The one thing that jumped out at me almost immediately was the writing. It was beautiful, lyrical, just stunning writing. But the thing about the writing is that while it had that poetic feel to it, it didn’t have much dialogue in the first half of the story and that honestly bored me. Without dialogue, the story just loses its interest and tension. I ended up reading 10 or so pages per day instead of the 150+ I usually read. When the action did start to pick up, I found it harder and harder to close the book. The ending? Totally unexpected. I can’t believe that it was that person who wanted Nicole’s face ruined! Gasp!This is my first contemporary thriller (yes, I know!) and I’ll definitely picking up more soon. It was filled with anticipation as you tried to figure out on your own and realized you were completely wrong. The funny thing about Burning Blue is that (SLIGHT SPOILER) Paul Griffin actually insinuated that it was this person and then had Jay dismiss the notion. And of course, I fell for that old trick because there was just so much proof that it wasn’t that person. Sigh. We gullible readers.
I loved reading from Jay’s POV. He was an awesome character who wasn’t very naïve and didn’t fall for as much, being the super smart hacker he is. This book just racked up another point with Jay! As for Nicole, I loved her personality and how she handled getting burned. I mean, she kept it together when I would’ve hidden away and refused to come out ever again. But I felt her as too perfect, you know? She was popular, super pretty, and super nice. She handled everything well, was the go-to girl for everything, barely anyone hated her, etc. And I’m not saying that every pretty girl has to be mean, but she was just too good to be true, you know? Anyhow, she was an enjoyable character who stood strong throughout the entire story, so I can’t complain too much!
The romance was my favorite part! It definitely wasn’t insta-love and Jay and Nicole got to really know each other before they fell and it was so darn sweet! I could actually believe that they cared for each other and it wasn’t forced like I thought it may be, so you can imagine my relief! I sort of wish I was in that situation. Without the acid. And pain. And hacker stuff. Ok, so maybe not.
Overall, I was definitely impressed by Burning Blue and you can bet I’ll be checking out more of Paul Griffin’s stuff! This is definitely one to pick up when you get the chance! It’ll keep you on our toes and shock you with the ending! ACK! I still can’t really believe it!