Friday 3 July 2015

Book Review: Ashes to Ashes by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Ashes to Ashes (Burn for Burn #3) by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
Publication Date: September 16th, 2014
Format: Library book

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?


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10662433-ashes-to-ashes

 Warning: There WILL be spoilers for the previous books in this review. I highly recommend reading the previous two books before continuing on.

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The revenge is no more. The spark that had been created from the beginning refuses to burn out and, now, it's becoming difficult to keep it all under control. Now Kat's best friend, Rennie, is gone and both her and Lillian have lots of regrets about the whole ordeal. Everyone... expect for Mary.

There was always something mysterious about Mary when she was around, especially when she allowed her emotions to get the best of her. Many events that can't be explained logically. It had always been brushed off as a coincidence. After all, as long as it benefited the group as a whole towards the revenge plan, why did it mattered? But now she knows better. She now knows the truth of the matter and why her grandmother was seen as insane... and why mysterious things happened.

But still... life goes on. Graduation is upon them and, with that, the girls' future... and Mary's desperation for revenge against the person that causes her own death.

Mary's anger still burns on.

In the meanwhile, Lillia and Kat are attempting to return back to their normal lives. Kat's working her best to get into her preferred college while also finding the best way to earn scholarships. Lillia's working towards the same goal... but her future has already been decided. Her parents have pushed her to work towards becoming a future doctor. Money's not a problem at all and, therefore, there's no worry. But being under constant watch of her parents' eyes... she can't get away with anything and grades are everything in her family.

But Lillia's love for Reeve becomes stronger than ever and, she realizes, she was truly falling in love with him. Despite feeling regret for Rennie, as Rennie and Reeve were previously dating, being gone, she can't deny her feelings any longer. But, however, Reeve is still Mary's focus of revenge and love.

Speaking of... where HAS Mary been all this time and why have she not been talking to Kat and Lillia lately?

Needless to say that a lot happens in this book, which is perfect because the third book (especially if it's truly the last book in the trilogy) needs to allow everything to close up properly. I feel like this does this well... for the most part, that is, in my opinion and it might make it or break it for some people. Especially if you find yourself loving this trilogy as much as I have.

The one thing I really loved about this book is the relationship between Reeve and Lillia. It's not really common for me to really rave about relationships that have been formed in books (at the least not at the same volume as most other book fanatics, I've noticed) but this one felt incredibly natural to me. In fact, I found myself rooting for the both of them and truly hoping that they will live happily. It made the torturous scenes between Mary and Reeve that much painful and real for me. I think just their relationship was enough for me to truly get invested into this story.

In essence: Reeve and Lillia together forever!!

With Mary's newfound powers, she uses it to her advantage as much as she can. It's not a sort of 'intuitive' I can clearly do this sort of deal, if that makes sense. Once she discovers that she's who she's is... she laps up information about her and uses it to torture others. Awesome! One of my favorite powers that she learned was to manipulate other peoples' dreams and form them in a way that she wants them to be. With that being said, though, part of me felt like she wasn't utilizing her powers to their fullest potential. But I guess, in a way, it makes sense since she only recently discovered who she was. It would be ridiculous had she suddenly become invincible and powerful. She still is an incredibly important character throughout this trilogy.

Alright... this sounds like an awesome book. There's so much packed in, but... despite all of this, why did I feel like it didn't really truly close up the trilogy fully?

The end.

No. Seriously. Imagine if this review ended right there with no explanation other than it just happened. This book did everything well up close to the last chapter/ epilogue. I won't say what entirely happened because, well, spoilers for this book... but it makes no sense. I'm trying so hard not to explain why because any explanation I can think of just screams SPOILERS. Let's just say that I'm incredibly disappointed... and lots of sad faces ensured. >:

Despite that, though, this was a fun ride and I'd still recommend this story to others. It's one of the biggest reasons why it received a four star (owls?) rather than a lower rating. That's being kind... probably. Maybe.

I'm growing sad again so I should probably stop. Weh. ;___;




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