Burned

This was certainly a cautionary tale -- a cautionary tale against believing that true love only happens once -- in your teens no less; a cautionary tale about lying to the women in our lives and keeping them oppressed ... a cautionary tale against religion, especially a religion that oppresses women and treats them as possessions.

I was disappointed by a few points ... the ending being one because I wish it had continued!
I was disappointed that the teen believed in "true love" so strongly and what happened to her because of that ... but at the same time, that was the story and that was the point ...

As much as you want to believe it's just a work of fiction, you also know that for some poor teen out there, being oppressed by a religion show more that says she's nothing more than a baby making machine, to be owned by her future husband, this is reality.

Adrianne show less

Well, I'm not gonna lie--I really didn't like this book. On the one hand, the story itself was a lot more fun to read than that of Crank and Glass, which actually didn't have a story beyond chronicling the main character's drug use.

On the other hand... Blech. In the first place I hate the teenagers Hopkins writes. They are just obnoxious. They might be realistic, although I have to say, I have never known a teenager who refers to sex as "making love." (And speaking of which, gag me with the cheesy writing. I accidentally returned the book so I can't look up any examples, but I will tell you that her protagonist, Pattyn, refers to her crush as "Furnace Lips.")

Also, her teenager characters always believe they are in love--or, as they show more call it, "forever love"--after approximately two days of knowing someone. Yeah, of course I was like that too, but between the ages of 13 and 15. Her characters are 17 and 18 years old, and by then even I, the most naive teenager who ever lived, knew it takes a little longer than that to really know. Also, when they have sex for the first time, the boy says "Let me show you what love is." SEX IS NOT LOVE. Come on, Hopkins. (To her credit, I have to say that she is diligent about making the point that sex is better when you love the person. But I consider that small potatoes in light of how freely she writes sex into the lives of teens--who, it just so happens, ALWAYS think they're in love.)

(Related side note: It really irritated me that adults encouraged the teens in this belief. Even an adult who is still in love with her high school sweetheart should know that that's a rare thing, and know better than to encourage a girl to believe that her first boyfriend, who she's known for a grand total of two months, is THE ONE.)

Next there's the Mormon stuff. There were some things I could relate to, realizing that though I never felt that way myself at the time, I probably would have if I'd been like I am now. But while I could understand some of the cynicism, I was also very aware that the author was not trying to paint an objective picture of the LDS church as a whole.

Pattyn asks her bishop if it's okay for a man to beat his wife; the bishop tells her that although violence is never right it is a man's duty to keep his wife in check, and then calls her a liar and says he hopes she's not accusing her father of doing that. (Pattyn's mother wears sunglasses to church every week to hide her bruises.) She is also told a story in which, when he was younger, her father held a gun to the heads of his sister and her boyfriend, telling them that if he ever saw them together again he would kill them both. In this story, Pattyn's aunt went to the sheriff, who was also the bishop, and who said that he couldn't do anything because there wasn't enough evidence. Pattyn then decides that she can't trust a Mormon leader OR the police ever again. The patriarchal church infrastructure creates an environment in which these things can happen and go unchallenged, and that's one of the most significant problems with it. But while it's entirely possible that those things could happen, and I know they have happened in one form or other, it's incredibly inaccurate and unfair to be blatantly stating that this is just what Mormon leaders are like.

And, finally, there's the ending. Which I will not spoil for you--but I will tell you that I found it completely unbelievable, not rational in the context of the storyline, and just kind of dumb. By that time I was just glad to be done, and I don't think I'm interested in reading any more of Hopkins's books. show less

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 show more 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. show less

Pattyn, who belongs to a Mormon family, begins to have questions that her faith can't or won't answer. Will God forgive her for having dreams about the very hot, Justin Proud? Is a woman's role to be submissive to her husband? Even an abusive husband? And what about love? Will she ever experience real love? When Pattyn gets caught with a boy, her father sends her to live with her aunt for the summer to find redemption and salvation. What she finds instead is the love and acceptance of her aunt and a young man. Pattyn begins to blossom into a confident, strong young woman. Will this new Pattyn be able to survive when the summer is over and she is called back to her terrible home-life and family? Tragic events ensue and Pattyn is sure she show more is doomed to some sort of a hell, maybe not the one preached about in church, but definitely a place Pattyn does not want to be. I found parts of the story hard to believe, but I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Pattyn is very likeable and her strong character and motivations are what keeps the story moving. Recommended for teen girls. show less

