Nothing Left to Burn

by Patty Blount

[shannonmiz]

This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight
What do you even say about a book when half the stuff was pretty awesome and the other half made you want to throw your Kindle out the window? And I don't mean half the book as in "I liked the first half but the second half went to shit". I mean there were things that I absolutely adored, and things that filled me with an unquenchable rage (did you enjoy my dramatic flare there?).

The Good:

Huge focus on family and the importance of family throughout the book. Reece's family is in shambles since his brother's death, and also Reece's dad is basically the biggest piece of shit ever. He is horrible to Reece, horrible to Reece's mom, and has pretty much cut Reece out of his life completely. So he isn't exactly winning "Father of the Year" anytime soon.
And then there's Amanda's non-family. She lives with a foster family who seems decent enough but has a litany of ridiculous and nonsensical rules. But, they're the best family she's been with in years, and she adores her foster brother, so she wants to stay there. Her mother is another giant bag of awful, basically ditching Amanda for some creepy dude who ends up landing her in jail. So both of these kids are just craving something from family members who pretty much can't or won't give it.

The firefighting stuff is pretty unique and interesting. There's a bunch of teenage dudes.... and Amanda. Which seems unlikely, because I imagine in the entirety of Long Island there is more than one female who wants to be a firefighter, but I digress. They are like a makeshift family, which is really cool because they all have each other's backs, both in the fire hall and outside of it.

I really felt for Reece, because he was trying so hard to do so much: to prove himself to his father, to help out his mother, to grieve the death of his brother, to make friends, all while under an enormous amount of stress. He was a broken and likable character, and I loved how he pushed himself to be better in so many ways.

The Not-so-Good:

The romance was... unromantic. I mean, I didn't feel a single spark, and this was set in a place that deals with fire so... yeah. There just wasn't any chemistry for me. Plus, Amanda had a crush on Reece's dead brother, so that added in a creep factor. And it was kind of insta-lovey. She hated Reece one minute, but the literal next moment was checking him out? No no.

I still do not understand why these people blamed Reece so fiercely for Matt's death. I just can't imagine people being so mean to a young guy who has just lost his brother. Especially since accidents do happen, it just behooved me. And it wasn't like people quietly blamed him, they were ready to burn him at the stake or something.

Some of the execution just fell short for me. The conversations often seemed a bit forced and unnatural, and the characters, especially Amanda, could have been a little more fleshed out. The characters' reactions were also often inconsistent with their personalities and/or past reactions. I don't mean that in a character growth way either, just more of a confusing way. There was also a mystery element to the story, which I figured out pretty much immediately.

This last one kind of filled me with rage more than anything. It is also basically something that happens near the end of the book and I don't want to spoil anything, but I DO feel like it needs to be mentioned, so I am going to try to do this with the biggest spoiler warning ever. DO NOT look at the spoiler tag unless you are prepared for like, half the story to be spoiled, got it? Good.
Seriously BIG SPOILER okay? Okay. Reece had basically planned on killing himself because he thought maybe his parents could at least stop hating each other if he was gone, and then he'd be with Matt again. But then, Amanda comes along, and he basically flat out SAYS that she is the reason he didn't kill himself, and then he nonchalantly tosses the bullet. Um NO. That is not how a suicidal person's mind works. You don't just "get over it" because you kiss some pretty girl. Romanticizing depression is NEVER EVER okay, and the message "hey kids, if you dad finally gives you a high five and you get a girlfriend, you won't be depressed anymore!" is irresponsible and inaccurate. End rant.
Bottom Line: This book has some really unique elements that could have really made it a powerful read, but it did end up falling a bit short for me, especially with that last piece.

*Copy provided by publisher for review*