Book Review: Fire With Fire (Burn For Burn#2) by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Fire With Fire (Burn For Burn#2) by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Genre: Contemporary and Young Adult

Release Date: August 13, 2013

Pages: 528 (Hardcover)

Lillia, Kat, and Mary had the perfect plan. Work together in secret to take down the people who wronged them. But things didn’t exactly go the way they’d hoped at the Homecoming Dance.

Not even close.

For now, it looks like they got away with it. All they have to do is move on and pick up the pieces, forget there ever was a pact. But it’s not easy, not when Reeve is still a total jerk and Rennie’s meaner than she ever was before.

And then there’s sweet little Mary…she knows there’s something seriously wrong with her. If she can’t control her anger, she’s sure that someone will get hurt even worse than Reeve was. Mary understands now that it’s not just that Reeve bullied her—it’s that he made her love him.

Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, burn for a burn. A broken heart for a broken heart. The girls are up to the task. They’ll make Reeve fall in love with Lillia and then they will crush him. It’s the only way he’ll learn.

First of all, I would like to thank the Publisher, Simon and Schuster/Simon Pulse for giving me an ARC of this book to review. Thank you so much! Really appreciate it! All right, now for my review.

An eye for an eye. A leg for a leg. A life for a life. Fire With Fire is a novel that I’ve been looking forward to since I found out the title. Even though I didn’t love the first one, Burn For Burn, I actually expected to love this one and all of its petty high school drama and bullshit. But I didn’t love this novel, not really. I think I was expecting too much from it, hoping that it would give more information about the popular crowd (mostly Alex) and Mary since I was left wanting to know more about what she really is. The beginning of the story is slow, everything is drawn out especially Mary and her parts. I felt like the authors rushed her parts and only gave me as little as possible information on her.

Fire With Fire has quite a few flaws in it. The story could have been a lot shorter instead of being dragged out as much as it is. And I hate to say this and it could just be me and my ADD kicking in but I didn’t care about Kat at all. Kat used to be my favourite character, especially during the first book because of her tough attitude and killer confidence, she did whatever she wanted to. But in this one, her nasty attitude seems to falter and her problems albeit important and real to just about every teenager, seem boring and I found myself skimming her chapters to read about Lillia. Han and Vivian try too hard this time around to give Kat a badass appearance that it all feels fake and stiff especially the way Kat spoke. Mary and her problem with Reeve is what really pushes the book forward, but just like with Kat, I had a hard time focusing on Mary and her life because it’s very dull and other than stalking people and doing…things, I couldn’t bring myself to care when something exciting happens to her. That is until the last chapter! It’s so creepy and exciting!

I’m actually shocked that I fell in love with Lillia in this book. Over the span of a few months, she’s changed and shed her innocent skin and became the person I was hoping she would become–a manipulator. I love it. Her character is a lot more developed and realistic not only proving that she has a good side but a bad one too that knows how to get whatever she wants. I also like for the most part, the writing style because it’s fun and very teenage-like. Even thought the relationship between the girls feels a bit stiff, I like it a lot. The way they interact with each other makes it relatable for other people to think about their own friendships and also, it’s sweet.

Something is just off about Fire With Fire. It lacks the pranks and fun the other book had and two of the characters take the back seat for the better half of the novel. Nonetheless I liked it, there are many parts (mostly Lillia involved) are exciting and evil. The plan to get Reeve to experience what a broken heart feels like is brilliant and dark that also leads to something darker and life changing for just about everyone on the island. I recommend this to anyone who has read the first one or anyone who likes Pretty Little Liars and enjoys teenage dramas that a little too sinister to be just fun pranks.