Watch You Burn by Amanda Searcy #bookreview #YA #thriller

Title: Watch You Burn

Author:  Amanda Searcy

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication Date: October 23, 2018

Page Count: 352

My rating: 3 stars

About the book:

From the author of The Truth Beneath the Lies, which the bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying, Karen M. McManus, called “smart, suspenseful, and unpredictable,” comes a psychological thriller about a girl who must keep her arsonist ways hidden–or watch her life go up in flames.

Jenny didn’t want to move to the creepy, possibly haunted town with her dad. But the cops are on to her, and the only way she can protect herself is by moving as far away from her hometown as possible and staying out of trouble.

But even after she moves, Jenny still gets the itch. The itch to light a match and then watch it burn.

It’s something she hasn’t been able to stop, ever since an accident years ago. Now, in a new town, Jenny has the strange feeling that someone is watching her every move. Will her arsonist ways be exposed? Or is the burning truth deep inside her a greater danger?

Watch You Burn by Amanda Searcy is a young adult thriller about a young arsonist. Jenny has moved to be with her father to hopefully start anew and avoid an arson investigation back in Ohio where her mother and stepfather live.

Jenny’s father is in the process of renovating an old roadside motel and turning it into an upscale tourist attraction when finished so when Jenny arrives she gets her own luxurious suite. It doesn’t take long though for that urge for fire to return to Jenny even in her new surroundings.

Sneaking out at night Jenny thinks she is find as long as her hobby doesn’t hurt anyone but she quickly finds that the small town has eyes everywhere. Jenny tries to set her sights on making friends and keeping occupied in the town but then a murder occurs too close to Jenny for comfort.

Watch You Burn started off strong in my opinion, Jenny was one of those unreliable narrators that I thought the author portrayed rather well showing her addiction to fire. However, somewhere along the way the story just became somewhat confusing and dare I say unbelievable. I saw right through the whodunnit rather early and questioned a lot of the happenings but in the end I’d say this was an Ok read, not one that I will find overly memorable but at least it was creative.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online: 

Goodreads  /   Amazon

About the author:

Amanda Searcy is the author of THE TRUTH BENEATH THE LIES. She received her MA in the Theory and Practice of Human Rights from the University of Essex in England. She’s now active in SCBWI and a two-time winner in the SouthWest Writers annual contest. She works as a collection development supervisor for the Albuquerque public library system and specializes in the acquisition of young adult materials. Visit her website or follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @Aesearcy.