VeganYANerds: Burning Blue by Paul Griffin

Wednesday, 23 January 2013

Burning Blue by Paul Griffin

9:30 am | Posted by Mandee | | Edit Post

Burning Blue by Paul Griffin

Published October 24 by Text Publishing

Source: the publisher

Rating: 5 paws

From the blurb: When Nicole Castro, the most popular girl at her high school, has her face splashed with acid, her classmate, loner and brilliant hacker, Jay Nazarro, does more than just gawk at her. He decides to find out who did it.
The deeper he digs, though, the more he falls for Nicole…and the more danger he’s in. Everyone is a suspect—even Nicole herself—and whoever did it seems ready to strike again.
Burning Blue is a high-stakes, soulful mystery that explores just how far love, or the other side of love, will take us.

Burning Blue by Paul Griffin is set in New Jersey. Nicole Castro, the most beautiful girl at Brandywine Hollows High, is attacked one day at school. Someone throws acid on her face but she doesn’t see who. Six weeks later no one has been caught and after a chance meeting in the school’s psychologist’s reception, fellow classmate Jay Nazarro, decides to help Nicole figure out who it was.

Burning Blue is a thrilling and compulsive story. From the minute I picked it up, I knew I was in for a really good read and I found this book hard to put down.

Jay is such a good guy. He’s got his own problems; his mum died six years ago and he lives with his father, an art critic and a recovering alcoholic. He’s an epileptic and once had a fit in front of the whole school which caused him to wet himself. It was videoed and put online so he took a couple of years off to be home-schooled. He is really intelligent and great with computers. He decides to track down Nicole’s attacker because he’s worried about a second attack.

Nicole was an interesting character and the story includes entries from her journal throughout the book. She did have a lot of pressure on her, and I know, I know, it sounds silly to say that the pressure of being beautiful is a big deal, but it weighed on her and people only seemed to notice her face, nothing else. Now that her face has been disfigured all she hears is "She was so beautiful". But the one person who doesn't think that is Jay.

There were quite a few main suspects including the school psychologist, a custodian, Nicole’s boyfriend at the time, Dave, jealous girls at school, even Nicole herself. While reading I had several ideas as to who it could be, and towards the end I started explaining the plot to my boyfriend, who normally has zero interest in books. I asked him who he thought it could be and we had different suspects in mind. I put the book down for a minute and he snatched it up so he could flip to the end and find out who it was! I then had to play catch up and actually read the rest to find out - turns out my guess was right.

The pacing was so well done, I was really taken with Jay and Nicole’s story and enjoyed the way Jay knocked off suspects and added more to his list. He was a great guy to read about and I admired his motives for helping Nicole, and I worried that he was going to get hurt, too. The ending resolved the mystery as well providing closure for the characters, and despite being right about the suspect, it was still shocking and sad.

Burning Blue is a thrilling story that held me captive from beginning to end. I recommend it to all fans of YA fiction and mysteries.

Purchase: Booktopia / Dymocks

Thank you to the fantastic people at Text Publishing for my review copy.

Labels: 5 stars, contemporary fiction, mystery, Paul Griffin, realistic fiction, review, YA

31 comments:

Adriana (BooksOnHerMind) said...: It's such a pretty cover and look at that adorable fat cat next to it! Dies of too much cuteness...
"pressure of being beautiful is a big deal" yes it is very silly indeed but the story sounds amazing. I thought that she was going to be disfigured and it's interesting how her and other might see her before and afters/ I wonder if it was because she was a mean person or someone just has issues... well they have issues anyways but still. That's messed up... I really want to read it :D; 23 January 2013 9:38 am
Ruby Ham :) said...: This looks very good – not my usual genre, but good never the less! Great review!
~ Ruby @ http://feedmebooksnow.blogspot.co.uk; 23 January 2013 9:42 am
Keertana said...: I just have to say that your cat looks ADORABLE in that picture! ;) I'm so glad you enjoy this one, though, Mandee! I was so shocked by the ending and the novel in general really made me think about society and the pressure it puts on people. I was also really excited since I live in NJ, so it was nice to see a familiar setting. Wonderful review, dear!(:; 23 January 2013 10:04 am
Candace said...: I remember seeing a review for this one and I'm really curious who it was that did it. Sounds like one I'll need to really watch for at the library!; 23 January 2013 11:02 am
Maree said...: Fantastic review Mands! This sounds like something I would love, you have once again convinced me that I need to read this :D; 23 January 2013 11:19 am
Somer S. said...: I love any book with a bit of mystery, and this looks fantastic!; 23 January 2013 12:36 pm
Ezmirelda said...: Awww your cat looks just like my cat! His name is Kirby. Lol. That's just way too cute. Awesome review!; 23 January 2013 1:49 pm
Shirley said...: I'm sold. This is definitely a book I'll be picking up! Jay sounds like a character I'll love and I think Nicole is a character I'll be able to connect and sympathise with. Great review Mands! I'm so glad you loved this :) Can't wait to read it<3; 23 January 2013 2:13 pm
Sharon ObsessionwithBooks said...: A great review Mandee! I love your cat in that photo - too cute!! This book sounds like one I would like, the characters sound interesting and the mysterious plot intriguing.

