Book Review: Ashes to Ashes

Title: Ashes to Ashes

Series: Burn for Burn

Authors: Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: September 16, 2014

 

New Year's Eve ended with a bang and Mary, Kat and Lillia may not be prepared for what is to come.

After Rennie's death, Kat and Lillia try to put the pieces together of what happened to her. They both blame themselves. If Lillia hadn't left with Reeve... If Kat had only stayed with Rennie... Things could have been different. Now they will never be the same.

Only Mary knows the truth about that night. About what she is. She also knows the truth about Lillia and Reeve falling in love, about Reeve being happy when all he deserves is misery, just like the misery he caused her.

Now their childish attempts at revenge are a thing of the past and Mary is out for blood. Will she leave anything in her wake or will all that remain be ashes?

My Review

I wanted to like Ashes for Ashes just as much as I liked Burn for Burn and Fire with Fire, but unfortunately, I did not enjoy this one as much as the other books in the trilogy. It's a pretty solid book, but one thing - the epilogue - basically ruined a lot of the plot for me.

A lot of things in this book really work well. It starts off with a very somber feel, and rightfully so given what happened at the end of Fire with Fire. Even though it took me a little longer to get into it, I really enjoyed that part because it made that sad aspect of the plot so much more realistic. After that, things start to heat up quickly, and it keeps going until the end of the book. Most of the second half is pretty intense with wild things going on and the girls trying to finish up senior year. 

The paranormal aspect comes into play a lot more in this book with Mary, and you know what... I actually liked it! It might be a first for me to enjoy something like this, but I'm crediting it to the very contemporary feel of the books. I thought that it was unique as far as paranormal concepts go, and I had to stay up all night just to see how everything would eventually pan out. I was definitely very wrong with my thoughts on what the paranormal aspect would end up being.

There are also a few things that didn't work well in this book. All of a sudden, it seems like it's okay for Lillia and Kat to be seen in public together, like at the lunch table and in the hallways. I get that the whole school is mourning and people are trying to make ammends, but for them to all of a sudden seem so buddy-buddy in school is a bit strange. Don't get me wrong because I liked it, but they were too chummy in public too fast. 

Now... I stated that the epilogue pretty much ruined a lot of the book for me, and this is true. I only say this because I felt like it was so out of place. The epilogue is told from Lillia's perspective. I'm okay with this because I felt like much of the series was about telling and figuring out Lillia's story, but it flashes forward to the future and feels too rushed and incomplete. I didn't really like it, and not because of how things end. It brought the book to a strange halt that I didn't understand or like. 

Ashes to Ashes is an okay ending to the Burn for Burn trilogy. Unfortunately, I do think some things could have been thought out better to make it a more enjoyable read, but the suspense and crazy happenings in this book kept me interested enough to read up until that epilogue.