Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power #YA #horror #thriller
Title: Burn Our Bodies Down
Author: Rory Power
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: July 7, 2020
Page Count: 347
My rating: 3 1/2 stars
About the book:
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.
Ever since Margot was born, it’s been just her and her mother, struggling to get along. But that’s not enough for Margot. She wants family. She wants a past. And she may have just found the answer: A photograph, pointing her to a town called Phalene. Only, when Margot gets there, it’s not what she bargained for.
As soon as they see her face, everyone in town knows who Margot belongs to. It’s unmistakable–she’s a Nielsen. And when a mysterious girl who could be Margot’s twin is pulled from a fire, Margot realizes that her mother left Phalene for a reason. But was it to hide her past? Or was it to protect Margot from what’s still there?
The only thing Margot knows for sure is there’s poison in their family tree, and their roots are dug so deeply into Phalene that now that she’s there, she might never escape.
The first thing I will admit in this review was I was not a huge fan of Wilder Girls. Now you may ask so why pick up Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power? Well, again, this young adult horror sounded really good so I figured I would give the author another shot as I did find some things I liked and that I thought had potential.
Burn Our Bodies Down introduces readers to Margot. Margot has spent her young life in the care of her mother, or is that caring for her mother? Regardless, as soon as Margot gets a hint of more family existing she packs up her things and heads to the small town, Phalene, that she thinks she is from. Once arriving Margot starts getting the sense that this is not the happy little place she pictured it would be and things are just not right in Phalene.
Well, I will say my three and a half stars for Burn Our Bodies Down is an improvement over my feelings for Wilder Girls. I did think this one had a rather creepy setting and story that kept me engaged while reading. But, I also found that the story wasn’t that surprising to me when I got to the end of it, perhaps again simply because I read too much but still disappointing. Since I did like this second attempt more than the first I would probably give the author another go as it is rather hard to surprise me with horror these days.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
Find this book online:
Goodreads / Amazon**
About the author:
Carries Book Reviews 
I’m always looking for interesting YA horror but I think I’ll skip this.
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No worries Kim, while it was decent I wasn’t wowed by it so you’d probably feel the same.
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