Early Review - Burn for Burn by Jenny Hahn/Siobhan Vivian

Burn for Burn follows the exploits of Mary Zane, Lillia Cho, and Kat DeBrassio.

Mary and her family left Jar Island 4 years ago after she was the subject of continued bullying and name calling by her school mates. Called the Big Easy because of the fact that she was overweight, even by the boy she supposedly liked, she continues to feel angst and anger towards the boy. Mary returns to Jar Island without all the weight and with one thing on her mind; Payback.

Lillia is the rich girl of the bunch. She pretty much gets whatever she wants and is second in popularity to her friend Rennie Holtz. She hangs around with the same group of people, and basically bends over backwards to ensure that she doesn't lose any of her faux friends. When a misunderstanding concerning her sister and a boy she likes happens, Lillia is driven towards Payback on the boy.

Kat DeBrassio is the poor girl of the bunch. Once friends with Lillia, and Rennie, the threesome ended up going their separate ways and Kat soon became the subject of false rumors and innuendos that drove her into being by herself. Yet, once Kat understands why Mary is intent on her payback, it doesn't take long for Kat to realize that she has the prime opportunity to exact some revenge on the person most responsible for spreading lies against her; Rennie.

My first thoughts were WTH was that ending? Are you serious about leaving this story in that manner? Do you intend on having a sequel to this story sometime in the near future so we know what happens to Mary, Lillia, and Kat? I especially want to know what the deal with Mary is. Does she have some sort of supernatural abilities that weren't explained, or what? If this was supposed to be a revenge book on the mean girls, well, clearly there are some major questions that need answering.

*Upon further research, it appears this is the first book in a 3-part trilogy. The next book is called Fire with Fire and releases in 2013, while Ashes to Ashes releases in 2014.*

Right off the bat, my one complaint was the alternating POV's between the three girls. There were times when it would have been better to just allow one person to continue to tell the story, and then revert or move onto someone else.

I get the overall premise of this book as being anti-bullying and paying people back for treating you like pond scum. I'm totally down with that since I was the subject to bullying during Middle School until I totally fought back and got my ass handed to me by my parents. While I abhor violence, I don't have anything against standing up for yourself and protecting your right to be where you want to be and do what you intend to do.

In the end, Mary's desire for payback was more interesting than both Kat and Lillia's combined. There is an old Confucius saying about digging two graves when searching for revenge. You never know what is going to happen once you travel down the road of revenge. Things have a tendency of biting you in the ass, and there's not a lot you can do about once the horses have left the barn.

Expected publication: September 18th 2012 by Simon & Schuster Books For Young

*Book was read as part of the Southern Book Bloggers Tour for Burn for Burn*

Title - Burn for Burn
Author(s) - Hahn and Vivian
Publisher - Simon & Schuster
Release date - September 18, 2012