Tag: sourcebooks fire

A rumor is like fire.

Once a whore, always a whore.

Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
Anna’s a slut.
We all know it’s true.

And a fire that spreads online… is impossible to extinguish.

New school. Check.
New town. Check.
New last name. Check.
Social media profiles? Deleted.

Anna and her mother have moved hundreds of miles to put the past behind them. Anna hopes to make a fresh start and escape the harassment she’s been subjected to. But then rumors and whispers start, and Anna tries to ignore what is happening by immersing herself in  learning about Maggie, a local woman accused of witchcraft in the seventeenth century. A woman who was shamed. Silenced. And whose story has unsettling parallels to Anna’s own.

From Laura Bates, internationally renowned feminist and founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, comes a debut novel for the #metoo era. It’s a powerful call to action, reminding all readers of the implications of sexism and the role we can each play in ending it.

– Goodreads

Yes, it did take me a few days to read this book. I was slumping after I finished Red Hood. The Burning is a heavy book. I took a break, read something light, then came back and flew through this one!

From the get-go we know Anna has secrets. She keeps referencing something that happened at her old school. Something bad enough for her to move away, change her name, and start over. Even give up having a phone and a social media presence. I love/hate books like that. I honestly love it, but my curiosity gets the best of me. Its SO HARD not knowing! I think this is a big part of why I flew through it. Once we found out what the secret was, the book started really gaining steam and going much more quickly.

On top of Anna’s story, we also see her researching a woman who lived in her village in the 1600s that was tried and convicted of witchcraft. At some points, I thought this was more interesting than Anna’s story. I loved the glimpses into the past and all the research she did. Honestly, I want a book just about Maggie!

Laura Bates did great touching on slut shaming. It’s the whole focus of the novel. She did a great job of showing what happens to victims and those around them like friends and family, victim blaming from men and women, and the awful aftermath.

This was a great feminist read. I recommend it to anyone who loves ya feminist contemporaries.

Have you read The Burning? What were your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below! Until next time…