ARC Review: Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power

*I was given an ARC of Burn Our Bodies Down in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Macmillan and Rory Power*

Synopsis:

Burn Our Bodies Down follows Margot Nielson, who is desperate for answers from her mother. With no family, no history, and just the two of them struggling to get by, Margot finally snaps and runs away.

Margot finds her way to her estranged grandmother in Fairhaven, where her mother grew up and also ran away from. Upon arrival, a fire has started at her grandmother’s farm where a young girl has been found dead. The weird part, she has Margot’s face.

Review:

I found the writing style of this book really strange. This is not negative though. It really suits the tense feeling of the story and helps to reflect the strained relationships between the characters.

If I’m being completely honest I felt like I had jumped straight into the middle of the story without having read the start. The opening of this felt unbalanced to me and almost like I should already know who the characters are and why they act the way they do. I could not wrap my head around all of this ‘keep a fire going’ nonsense and everything felt very standoffish.

This was a feeling that dispersed as soon as Margot left home. The writing became more clear and I felt like you really start to understand the characters better. Also, the story starts to pick up. Before this point, I could not see where it was going to go. Although it was still quite early on so that wasn’t really a bad thing.

I really enjoyed the creepy vibe and how on edge each word makes you. I’ve never really read anything like this, although I have had Wilder Girls on my to be read for a while. Once the ‘mystery’ got going this book was gripping. I needed to know who the girl with Margot’s face is and why her mother left Fairhaven all those years ago and especially why everyone in town seems to hate the Nielsons.

I don’t want to spoil anything here but just know that Burn Our Bodies Down is definitely the type of book that weighs on your mind days after you finish reading it.