Burn

By Elissa Sussman

Burn is the thrilling companion to Elissa Sussman’s masterful and original fairy tale, Stray. This engaging and imaginative continuation of the original fairy tale begun in Stray will appeal to readers of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and fans of the musicals Wicked and Into the Woods.

After helping to rescue Princess Aislynn, Elanor has finally rejoined the rebel camp she calls home. Stolen from her parents at a young age and forced into service by the Wicked Queen, Elanor now wants nothing more than to see the queen removed from power. But Elanor has secrets, mistakes she’s spent years trying to forget, and the closer the rebels get to the throne, the harder it is for Elanor to keep her past hidden away. Booklist said of Stray, “Sussman delightfully mixes dystopian tension with retold fairy tales, and the result is something wholly original.” Includes a map.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jan 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9780062274618

Elissa Sussman

Elissa Sussman received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College and in a previous life managed animators and organized spreadsheets at some of the best animation studios in the world, including Nickelodeon, Disney, DreamWorks, and Sony Imageworks. You can find her name in the credits of The Croods, Hotel Transylvania, The Princess and the Frog, and Tangled. She lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend and their rescue dog, Basil. Stray is her first novel.

Reviews for Burn

[Jayme Grubb · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It took awhile to get used to a new protagonist. Honestly, I would have liked more of Aishlynn's story. This particular plot line was kind of predictable. But an enjoyable, easy read.

[infjsarah · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am a big fan of Patrick Ness but while I enjoyed this novel, it was not a favourite of mine. Still worth reading though.

[salsabrarian · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is an Eisenhower America that has a tenuous relationship with dragons. Malcolm is on a quest to fulfill a prophecy and Sarah, a farmer's daughter, is unwittingly a part of the prophecy. Well, that's as far as I got before I dropped it.

[heatherlinc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It took time to get into this book but I did enjoy it in the end. The plot was interesting with lots going on - dragons, alternate worlds, racism, police corruption, the Cold War, murder and so on (the list is long). There were also a range of different characters and I particularly liked Sarah and Kazimir, the dragon.For me, the first half of the book was the best. I was totally invested in the story but the second-half wasn't as strong. However, the ending was great and left me happy with the resolution. Although "Burn" wasn't up to the standard to the "Chaos Walking" series, it did turn out to be quite an entertaining read.

[shannonrose4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ness has created another excellent weird and wonderful dragon filled adventure that leads not only to the end of the world, but back to what really matters; family, friends & unexpected love. The world created within these pages will keep you guessing through all the twists, turns & dragon fire!

[darkfaerietales_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: I had really high expectations for this because I loved the first book so much, but unfortunately, I was really disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, it was still an okay read, it just wasn’t great like the first book.Opening Sentence: Elanor’s shoulder was bleeding.The Review:Elanor is an orphan and her parents were murdered by Josetta, the evil queen who rules their kingdom. After her parents were killed Elanor was forced to work for the Queen along with many other orphans whose parents were also killed by the Queen. For years she labored as a slave until one day a group of the orphans escaped. Together they traveled to the mountains where they made a new home for themselves.The orphans are older now and are determined to get revenge for what the Queen did to them and their families. They will stop at nothing to have the Queen removed from power and Elanor is one of their best warriors. They will need her strength and leadership for their mission to work. But Elanor has secrets and much guilt from her time spent with the Queen. Will her past deter her from her destiny or will she finally be able to face her demons and move on?Elanor is the MC in the story, and sadly, I had a really hard time connecting with her. She has a lot of guilt from her past and it has turned her into a really negative person. I understand why she was that way, but it made it hard for me to like her because she was so closed off with her emotions. Elanor is bisexual, which would be totally fine if it didn’t feel like a marketing ploy. It just seemed like it came out of nowhere and instead of adding diversity like I believe it was meant to, it just made the romance in the story more confusing. Obviously there are things I didn’t like about her but she did have some good things as well. She was very cunning and an amazing warrior. She also has a very big heart and cares deeply for the few people she has let into her heart. But unfortunately, I felt like the bad outweighed the good with her character and ultimately it made me like the story as a whole less.Burn is an interesting story, but it was also kind of confusing. I really enjoyed the first book in this series, but to be honest, it has been a while since I have read it. I didn’t really remember the world as well as I would have liked, but this is a companion novel so I thought I would have just been able to pick it up and not be lost, but that wasn’t the case. It took me a long time to get my bearings and for about half the book I was pretty confused. Another problem I had was the pacing. There were parts that really dragged and other parts that seemed to go too fast. But with all that being said, there were some good parts as well. I actually liked the romance once I figured out what was going on. It was steamy and sweet. I loved seeing familiar faces from book one and being able to get a glimpse of what they are going now. I also enjoyed the villains in the story. They were very dynamic and made for a much more interesting read. Overall, this ended up just being an okay read for me, which made me sad because I really enjoyed Stray and I adore Elissa. If there are any more books in the series, I will definitely give them a try because overall, I do think Elissa writes well and I think her work deserves another shot. If you like diverse high fantasy go ahead and give this series a try. I think you might enjoy it!Notable Scene:“She’ll do.” Josetta snapped her fingers. “Bathe her, dress her, and take her to my chamber. The others…” She paused. “They go to my private study.”It was many years before Elanor learned what happened in Josetta’s private study, but at that moment she only knew she was being taken away and it was only the huntsmen with their sharp swords that kept her from throwing herself on the ground and begging to remain with the others. And even though she kept her mouth shut, Elanor could not stop the tears from rolling, hot and fast, down her dirty cheeks.“I won’t have any crying,” Josetta had said. “You’re lucky. Don’t be ungrateful.”FTC Advisory: HarperTeen provided me with a copy of Burn. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.