WOW!!! THAT WAS ONE HELLUVA RIDE!
What can I say? This book is a GEM! and Paul Griffin, you're a genius *hands down*
Everyone should read this.
Two thumbs up!
Burning Blue This is one of the books I picked up at TLA. The publicist told me she was excited about the new Paul Griffin, of course, and I admitted I'd never heard of him. She handed me an ARC of BURNING BLUE so that I could rectify my mistake. I am very happy she did, because BURNING BLUE is a terrific book.
Now, don't confuse BURNING BLUE with MY LIFE IN BLACK & WHITE. Both feature beautiful girls being disfigured, have color titles, and were published by one of Penguin's young adult imprints, but have little else in common. BURNING BLUE is a thrilling mystery, not an introspective character study. Someone threw acid in Nicole Castro's face, and Jay Nazarro wants to know who. That's right - despite the girl on the cover, the narrator is a boy.
Jay is returning to public school after two years of being homeschooled after a video of one of his epileptic fits went viral. He meets Nicole in the school psychologist's office - they're in a swanky school district - shortly after the attack. The two become friends, after a rocky start, initially attracted by someone else who has issues being looked at in public. I absolutely loved their relationship. It's a little sexy, as there is obviously something between them, but it stays platonic. Above all else they become friends. Friends with the potential for more, yes, but it's a very sweet friendship and feels more authentic than an actual romance would.
Jay is pretty compelling on his own, as any good detective should be. I'd read a series about hacker detective Jay Navarro. He's good looking, but too socially awkward to notice or do anything about it if he did. He's willing to stand up to bullies, even if it means his own reputation takes a dive. But he isn't perfect. He's got little respect for privacy and interferes sometimes when he'd be better off trusting (or helping) the police. He might be good at helping Nicole recover, but he can still say thoughtless things that hurt her.
As for the crime itself - wow. Griffin does not back away from the darkness. BURNING BLUE is a book driven by violence, and the many motives violence. Despite that, BURNING BLUE isn't a dark book. It's quite often funny and the characters are more often good people than bad, no matter that they might seem sinister at first. The only way to discover who attacked Nicole is to treat everyone as a suspect, but the truth is the vast majority of people wish her nothing but the best. I liked that BURNING BLUE delved into tough issues without being cynical. It's a book with heart.
BURNING BLUE will appeal to both genders. Fans of mysteries and contemporaries will both enjoy the story within its pages. And I nominate Jay one of the most swoon-worthy heroes of the year, even if he isn't a werewolf/vampire/merman/other-tortured-creature-of-the-night. Burning Blue booknook — Young Adult book reviews
Wow, I absolutely ADORED this book!
Burning Blue is told from two main points of view: Jay and entries from Nicole's diary. There are a few others as well (like notes from the therapists), but those two are the key ones. Jay was a fabulous narrator! I adored his quirky, sarcastic, nerdy kid personality. He was fun, engaging, and funny without trying to be! Even though he acted like a stupid boy sometimes, I loved being in his head.
This book kept me guessing until the very end. It read very much like a detective book, but instead of following around cops, we were following around a teenage hacker who decided to take the investigation into his own hands. You guys know how much of a nerd I am, so the fact that Jay is a hacker made me love this book even more! In order to help solve the case, Jay hacks into e-mail accounts, police databases, Facebook accounts, the DMV, and cell phones. It's awesome!
All along the way, I was constantly speculating about who was responsible for splashing Nicole with acid. I had a million theories, but my list was much like Jay's list: everyone was marked as maybe. No one ever stood out to me as the obvious person behind it. That's what made this book so intriguing and awesome: it kept me completely guessing. I was feverishly turning the pages, desperate to gather more clues to piece together the truth.
On top of the mystery, we have a beautiful romance in Burning Blue. Without the whole acid situation, it might be a typical loner boy falls in love with most popular girl in school kind of book. But because of the incident, it's so much more than that. There's heartbreak, loss, happiness, and two people coming together with horrible pasts under horrible circumstances. And somehow, there's beauty in that. Nicole and Jay are so perfect for each other and I LOVED their slow-brewing romance!
