The Burning ~ Laura Bates

The Burning by Laura Bates is one of those books that I kept seeing everywhere for a while before it disappeared. Seeing it on the featured books in the YA section of the library, I had a read of the blurb and decided it sounded like something I would enjoy.

The novel follows Anna who has moved to a tiny town in Scotland for a new start. Starting a new school, Anna keeps her head down, trying not to let slip any of the secrets she’s running from. It doesn’t take long, however, for her past to catch up with her and new friendships are put to the test. 

I really enjoyed the characterisation of Anna. I thought that the way Bates wrote someone trying to outrun their past but keeps slipping up was very well done. It wasn’t done in a way that was obnoxious, just lots of little things, like stumbling over her new surname or taking too long to answer questions that should’ve been instantaneous. It was interesting to see Anna’s thoughts when she struggled to come up with an answer to why she didn’t have social media or a phone. 

What made this story even better was the addition of a little bit of magical realism. Whilst everything slowly unravels in Anna’s life, she’s also doing a history project on a local figure. Anna decides to research a woman who was accused of being a witch. During her research, she finds a locket and starts to wear it and seems to get dreams of the witch’s story. Usually, I don’t like stories embedded in stories, but I was very much hooked. I also liked the parallels between the historical story and Anna’s. 

Laura Bates uses this story to tackle a huge issue that affects too many teenage girls. It was very well thought out and in no way did it come across as trying to blame the victims. Bates deals with the issue and its sister issues, so very gracefully. She also delves into the incompetency of the adults having to deal with these issues and how under-prepared and biased they are. Anna’s mum is a brilliant example of how things change when you support your daughter one hundred per cent in the face of adversity. The development from the mum that made them run away from ‘the incident’ and the mum that argued with teachers to back Anna up was really striking. 

The Burning by Laura Bates was a well-written novel that focused on serious issues. I really enjoyed it and finished way too quickly. I give it four stars. 

C🌙