Patrick Ness and Dragons, my dreams come true. This book is everything I hoped it would be and more. As always the writing is absolutely beautiful, an art form on paper, I think this is one of his best books so far. It’s intriguing, full of twists and turns and the ending is just perfect and you feel satisfied, like a good meal, obviously leaves you wanting more, but that’s wanting too much of a good thing ! Ness is an epic storyteller and not all of this is comfortable reading, but with the story it shouldn’t be, but as always there is great hope , redemption and it’s ultimately uplifting. Another that’s going to be on my top reads of 2020 Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Patrick Ness is one of my favourite authors. Every single time he publishes a book, I enter with the highest expectations, and every single time he does not only manage to write something completely original and different, but completely surpass my expectations, too. If you've enjoyed Patrick Ness's previous books, I would recommend you stop reading this review right now and just buy the book, because I can guarantee that you'll love this one too.  If you need further convincing, keep reading:  The year is 1957. In a world where dragons peacefully coexist with humans, Sarah Dewhurst lives on a farm in a small, backwater town with her father, facing harassment from the town's deputy due to the colour of her skin. When her father hires a dragon to help work their farm Sarah expects trouble, but she does not expect the dragon to have a secret own agenda for being at that precise spot. Meanwhile, a teenage assassin leaves the Canadian dragon wastes to travel south, heading for Sarah Dewhurst's little farm... I have to admit, it took me a little while to get into this book. The world, while very well introduced and described, just didn't catch my interest immediately, The grim, cold, cold-war winter of 1957 just didn't feel very inviting, which, I suppose, isn't a big surprise in retrospect. Another thing that threw me off initially were the multiple viewpoints that change quite frequently and felt a little overwhelming in the beginning. But after a couple of chapters I started to feel comfortable in the story, and it was a steady increase from there. From the beginning, there is such a fantastic rise in tension, conflict growing and growing until you keep flipping the pages frantically, needing to know what happens next. The plot is incredible, and has a couple of plot-twists and reveals that had me sitting in front of the book with my mouth open (think "More Than This"). Even though the perspectives in this book change so frequently you root for every single character, and all of them are so well-written, complex and understandable. The writing is, of course, absolutely fantastic, and the book finishes with a wonderful, hopeful message. Every single time I enter a new Patrick Ness book with such high expectations, setting myself up for disappointment, and every time he surpasses them again. I absolutely loved this book!

Set in 1950s America at a time when humans and dragons co-exist. We meet young Sarah Dewhurst and her father who is waiting for the arrival of a dragon that will help them on their farm, as they are much cheaper than people. The dragon, a Russian Blue named Kazimir is there though to protect Sarah and to save the world. In Canada, a young teenage ‘Believer’ (Dragon worshippers) called Malcolm has been given orders by his goddess to head to America and to carry out an assassination on someone to stop a war. FBI Agents Woolf and Dernovich have been given the task of finding the assassin and stopping him after he killed some of their men with the help of a dragon. This is a cat and mouse chase like no other. Who has been misled and who is really trying to stop a war whether that be between men or men and dragons? Told in two parts and the third person, Burn is told from various viewpoints. The plot plays out as three separate stories yet interweaves them when the time comes. Sarah is a sweet young girl who has been brought up by her father alone on their farm since their mother died. To keep the farm and pay off the debts her father needs a bumper crop and harvest and to be able to afford this he hires a dragon. Kazimir the dragon is a small Russian Blue, not many are seen and certainly not working on a farm. The book might be set in a fantasy world but the racism and bigotry of the 50s are certainly present and the locals don’t like a Blue being close by, he could be a Russian spy. The local police officer already doesn’t like the family as Sarah is of mixed race. He also has an issue with her best friend Jason who is of Japanese descent. The plot moves along at a decent pace. You get to hear from Malcolm about his mission as he meets a young man on his journey and shares his thoughts and his body with him. You also see the bickering agents as they try to track Malcolm down, yet are always two steps behind him. You would think that the story would conclude when Malcolm reaches his target, but it doesn’t. This is only partway through and another storyline begins. There were certainly plenty of twists and I wasn’t expecting the book to change the direction the way it did. Patrick Ness writes unusual stories that are often just outside the real world. He plays with your mind and has you questioning everything you have read and learned as the book progresses. Some may not like this style but I adore weird, strange books that are not the norm, just like this one.