The end, in particular, is so powerful and full of emotion! There are loads of twists and turns and secrets to uncover. But what makes Burning Blue really powerful is how real it is. The author's note at the end talks about where Paul's inspiration for the book came from and it's really quite sad and intense. It really shows us that there's some serious psychology going on here and that there are some motives we can't even begin to fully understand. Burning Blue When I first heard of Burning Blue, I thought it was just a romantic story between a hacker and a popular girl. I assumed it would be something fairly predictable, like a girl got into an accident and then she met a guy, and this guy – probably handsome, strong and protective – would offer her a shoulder to cry on, and then they’d live happily ever after. But Burning Blue is a lot more than a romance. It has mystery, something that I wasn’t able to resolve (well, it’s more like I made a guess in a wrong direction quite early on in the story) and when things are revealed in the end, I felt like I didn’t quite see that coming (not because I guessed things wrong but more because the characters were not just black and white, they were all shades of grey).
I really like the characters in the book. They all have something that they’d like to hide. They all feel unsafe to share their secrets, and I guess because of their desperation of wanting to hide what they don’t want to get exposed, they all act in ways that are deceptive, somewhat hurtful and inauthentic.
What I love about Burning Blue is that in the story, Jay (the hacker) goes about doing his investigation to find out who hurt Nicole not because he wants to make himself look like a hero. He does it because he feels it’s the right thing to do. I also like that we get to see why Jay has become the version of who he is when he becomes acquainted with Nicole at school after her accident. Probably because of his past, his way of extending his support for Nicole is not exactly forthright, but I like that he is sincere and caring. I especially like how his action is always louder than his words when he is interacting with others in the story.
Because the characters in the story are not pure evil or pure good, they feel real to me. It’s like I can relate to their sense of desperation, their loathing of self, their wanting to be different. I can feel how eager they want to shatter the masks that they’ve been wearing and yet they’re afraid the exposure of their authenticity would cost them dearly. I really like how the story explores into the vulnerability of our human nature, and if you like stories that explore the frailties of human nature, I think you’ll love Burning Blue.
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This review was originally posted on my blog. Burning Blue Beauty. Love? Friendship? Revenge.
•Nicole is beautiful, if you value beauty in looks. As a person, she seems to be a decent book human being so that's a larger plus.
•Nicole has just been splashed with acid and the culprit has not been seen or found. (I was a teeny bit iffy with that because of a reason.)
•One thing I would have liked to see more of is Nicole's trama and her reaction to it. She seems sad and all but, I honestly didn't feel her anger, her feeling the gravity of the incident, her happiness? I felt a little reaction but, I wish there was been more emotions.
•The detective work seemed to tie up nicely but, I wish there was more. Don't get me wrong, I liked how this played out but, while the pacing was good, I felt that each character's emotions were just a little there. I wanted a little more suspicion, more anger, a tantrum at maybe someone ruining your life, more grief for how everyone is reacting even though you're doing fine, more diverse morals so there could be more suspects?
•The writing was good. I didn't have to skim, there was a little intrigue, the romance wasn't too overwhelming, and each character didn't sound too much alike.
Overall this was a good story, it could use a little more emotion but, I still liked it.
3.5/5 burning bright stars rounded up because of those good twists!
(Also that cover. 0-0) (Goals!) Burning Blue
Paul Griffin ½ 6 FREE DOWNLOAD
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.
Burning Blue
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What horrors lurk in the hearts of teens?
Edgy teen suspense novels usually have me feeling pretty skeptical. There's a lot of suspension of disbelief required and at least once (but often more than once, often closer to 10+ times) I shake my head and think, Shouldn't you leave that to the cops? Nothing is more frustration than watching a teen obstruct justice and then be patted on the head at the end for their good deeds.
BURNING BLUE does this, but the concept is horrifying enough that I had to finish the story to find out what happened. (Also, said cops actually call Detective Teen on the carpet for doing this and slap him with obstruction of justice charges, yay.) Nicole Castro, the pretty and popular queen of her high school, is the victim of an acid attack. Nobody knows who did it, and everyone is really nice to Nicole about it, but there's no doubt over how much the terrible incident has disrupted her life.
Jay Nazzaro is a teen hacker, who also has epilepsy. He's often teased and mocked because some jerk with a camera managed to record one of his worst fits on their phone & then posted it on social media for all to see. Poor guy. Because of this humiliation, Jay is in a better position than most to understand where Nicole is coming from. He becomes obsessed with her, determined to find out who attacked her & why, and help bring her to justice.