I’m continuing to enjoy my Ellen Hopkins binge, but have slowed down by placing at least one other YA book between each one (to make the remaining two books “last longer”): she’s my current YA binge-author, with other fairly recent binge-authors including John Green, M.T. Anderson, Scott Westerfeld, & Suzanne Collins, where I’ve been compelled to devour an oeuvre in a short amount of time (future YA binge authors on my shelf include Cory Doctorow & Sarah Dessen). So to Burned, nominee for the National Book Award 2006. This is Hopkins’ sophomore novel-in-verse (but the 5th of hers I’ve read), and she’s in good form, this time tackling a Mormon Al-Anon/ACA family riddled with domestic violence (via an alcoholic / show more rageaholic dad) “supported” by Mormon patriarchy. However, if you’ve never read a Hopkins novel, I’d recommend starting with Crank or Tricks. Although I will reveal far less than what you’d read in any other review you might find from, say, SLJ, for those who want to know absolutely nothing about endings,

***SPOILER ALERT***

Even before reading, I knew from the Hopkins’ Burned website http://www.ellenhopkins.com/Fiction.html
that there was some controversy about two things: a) her excoriating examination of how patriarchal Mormon dogma can and for some families continues to tacitly allow, support, & condone family violence and weekend alcoholism as long as outward appearances are kept up, all while denying (and therefore further encouraging) the existence of such family problems; and b) the “apocalyptic ending.” About the first, at no point did I find Burned overly proselytizing, dogmatic, or otherwise annoyingly feminist-lesson-driven: by the same token, I readily acknowledge that this is an Important Work (with caps). But is it an enjoyable read? Overall, yes, and worthwhile at that. However, the ending left me wanting, more than vaguely unsatisfied: too sudden, too quick, too rushed. My understanding is that Burned was first supposed to be a stand-alone novel, and that Hopkins intended for the ending to unsettle and remain ambiguous. But that’s not my problem: when done well, deliberately (and often maddeningly) ambiguous endings can exhilarate and pleasingly confound…cf. Fowles’ The Magus (revised), Dickens’ double-ending to Great Expectations, or perhaps best of all, the increasingly obscure plot (what actually happens to Bloom & Dedalus?) in Joyce’s Ulysses. In Burned, the denoument/conclusion seems underdeveloped. That is, as a stand-alone novel. Now that she’s writing a sequel, more will be revealed. show less

Again, another beautifully written book that left me speechless. I mean, I had no words. I wanted to talk about it, but wasn't sure where even to begin.

This book not only gave me a whole new aspect to think about, but it angered me to hell. It's these kinds of people or situations that make Christians look bad. People who present this "holy roller, I'm so good and your not attitude" when they are the ones that are in sin themselves. Jesus said it in the bible, Matt 23: 1-39 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not show more willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, ..." Basically saying, that they make look good on the outside, but in the inside, their heart is not right. So they do good deeds to show how right they are.

So this book, I REALLY loved. I mean from start to finish, I was captured. Pattyn knew that what is going on in her household is not right. I was glad that she had the chance to go away, but of course going away doesn't mean your past no longer follows you. Pattyn is brought back to horrible things, things I could never even imagine. Ms. Hopkins, once again captured an experience so vastly hidden, yet exposed. I love how Ms. Hopkins can capture the reader and make them fall right into Pattyn shoes.

The whole situation that Pattyn goes through, leaves the reader heartbroken. I admit that I cried in the end, for my heart could no longer take it anymore. No one should suffer or go through that ever. I can say that in the end, even though Pattyn went through a lot, I was glad that it was over.

Look, I don't know what else to say but if you want a real life changing, take my heart out of my chest and step on it experience, read this book. It will blow your mind, break your heart, but give you something you have never ever read before. show less

Raised in a religious family with firm beliefs as to the proper place of women, Pattyn Von Stratten knows she wants more out of life than to be a perpetually spewing womb. With an alcoholic, physically abusive father to cope with, she's learned how to be background, but it's increasingly difficult as her life seems more and more repressive. She acts out and as punishment is sent to Nevada to stay with an estranged aunt. In a story rife with amazing verbal imagery and emotional highs and lows, ultimately, Pattyn is left with no way out.

Hopkins' characters tend to be young adults coping serius issues, and the outcomes are not usually "happy" in the fluffy-bunnies sense, but this one seems especially grim. Is Pattyn *SPOILER ALERT* sitting show more on an overpass with a gun, plotting the deaths of everyone whose actions culminated in her loss really the answer that should be suggested to young adults? Yes, it's dramatic; yes, it's realistic.... But it's not the only ending possible. Burned is incredibly powerful and fluidly told, but I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth when the final pages unfolded. show less