{"id":38760,"date":"2021-02-12T22:45:59","date_gmt":"2021-02-13T02:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=38760"},"modified":"2021-02-12T22:45:59","modified_gmt":"2021-02-13T02:45:59","slug":"review-of-burn-by-patrick-ness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=38760","title":{"rendered":"Review of Burn, by Patrick Ness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Burn<\/em><\/p>\n

by Patrick Ness<\/p>\n

HarperTeen, 2020. 371 pages.
\nReview written December 28, 2020, from a library book
\nStarred Review
\n2020 Cybils Finalist<\/a>, Young Adult Speculative Fiction
\n2020 Sonderbooks Stand-out<\/a>:
\n\t#10 Teen Speculative Fiction<\/p>\n

Burn<\/em> is set in 1957, just before the Soviets launched a satellite, in an alternate reality where dragons exist. As the book begins, Sarah\u2019s father is hiring a dragon to do some work on their farm in Washington State, because that\u2019s cheaper than hiring human labor.<\/p>\n

Sarah is mixed-race, and her mother died two years ago. She has a hard time with the deputy sheriff, and so does her Japanese-American boyfriend. Unexpectedly, the dragon they\u2019ve hired helps them out.<\/p>\n

Chapters alternate to follow a mysterious teenage boy traveling across Canada toward Washington. Gradually, we learn that he\u2019s a trained assassin, and he is a Believer who prays to the Mitera Thea, the Goddess of the dragons. The Mitera Thea is guiding him to fulfill a prophecy and kill a girl in Washington.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the dragon on Sarah\u2019s farm tells her about a prophecy that she will stop the destruction of the world. And that an assassin is coming to kill her.<\/p>\n

In the middle of the book, these things collide in unexpected ways \u2013 and many characters wind up in a \u201cnearby\u201d parallel universe, one without dragons, one that very well might be our own. Things play out in interesting ways.<\/p>\n

Now, I don\u2019t actually believe in parallel universes. And I think that if they were possible, a universe where dragons exist would be entirely and completely different from \u2013 and be inhabited by completely different people than \u2013 a universe where dragons did exist. Technologies would be different, and pretty much all of human history would have played out differently. In addition, I have a problem with parallel universes in books, because if every possibility exists in a universe somewhere, why are you telling a story about this one? It seems like choices don\u2019t matter as much.<\/p>\n

However, with all that said, if you accept the premise that \u201cnearby\u201d parallel universes are possible, the author plays with interaction between them in a fun way. I enjoyed the explicitly ambiguous prophecy that no one knows how it will be fulfilled until it is \u2013 and the dragon acknowledging that\u2019s the nature of prophecies.<\/p>\n

This is a fun book about dragons and prophecy and trying to keep the world from being destroyed \u2013 and find love at the same time.<\/p>\n

patrickness.com<\/a>
\nepicreads.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Teens\/burn.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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