I thought that this was going to be one of those really creepy stories where the hero is written along the lines of Big Alpha Is Watching. You know, his obsession would be psychotic in any other circumstances besides this one, but because he's doing it for the right reasons, it's okay? But Jay wasn't like that. He really does care about Nicole. He tries to anticipate her needs, even when those needs involve him giving her space, and he falls harder for her when he finds out what most of the school has already found out in one way or another: Nicole is a very nice, down-to-earth person, someone with a beautiful soul.
The mystery aspect of the story was pretty well done. I couldn't figure out who had done it, until the very end. When I found out who the person did it, and why, it made a horrific amount of sense. It's hard to guess, though, because the two of them live in a town filled with red herrings. Nearly everyone says some sinister, vaguely threatening, coincidentally relevant thing at one point or another. It's the mystery equivalent of a jump scare: I DID IT! LOL JK.
BURNING BLUE is told through Jay's POV, emails from the perpetrator, and entries from Nicole's diary, so you never have the full side of the story. The only thing that didn't really fit 100% was Jay's hacking. I know some people can probably do this, but it felt like asking a lot to expect me to believe that this teenage guy can hack into government-level security with no formal training. Apart from that issue, though, this was a decent read. I finished it in under a day, if that counts for anything!
3.5 stars Burning Blue Colour me impressed and more than slightly surprised. Why, this... Yes, this was the kind of reading experience I wanted out of Shift. And my disappointment over that one's turn out is something I still grumble over to this moment. I’m not grumbling over this one though, as most aspects of BURNING BLUE had me thoroughly engaged. I was asking things, questioning things, thinking that so and so was doing this and that then seeing this is why’s and that’s how come’s. I thought I had things pegged, then moments later I’d be back to doubting my conclusions as well as doubting the conclusions Jay’d come up with.
How does one sum this one up when it’s mainly a mystery, but so much more? The relationship that grows between the two: one a misfit who’s so self conscious about not being in control of his body; the same kid relating to the other one on this level where they both have a need to be separate from the rest? Match made in heaven or not? Considering he’s accustomed to it all while she’s new to it. Her past after all had her cast as perfect: intelligent, rich and … beautiful.
It’s that last bit that starts the story too. What’s to be done when the thing that identified her is gone? It’s a question she deals with… but it’s not the central question of the book. Mostly this is about him wanting to figure out who, how and most importantly WHY.
Now one could cry impossible over him being boy -genius and her being too good to be true, but Jay is a different sort. As he’s telling the story, I was buying it, even with his super hacking skills and sleuthing wannabe moments. A bit Nancy Drew (or should I make that Hardy Boys?) him these skills and knowing all these other things as well as wanting to take it upon himself to right a wrong, but that’s me looking back on things, looking for something to nitpick over because while I was reading it, I actually didn’t mind any of those improbable (much.)
And then there’s Nicole… he relates to her on a certain level. Relating to one who on the surface seemed all about the surface, and what’s left to said girl when said surface is stripped away? (*Shakes head* Wait, I think I just confused myself there.) You think you know who they are and you think you know who’s behind it all. You’d be wrong. The guy, the girl and the rest of them when it’s one thing then another and it’s all WTF as in… Seriously, WTF did I just read? (Also, dude…can we get a cover change please?)
3.9999/5
Burning Blue Rating: 3.75(?) Stars
Where do I start when it comes to Burning Blue? It's different. In a genre of literature so popular, it's hard to find anything similar to it. It's part mystery, part romance, and part something else entirely. I can't quite wrap my head around it to be perfectly honest. On one hand, I loved it. It was intriguing, kept me flipping the pages, and startled me with its eventual revelation. On the other hand, I was expecting something a little different when I went into it. Although there are such few male-narrated novels out there, this was one instance where I felt like having a male-narration was just easier when in reality, I wanted the female protagonists inner perspective so badly. Yet, at the end of the day, Burning Blue is the type of book I can only regard with warmth since truly, it's a book I can't imagine not recommending.
Nicole Castro: gorgeous, model, beautiful, smart, sweet, kind. Burned. When a mysterious attacker throws acid on Nicole Castro, the most beautiful girl in town, not to mention one of the nicest people as well, it's all the people of Nicole's suburban town can talk about. When Jay coincidentally bumps into Nicole, just days after the attack, he can't help but feel for her. Unlike most of the residents of their town who pity Nicole and only wish to see the scar beneath her bandages, Jay knows what it feels like to be treated as a freak, an outsider - after all, he's lived like that his whole life. Thus, when an unlikely friendship strikes between the two, Jay knows he has to find out who did it. Who threw the acid at Nicole? Surprisingly though, sometimes, the answers are staring you in the face all along...
