I know where the pre-release controversy came from. I wonder, if it was from a different person or with a more concise pitch, if people would have seen it more for what it was. This story is about abuse. About finding yourself after surviving it. And about realizing that the narrative you've been told can be wrong. The last part is what I feel like failed to stick with most who were engaged in the drama. If we try a modern, real life comparison: Ranka is a child who grew up in a right-wing fundamentalist cult where everyone believed in the Great Replacement conspiracy. The story is her unlearning all the bigotry she was taught and realizing that she's an abuse survivor. It literally ends with her killing quasi-Trump. All that aside, for a YA debut written during a ravaging TBI, this was really good. Yes, the villains were obvious and Ranka might have needed more development (and her being healed was a bit contrived) but for what it is - unlearning years of indoctrination and abuse, it's impactful. I adored all the characters, although I wish we'd have had more Galen. The worldbuilding could have had a bit more care (I was so confused) but it was good. The story had me more hooked than I expected. I know that Rebecca wants to stay in MG for a while but I hope she'll return to YA one day

Refreshing to read a non-typical hero story. I like Ranka and her journey to finding herself. I loved that she - while definitely overpowered when her blood magic kicks in - is still not the overpowered hero who just slashed her way to victory but fights with her conscience and her own monsters. It was a bit foreseeable that Fildrey was the bad guy but that was okay. The remaining Story in my opinion was greatly written and not foreseeable fully. Good book, good story, would like to read more from the author.

"The Ones we Burn" habe ich mit zwei Freundinnen als Buddyread begonnen und wir drei haben alle abgebrochen. Die Story hatte wirklich mehrmals die Möglichkeit gehabt sich zu entfalten, stattdessen hatte ich nach jedem Kapitel eher ein Fragezeichen im Gesicht stehen. Am Ende konnten selbst meine Notizen nicht mehr helfen. Hinzukommen noch unnötige Hinweise auf eine Lovestory, die wirklich gar nicht zu den Szenen oder der allgemeinen Stimmung des Buches passten. Falls das Buch mal auf deutsch erscheinen sollte würde ich dem ganzen vielleicht nochmal eine Chance geben. Ich will nämlich nicht komplett ausschließen, dass ich wegen der Sprache Schwierigkeiten hatte. Da ich mich aber direkt mit anderen austauschen konnte, bezweifle ich es leider.