Thanks for sharing :); 23 January 2013 4:00 pm
Kristen Evey said...: I've been wanting to read this for awhile now. I LOVE a good mystery and I feel like there's an unfortunate lack in YA. Can't wait to dig into this one. Great review!; 23 January 2013 4:34 pm
Lori said...: I've heard such good things about this book. I really, really need to get it! Great review, Mandee!; 23 January 2013 11:44 pm
Katja Weinert said...: Sounds like a great read, have just added it to my Goodreads list. Such a hard topic too, the whole idea of these acid attacks always makes my stomach churn. I'd like to read something by Katie Piper some day, she's on TV quite a bit here and it's amazing how strong she's been about her attack. Thanks for sharing, great review as always :); 23 January 2013 11:49 pm
Jasprit said...: I've read so many promising reviews for this book already that I'm glad you were able to enjoy it too Mandee, this book sounds so different to the books already out there and I think that's why it appeals a lot to me! Great review Mandee! :); 24 January 2013 12:25 am
Andrea @The Bookish Babes said...: Burning Blue sounds wonderful. A great character story w/a mystery! I'm dying to know who burned Nicole! Thanks for bringing this to my attention!; 24 January 2013 12:51 am
Natalie said...: Oo. I have been wanting to read this one for a while, so it's great to see that you enjoyed it so much!; 24 January 2013 1:14 am
Alexa Y. said...: This sounds like a really interesting book! I think I would be intrigued and want to find out who did it as well, plus these characters do sound fantastic.; 24 January 2013 2:50 am
Ellen said...: This sounds good, but sad to. Great review. I love all your kitty cat pictures.; 24 January 2013 4:41 am
Livvy said...: I know Keertana really enjoyed this one and it definitely sounds like an interesting book. I like the sound of Jay, he sounds very smart.

I shall be off to check this out.

And awwww, look at your cat. How adorable! :D; 24 January 2013 4:57 am
Bonnie R said...: Ooh that sounds fantastic. I've seen a lot of high rating/reviews for this, definitely going to have to get my hands on this one.
That's the cutest picture ever. He? She? Is so fluffy!! :); 24 January 2013 5:27 am
Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings said...: Oh I remember the cover for this when it came out and the U.S. cover was stunning but I had no idea what it was about. Interesting topic. We had a case like this here in Oregon a couple of years ago when a girl who obviously had some problems claimed someone threw acid on her face and then she got all this publicity and money and everyone felt sorry for her....Turns out she did it to herself!; 24 January 2013 5:28 am
Heidi said...: Oooh, Mandee, this sounds so good! Just the kind of contemporary I can really enjoy--I like a bit of mystery, and Jay sounds wonderful. How screwed up is throwing acid on someone's face?! With both you and Keertana enjoying this one, I obviously should check it out.; 24 January 2013 5:51 am
Sam said...: I haven't read many reviews for this, but the few that I have read have been mostly positive. Even though you were right about the mystery, it's great to hear it still affected you. I'm glad you were impressed with this, Mandee! Brilliant review.; 24 January 2013 8:50 am
Leah said...: Oh gosh, Mandee. While reading your review I started getting so anxious! There were a few stories in the news over the past few years about people having acid thrown in their faces and it's such a horrifying think to think about. I can't begin to imagine what the victims must have gone through - and continue to deal with on a daily basis.

As fantastic as this book may be, I'm honestly not sure if it's a book for me. The mystery sounds phenomenal, but I have a feeling this is exactly the kind of book that would either cause me to lose sleep or give me nightmares!; 24 January 2013 11:23 am
Alison Can Read said...: This sounds like a great book. I knew a girl in school who was epileptic and once had a seizure in the cafeteria. When we were in 6th or 7th grade - what a horrible age for that to happen. I can imagine that it would really do a number on your self-esteem. Luckily, she was a sweet level headed girl.; 24 January 2013 4:50 pm
Maja (The Nocturnal Library) said...: I never would have noticed this one without your review, but I'm adding it to my tbr now. It's not what I usually read, but it sounds so wonderful that I'll make an exception.
Great review as always.; 24 January 2013 6:20 pm
Reynje said...: I have this on my TBR - I need to bump it up, by the sounds! Great review :); 24 January 2013 7:20 pm
The Readdicts said...: I still haven't read Burning Blue but it sounds super thrilling. I hope to get to it soon cause it sounds like a different read.
new follower :)

Janhvi @ The Readdicts; 24 January 2013 8:57 pm
Karen said...: My husband and I do that with books when I'm trying to figure things out. he always peeks then I have to rush to finish because it drives me crazy that he knows lol

This sounds so good! and I LOVE the kitty sleeping so cute next to the book :-); 25 January 2013 11:25 am
Alex (A Girl, Books, OtherThings) said...: Sounds good and I hadn't heard of it before - though the acid thing sounds familiar! - So I'll put it on my wishlist ! Jay sounds like a lovely character.; 25 January 2013 12:33 pm
Maji Bookshelf said...: Im a huge fan of mystery books, and this one sounds GREAT! Im glad its well paced as well, cause sometimes in mystery books, they can be a bother. Lovely review!
- Farah @ MajiBookshelf; 26 January 2013 6:32 am
jowearsoldcoats said...: Ooh, this one looks fantastic! Such an interesting and different premise!

I love a good mystery, too.

Great review, Mands!

ps. FLUFFYKITTY!; 3 February 2013 9:52 pm