Burning Blue is one of those novels that starts out unusually slow, only to pick up and leave you flipping the pages, eagerly wanting to find out more. While the mystery behind Nicole's acid thrower is the obvious forefront of the novel, I was pleased to see the amount of depth it covered as well. Jay, the narrator of our story, has a strong and distinct voice, one that is a touch snarky, kind, and afraid. It is Jay, better than anyone else, who understands what Nicole is going through for he too has been marked out, labeled, and ridiculed in his past. As a victim of bullying, amongst other issues, Jay and Nicole bond through their understanding of one another. Yet, what I loved most about their friendship was that it didn't blossom overnight. If anything, these two had their own mix of troubles, hurdles to cross, and efforts to make to find true friends in one another. Yes, there is an undercurrent of romance between the two, but it's subtle and I appreciate that Griffin never allowed the potential romance to dominate the novel and turn it cliche. Everything was balanced out in such a way that spoke volumes about the writer's skill.
In addition to Jay's narration, we are treated to small glimpses of Nicole's voice through diary entries that are scattered throughout the novel. It was here that my minimal issues with the novel began to creep forth, but it never become truly grating until the very end of the story. You see, Nicole's diary entries barely give us access into her head. It is Nicole who has acid splashed on her face and while we witness more into her psych than other outsiders, since we are privy to Jay's unique perspective, it still remains to be an outside perspective. Through Jay, we feel for Nicole and understand her predicament and grow to admire her courage in the face of her tragedy, but do we really know the girl beneath? Not really. Frankly speaking, I wish we did. Burning Blue is a stand-alone and, as such, it wrapped up perfectly, but I found myself wishing for more of Nicole's dark, gritty, and even depressed perspective into this issue. It made me curious to know what she was going through and while I'll definitely give Griffin props for writing a unique outsider perspective that was this thoroughly enjoyable, it still left a little to be desired.
Well, that minor qualm aside, Burning Blue truly did have a plethora of redeeming qualities. Jay won me over with his narration and Nicole won me over with her budding friendship with Jay, but even more than that, the mystery in this novel fascinated me. More than a who, my mind was churning through the possibilities of why? By rendering someone else disfigured, you aren't making yourself any more pretty, so why do it in the first place? I was so impressed by Griffin's discussion of this issue, amongst others dealing with beauty, and the eventual revelation came as a complete shock. A complete shock. I've read my fair share of mystery novels and I'm sure if you look through my reviews, half of them will complain about having predicted the plot beforehand, but not this one. I love that feeling of being utterly surprised and if for nothing else, it's worth reading this book just for the mystery and the psychology behind it. If you're even remotely interesting in humanity and the types of issues that compel people to do the terrible things they do, you can't afford to miss out on this one.
Overall, Burning Blue was a thoroughly impressible novel. I found myself strangely attached to all the characters - even the plethora of secondary ones - and I am thrilled to report that not only is the plot unpredictable, but this contemporary fails to fall back on typical tropes and cliches such as the Absent Parent Syndrome. Family is another important aspect to this novel and if I had the time, I could go on about all the themes this book espouses. Yet, more than that, it makes you think. In my opinion, it could have been even more provocative had we seen more of Nicole's perspective, but there's always wishing for a sequel from her PoV in the future...who knows? Either way, Burning Blue is an intriguing new contemporary you won't want to miss out on.
You can read this review and more on my blog, Ivy Book Bindings. Burning Blue I’m enough of a cynic these days to greet reference to the theme of inner beauty with an eye roll. In my experience, much of the messaging around the nature of true beauty is either trite or saccharine and comes with generous helpings of condescension or overt moralising. I need another “lesson” on the superficiality of judging someone’s appearance like I need another makeover montage in a high school rom-com. So while the blurb of Burning Blue piqued my interest, the mention of “the notion of where beauty lies” triggered an alarm bell.
Despite, or possibly because of, that early misgiving, Burning Blue exceeded my expectations. It’s a taut, compelling mystery that examines the social, physical and psychological ramifications of an act of shocking cruelty. If the novel does not entirely succeed in answering the question of why someone would perpetrate such a crime, it admirably examines the effects, and the fact that support and empathy can be found in unlikely places.
