Do You like book Burning Blue (2012)?
To sum the story up, Burning Blue is your typical love story, when the school outcast and the popular drama queen fall in love. Right? Right? That's what Burning Blue is about, but it's so much better than that.When acid is thrown on her face, Nicole, the most popular, wealthy, pretty girl in the school, watches her life change right before her eyes. Jay, who suffered from a seizure during freshman year, knows what its like to be stared at like a freak.I personally, really liked the story. The characters are reasonable, and they don't make you want to strangle them because of their stupidity. Nicole, for being the "rich snotty person," is actually quite nice, and gives advice to people on their problems. As said in the book, she takes their problems and sort of makes them her own. And that's a good thing, right? The story line was original, and it kept me guessing the whole time. I had no idea who attacked Nicole until the very end. There are so many plot twists and jaw dropping moments, by the end of the book you'll still be staring at it, awestruck.So you might be wondering, if I loved the book so much, why only four stars? Here's my reason:There were plot holes. I felt like somethings didn't add up, and i didn't understand some things at times. Maybe it was just me, but some parts were confusing. There needed to be more romance. Ok sure, I'm a teen and I'm a girl, which means i love romance, stereotypical girl. And yes, this story is written by a guy, so he probably won't look manly if he's writing about two people exchanging spit. So yes, its understandable. Other than that, I really liked this story. I read it quickly and enjoyed every single page of it. Defiantly, I'm going to read more of his books.
—Megan
I didn't think I would like this as much as I did but I found myself immersed in the pages and couldn't finish it fast enough. I guess I just went into it feeling like I "knew all the answers" about who done it and so forth but boy I was smacked in the face royally when the actual culprit is revealed! I totally did not see that one coming!I figured it would be another "geek boy in love with high school princess" story but it was so much more. In fact it hardly had much romancy stuff in it. It was more a mystery of who done it and why which was very refreshing.The characters were very down to earth every day folks which made them easy to relate to. I didn't think I would like Nicole because I figured she would be the basic obnoxious drama queen who only cared about how she looked and if she broke a nail it would be the end of the world but it was refreshing to find out how much she hardly cared about her looks and how mostly it was her mom who had always pushed her into doing beauty pageants and so forth. The story is told from Jay's point of view with a few of Nicole's journal entries mixed in. Jay has always felt like an outsider or freak and knows how Nicole must be feeling about now because of losing her perfect appearance so he decides to do his own investigative work to figure out who the perp is. He soon realizes his job is not gonna be easy because almost everybody is a suspect meanwhile Nicole begins to have feelings for Jay because he is the first person in her life to seem to like her and be nice to her simply to be nice and not because she is beautiful or rich or whatever.Very quick fun read!
—JenniferJ
Burning Blue materialized into an intoxicating blend of romance, mystery, thriller, and the not-so-typical throes of "high school" drama. I soaked it all in and more; but what really gripped me was the powerful and impressive message behind the story. And that's why I really appreciated and enjoyed the narration from the male (Jay's) POV.I never really bought into the whole beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, don't judge a book by its' cover, age old, clichéd proverbs when I was in high school. I used to think, only extremely ugly people would agree with that. But I was so young then, impressionable, and shallow. Now I know though, just how wrong I was. Of course, to a certain extent, looks matter. It certainly is a big deal in our society today, but I also realize that how females AND males define "beauty" are constructed through social norms/pressures, the male gaze, popular media, and so forth. Key word being: constructed. And whether or not you conform or rebel against this 'normalized' standard of beauty, doesn't matter; you're either beautiful by societal standards, or you're not. But we all know, beauty is skin deep. It’s so much more than how big your boobs are, how flat your tummy is, or how long and tanned your slender legs are. And as cliché as it sounds, it's true; so it's important to send this message to young girls, teens, and women. And that’s why the male perspective packed such a powerful punch, for me anyway. Because we see Nicole through Jay's eyes. All her physical (and other) imperfections and flaws, in contrast to her previous "perfectly beautiful" self. Yet Jay doesn't fall in love with the latter version of Nicole. It's the imperfect, flawed, scarred version of Nicole he sees, and comes to love. Likewise, Nicole doesn't judge Jay on the basis of his long, stringy, greasy hair, and loner status. Would she have seen him differently if she didn't get acid thrown on her face? If she didn't all of a sudden become disfigured? I'm not sure. Maybe, maybe not. But who in real life is perfect after all? Who isn't broken in some way? This sends the right kind of message to both males and females. And the whole notion of beauty being subjective is reaffirmed, which I truly appreciated. Neither Jay nor Nicole were perfect; and the closer you think you get to solving the mystery, you're sucked into a deeper, darker kind of madness. And when it finally hits you, it's totally unexpected and revolting. It's quite disturbing, actually. But within all the chaos, madness, pain, and brokenness, you see that sliver of hope - of recovery, love, and beauty. And that's what will stick with you. Overall, it's a really dark book: often times depressing, mainly frustrating, sometimes scary, but the end result was worth it. Hope was worth it. Real love, not the lust-love, or the honey-moon stage love, or the fantasy love- but the real thing, when you wholly accept a person, love their guts inside and out, the ugly and the uglier -- was worth it. And beauty, true, inner beauty that girls and women should aspire to (not the constructed, objectified version of beauty plastered on billboards and popular media) - was worth it. I say, take a chance & read it. NOW. And not just for the mystery, or the romance, because as well fleshed out as those aspects were, the message of the book was what made Burning Blue so special. And unique. *** "I didn't feel sorry for Nicole Castro. I felt hope for her. She wasn't a victim or a snob, a pageant queen or an athlete, a scholar or a saint or any of the other things I'd labeled her over the past few months. She was Nicole, and she was beautiful." -Jay ***Thanks again, Rachmi, for another great recommendation! This one's going in my 'favorites' shelf. ;-)
—♥ Sarah
