I find it incredibly hard to review Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power. On the one hand, the story terrified me and even gave me nightmares. I knew instantly that I never wanted to read it again. On the other hand, I still remember it years later and I actually read the book in one sitting because I had to know the end…I continue to struggle with this one.
Burn Our Bodies Down
Margot Nielsen is a 17-year-old who lives together with her mother Josephine. Their relationship is – to put it nicely – quite dysfunctional, however. Her mother is cold, distant, and Margot has to walk on eggshells all the time as every word, every action could potentially set her off. Yet, it’s not Jo’s ice cold personality that bothers Margot the most nor her “original” house rules (e.g. always keep a flame going, fire is the only thing that can save you), nor even the fact that they look eerily like twins. The absolute worst for her is that her mother refuses to speak about her past or their family. All questions are strictly forbidden. Margot has only Jo and that should be sufficient for her. When Margot finds an old photograph with a phone number written on it, she takes her chance. She runs away to Phalene, an agricultural village where her mother was apparently raised and where her grandmother still lives. Once there, her dream of family soon turns into a nightmare as nothing in the village is ever what it seems and her grandmother seems to be in the middle of it all. Nobody knows exactly what’s happening, but one thing is clear: Nielsen girls are always trouble.
A true dystopian world
Disturbing. Ominous. Creepy. Those are the three words that I would have used to describe the cover and title when I first saw the book back in 2020. It was featured in my former book subscription. I have to admit that this design fits the story perfectly, because after having read it, these three words are still the most prominent ones in my mind. At the back of the edition that I own, there’s no blurb. Instead, there’s a citation that immediately gives you clear vibes about the type of story that it is going to be:
The air burns me from the inside out. Fire is not like this, not the way I know it. I forgot it could hurt. I forgot it could move.
The story is ominous as of the start. Not in a nice scary-story-in-the-dark kind of way, but in a cold, disturbing way. Even the grammar contributed to the atmosphere. I cannot pinpoint it exactly what it was, but something was off about it. The darkness almost seeped out of the pages, mirroring what’s spreading from the farm in which the story takes place.
As I already mentioned, this book keeps confusing me. Did I like the story? No. Did I like reading the novel? Not at all. But at the same time, I found it impossible to stop reading. I usually try to read at least 100 page’s before giving up on a book, but with this one, 130 pages had passed before I had even noticed it. Even though I was thinking the entire time that this book was not at all for me. There is definitely something remarkable about the writing style. It emphasises the story in such a way that it pulls you automatically through the book. Very weird. On top of that, you simply want to understand what’s going on. Nevertheless, I wasn’t impressed by the plot nor the weird plot twists (which do not require a mind like Sherlock Holmes’ to understand them before they are explained, by the way).
Because of all of this, I gave the book two out of five gemstones in the end. Do you like thrillers in a dystopian horror setting? Then definitively check out Burn Our Bodies Down. Are you triggered by emotional abuse/neglect? Please stay far, far away.
Age Category: Young adult
Representation: Lesbian main character
Trigger Warnings (click here, may contain spoilers)
Warnings for fires, emotional abuse by a parent (! Very prominent!), gore, unplanned pregnancy.Do you want to discover more?
If my review inspired you to pick up the book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores.
Amazon.nl: Hardcover edition
Amazon.nl: Paperback edition
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I always try to read multiple books by the same author before creating an opinion about his or her writing style. I’m going to pick Wilder Girls as my next Rory Power book. This is a YA thriller that takes place in a quarantined school. I’m already curious whether or not this book will give me nightmares too 😉
Do you like Dark Fantasy? If so, I would love to recommend two of my favourites. First of all, House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland. This is the story of a girl who has always known she was weird. When she was little, she and her two sisters were abducted and then mysteriously returned – without any memory of what had happened. Now she’s a teenager and her oldest sister has gone missing again. What is happening? Truly magnificent story, check out my review here.
Secondly, Small Favors by Erin A. Craig. This story kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. It is set in a small, remote village in which people’s wishes suddenly start to come true. Sounds positive right? However, it soon becomes clear that something very sinister is happening. My review can be found here.
Are YA thrillers more your thing? Then definitely check out Little Creeping Things by Chelsea Ichaso. This novel tells the story of a girl around which mysterious fires keep happening. Very spooky, but not likely to give you any nightmares. You can read my review here.