveting, often frightening read.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Strong, suspenseful writing and pitch-perfect touches of horror.” —Shelf Awareness, starred review
From the author of the New York Times bestseller Wilder Girls comes a feverishly 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.
It's always just been Margot and her mother, struggling to get along. But Margot wants more. She wants family. She wants a past. And she may have just found a clue: an old photograph of her mother's, pointing Margot to a town called Phalene.
Yet when Margot gets there, she feels it in her gut—there's something not right about Phalene. The towering fields of dying corn, odd looks from the locals . . . Then a mysterious girl who could be Margot's twin is pulled from a fire, and Margot realizes that her mother left this town for a reason. But was it to hide her past? Or to protect Margot from what's still here?
The only thing Margot knows for sure is there's poison in her family tree, and its roots are dug so deeply into Phalene that now that she's here, she might never escape.
Praise for Burn Our Bodies Down:
3 STARRED REVIEWS!
“Gritty and strange, this sophomore novel is utterly compelling.” —Booklist, starred review
“Creates a vivid world with a gothic horror–like setting. . . . A riveting, often frightening read.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Strong, suspenseful writing and pitch-perfect touches of horror.” —Shelf Awareness, starred review
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Community Reviews
This book def. kept me guessing. It jumps right into the story and immediately you're asking questions. It starts weird, is crazy in the middle, and has a weird, unexpected and science fiction type ending. If you're looking for a book with twists, this is it. If you're looking for a book with a neat, tidy ending, I'd search elsewhere. In the end, most questions are answered, but this is not a "Happily Ever After" book, either.
This is a gritty, haunting book with beautiful writing. It's a twisted mother/daughter tale about complicated, abusive relationships and the desire to fit in. I didn't expect it to take the sharp left that it did, but I liked the eeriness and ambiguity. Even if the story was a little "hmmm" at the end, the writing alone was worth it.
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