Griffin does an excellent job of reinvigorating the somewhat tired and over-used character archetypes of the mysterious, loner guy and the beautiful, popular girl. Ostensibly, Jay Nazarro and Nicole Castro fall neatly into these stock roles - Jay is an outsider from the wrong side of the tracks and Nicole is a pageant-winning beauty queen – yet their characterisation is substantially developed and layered. As the story progresses, they are each shaded and defined with strengths and flaws; Griffin peels back layers of their outward image to reveal the vulnerabilities and motivations beneath.
Jay suffers from seizures induced by a head injury and is returning to school following an incident in his freshman year, when he experienced an attack during a pep rally. A skilled hacker, Jay becomes consumed with identifying Nicole’s assailant and in the process of his investigations and burgeoning friendship with Nicole, is compelled to consider whether victim and perpetrator could be one and the same.
Jay and Nicole have convincing chemistry throughout the novel, and I don’t mean this merely in the romantic sense. While Jay admits early in his narration to being attracted to Nicole, the dynamic that develops between them is complex and believable, based on their mutual recognition of a shared experience, what it is to be labelled and isolated. Griffin succeeds in showing why these two teenagers are drawn to each other, and also the fragile balance of trust that tempers their connection. The dialogue is sharp and intelligent; much of the humour comes from the passages of conversation between the characters, and occasionally Jay’s own dry observations.
Related primarily through Jay’s first person account, the story is fleshed out with excerpts from Nicole’s journal and her psychiatrist’s notes. These secondary channels of communication are used sparingly, to provide detail that Jay couldn’t possibly know, but also to remind the reader that Jay’s observations are fallible. While I found Dr Nye’s (fortunately few) portions of the novel to be less realistic, the voices of both Jay and Nicole are well-rendered and distinct. Griffin has a firm grasp of Jay’s astute, yet guarded, commentary and also captures Nicole’s raw, more emotive language.
This isn’t a novel that bludgeons the reader with a lesson about it being what’s inside that counts. While it would have been easy to draw a painfully laboured parallel between Nicole’s scarring and the relative depth of physical beauty, the novel fortunately avoids any too obvious clichés. Of course, that’s still a theme in the book – that a person is more than the sum of their physical attributes – but it’s handled in an accessible manner. Further, I appreciated the fact that Griffin points out that even those we consider to be inwardly beautiful are not free from their own issues or faults. It’s evident from the novel that idealising a person on the basis of their appearance or their personality is to do them an injustice.
A more shrewd reader than I may succeed in unravelling the mystery sooner, but I was kept guessing up to the end. On a slower read through, perhaps I would have picked up on more clues or questioned some of the more obvious conveniences in the plot, but honestly I read this so fast I didn’t have time to scrutinise for weaknesses in the action. (Also, I’m not a hacker [sorry!] so I have no idea how feasible Jay’s exploits in technological espionage really are). I consider it worth mentioning, however, that I didn’t want to put the book down. I thought the tension was particularly good, Griffin maintains a steady, steep build up that feels in keeping with Jay’s own increasing sense of urgency and subsequent sleep deprivation.
Finally, I would recommend reading the author’s comments in the acknowledgements and notes (not before you finish though, or you will completely spoil the book – you have been warned) as it gives his decision to write this particular story some greater context. As to whether he adequately unpacks the questions raised (could I be more ambiguous?), reader mileage will vary. I don’t think this was necessarily the most nuanced analysis of the motivations behind such an abhorrent act – yet I do think that he handles the repercussions thereof in an effective manner. It’s a sensitive and insightful portrayal of teens dealing with trauma in their own way, framed in a twisted, suspenseful thriller.
Burning Blue
How far would you go for love, beauty, and jealousy?
When Nicole Castro, the most beautiful girl in her wealthy New Jersey high school, is splashed with acid on the left side of her perfect face, the whole world takes notice. But quiet loner Jay Nazarro does more than that--he decides to find out who did it. Jay understands how it feels to be treated like a freak, and he also has a secret: He's a brilliant hacker. But the deeper he digs, the more danger he's in--and the more he falls for Nicole. Too bad everyone is turning into a suspect, including Nicole herself.
Award-winning author Paul Griffin has written a high-stakes, soulful mystery about the meaning--and dangers--of love and beauty. Burning Blue