Burn

by Patrick Ness

[Joséphine]

Initial thoughts: The minute I had a chance to read a review copy of Burn, I jumped on it. I generally enjoy the postmodern approach Ness takes to storytelling but this round I couldn't quite build the same excitement for it. Yes, there were parts that I really liked but there also were considerable chunks that fell flat for me, which is why it took me months to finish Burn.

When I finished reading it a couple of days ago, I did so with ambivalence. I wasn't quite cheering about it being over but I also felt a tinge of emptiness, yet couldn't put my finger on why. Upon further reflection, I realised that was because even though there were a lot of elements to grapple with, I also felt that not much was happening for long stretches of the book. That paradox came about because even though Ness wove in a lot of tropes, few were developed enough for me to feel invested.

There were so many points of view to grapple with that didn't quite gel either. With such a fragmented story that resulted out of it, Burn lacked the pace to draw me in continuously. I had to make a concerted effort to remember to pick it up again to continue where I had left off.

Still, there were familiar flashes of brilliance in how Ness tackled the human condition, the idea of alternate realities and what could happen when they collide. It's for these that I found Burn a worthwhile read despite the chaos that marked Ness's latest novel.