‘We are in the hands of Goddesses and madmen, Sarah Dewhurst.’ ‘Burn’ is one of those books where I think it’s best to go into it knowing as little as possible. It’s set in an alternate 1950s America during the Cold War and Sarah Dewhurst’s father has just hired a dragon to help on their farm. The Dragon has motives other than the money he will be paid though, Sarah is mentioned in a prophecy that could mean the end of the world. I’d argue that there isn’t really a main character in ‘Burn’, it felt to me more like an ensemble book with three main storylines that all had some great characters. Like with many Patrick Ness books these all eventually came together in two really great climaxes which really showed off his ability to write ‘blockbuster’ pieces as well as the intimate character moments that are common in his books. The time period is used to highlight many social issues such as racism which Sarah and her friend Jason experience primarily at the hands of the towns deputy sheriff. I can’t speak for how well this is handled having not experienced this myself but this is not the main focus of these characters stories. The backdrop of the Cold War, particularly the Space Race, play a big part into the plot of ‘Burn’, in my opinion it was an excellent choice in setting. Another of the storylines follows a boy called Malcolm who has been raised in what is essentially a cult that worships the dragons. He is being sent on a mission that is of vital importance to the cult but there are FBI agents trying to stop him achieving his goal. There was such a great plot twist here I had to take a minute and just sit and think, without spoiling anything it was. So. Good. Malcolm was definitely one of my favourite characters in the book, seeing how his life had been affected by being raised in a cult was really interesting. On his journey he comes across a guy called Nelson and they quickly form an intense relationship which did feel a little bit like insta-love but as it wasn’t the main focus of their story it wasn’t too detrimental and honestly it may not even be reciprocated love given some of the events that happen to them. Obviously, I could not review this book and not talk about the dragons. There are two main ones in ‘Burn’ and they remain quite mysterious through the book but we slowly learn more about them and their society. The dragon that works on Sarah’s farm in particular was one of the best characters in the book in my opinion, he had a strong sense of duty and was involved in one very satisfying moment which I won’t go into because of spoilers. Both of the dragons played an integral part to the story and the way things ended with the dragons (and many of the characters) just screams out for a sequel. I have been a big fan of Patrick Ness’ work for a while now and while his books have never disappointed me I feel this has been his best one since More Than This. The writing as always was beautiful and the plot was really intriguing with great twists. ‘Burn’ is definitely one of my favourite books that I’ve read this year. The world and characters that he has created here are so well developed and it has left me wanting more! Thank you Walker Books for providing a proof copy of ‘Burn’. + LGBT+ representation (own voices) + Great plot twist + Beautiful writing + Dragons

Wow. For me, it feels like the release of every Patrick Ness book should be an EVENT. The way he plays with magical realism, blending a recognisable world with all-too familiar problems with fantasy, makes the emotional potency almost unrivalled. That's more than true of 'Burn' - which is also one of the first books in a long while that I've wanted to reread straight after finishing. That's because I felt bereft it was all over and the fact that having finished it I could see all the brilliance that had been plotted out and interwoven along the way. 'Burn' is set in 1950s America during the Cold War. Sarah Dewhurst lives in smalltown Washington, and it's a familiar landscape, with race issues, money issues and small-town mindset. But there's also dragons. And end-of-world prophecy, beyond the current day crisis, that goes back millennia - about a young girl, a dragon and a moment that could end everything. This might just be my new favourite Ness - it's just so brilliant. The characters are fantastically constructed, we immediately care for them and worry about how things are going to pay out. The story is so compelling, I really could not put this book down. I really could shout out about this one from the rooftops. A true gem.