Burned (2006)

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He was a dream. A safe dream.
Safe, because he was unattainable,
something to adore from afar.
Like a snow-drenched mountain
or an evening star.

The Storyline
17-year old Pattyn Von Stratten is the oldest child in a Mormon family which consists of an alcoholic and abusive father and an extremely overwhelmed mother. Unconsciously, she starts to rebel little by little from her strict family’s rules. After her father catches her in a moment of rebellion she is inevitably sent to live with her Aunt in rural Nevada. Pattyn begins to realize that life with her Aunt may not be as bad as she had originally thought and that going back to her old life may be harder than she thought.

Thoughts
This was the second Ellen Hopkins book I’ve read, and even though this was not as enjoyable as [b:Triangles|10843755|Triangles|Ellen Hopkins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1313893537s/10843755.jpg|15709019], I did still enjoy it. It was damn near impossible not to feel bad for Pattyn and her 'moments of rebellion' which wasn't even anything that bad... her family just put her on such a short leash that any form of rebellion was conceived as horrible and wrong.

I can't help but feel that these types of family situations only make things worse on these children in the long run. Placing so many rules and responsibilities on them at such a young age usually leads to crazy acts of rebellion. Of course this is not always the case and many kids that live in strict households end up turning perfectly decent members of society. When I was in high school I used to have two really good friends who were both Mormons from large families (with enormous responsibilities) who ended up having a huge impact on how I view families such as these.

I finished this book with my jaw on the ground; it was an extremely abrupt and unexpected ending. I went into this thinking that it was a stand-alone novel but come to find out there's more to come in this series... I'm extremely interested in seeing how the author takes this story. ( )

Exquisite prose and wise use of white space, breaks in text, and other techniques to engage readers and further pull us into Pattyn's world. The book deals with difficult issues that teens may be facing: abuse, bullying, "slut-shaming" and others. However, Hopkins is overly dramatic in combining pretty much every horrible thing that could happen to a teen girl into one book; additionally, the book is based on negative stereotypes regarding a religious minority (Mormons) that many readers may find offensive. ( )

Did I ever tell you about the time the author tracked down my blog and left me a comment because I said not nice things about her book? Yeah, it was interesting. But I still stand by what I said then, the ending was not set up enough by the story. I understand as an author she wanted to end up somewhere but the rising action did not equal the climax, 3 pages from the end of the book. Style aside, I felt cheated because the reader only sees one half of the story and the 2nd half would be more interesting. ( )

Wow. I found this book... original, disturbing, horrific and completely nothing like I expected it to be.

Firstly, I didn't realise it was in verse form and when it arrived I was a bit reluctant to begin seeing as my past experiences with novels in verse are Dante's Inferno and Paradise Lost. Must I say anymore? But... I went against my initial instinct and found that I loved the way the style just flowed, I read page after page and suddenly realised I'd devoured half the book in less than an hour (this is a book with nearly 600 pages). The story wasn't lost in the poetry and, if anything, it only served to make the story more effective.

The basic plot is that of a strictly religious mormon family, the father is a violent drunk and the mother takes the beatings and verbal abuse simply because she is a woman and her husband is in charge of her. Yeah, seriously. My feminist stomach clenched with anger at that one. Especially when Brother Crandell (I think - I don't have the book to hand) told Pattyn that the only way she could be redeemed for being born female is to fulfill God's wishes and have lots of babies (because that's a woman's role). This is the kind of book that makes you want to tear your hair out with frustration and violently maim several of the characters. As a woman, I felt the indignity and anger with her. And yes, I'm sure you could argue that not all mormons believe that women are essentially useless without men (but Stephenie Meyer helped to spread the rumour) and this may not be the typical situation, but this does happen. Not in some other time, a couple of centuries ago, but right now. Even in the supposedly civilised West.

The plot takes a rebellious Pattyn, fuelled by teenage hormones, out of this strict, religious world. She is sent to live with her Aunt and finds how different life can be when a relationship is based on love, not fear. But good things can't last forever and eventually her past starts calling her back. I won't spoil the ending, but know this: Burned made me cry, made me angry, made me curious... it is a book I know I'll never forget. ( )

The book was very entertaining it keep me on the edge of my seat. I liked that Pattyn took the blame for her sister’s actions to protect them. I selected this book because I read and enjoyed Crank by Ellen Hopkins.