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juushikaTitle: The Burning Girl
Author: Holly Phillips
Published: Prime Books, 2006
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 295
Total Page Count: 70,864
Text Number: 206
Read For: personal enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: After a long hospital stay, Rye is released, her body covered in lesions, suffering a fever that causes synesthesic hallucinations, with no memory of the past six years. With the help of someone she used to know, she begins to regain her memories—only to discover that she was once tied up in an interstellar war that crosses parallel universes and the boundaries of human consciousness. A balance of wild, vivid, dream-like storytelling and a detailed, intelligent sci-fi plot, this is a complex book which more than rewards the reader for the effort of reading it. It is vivid, violent, meaningful, and simply wonderful. Very highly recommended.
However extensive Rye's synesthesic hallucinations, no matter how far the plot strays from our perceived boundaries of the world, this book is science fiction. Based on reviews and summaries, I came to it expecting fantasy. The lack thereof threw me off at first, but it works out for the best. The Burning Girl is a careful combination of precise detail and incredible imagination, each aspect balancing and complimenting the other. Fiery hallucination, vivid cross-wired perception, flashes of amnesia and dreams make for a wild ride, but they're balanced by incredible detail, realistic characters, and an intelligent, sensical sci-fi plot. The combination of the two gives method in the book's madness.
Yes, that's a lot to cram into one book, and so the text is sometimes dense and confusing. It's not a beach read, but nor is it impenetrable. Pay attention and be tolerant of momentary confusion, and the text will come to make sense—and it more than rewards the reader's effort to read it. In a word, The Burning Girl is incredible. From the empathetic characters to the rich language to the story—which hits so hard that it's like a fist in the gut—this book is a wildfire, brightly burning, violently destructive, and beautiful beyond words. I feel blessed to have stumbled upon it, and I recommend it highly. This is not the sort of book which will appeal to all readers, but if it does appeal to you, do yourself a favor and pick it up.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
Author: Holly Phillips
Published: Prime Books, 2006
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 295
Total Page Count: 70,864
Text Number: 206
Read For: personal enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: After a long hospital stay, Rye is released, her body covered in lesions, suffering a fever that causes synesthesic hallucinations, with no memory of the past six years. With the help of someone she used to know, she begins to regain her memories—only to discover that she was once tied up in an interstellar war that crosses parallel universes and the boundaries of human consciousness. A balance of wild, vivid, dream-like storytelling and a detailed, intelligent sci-fi plot, this is a complex book which more than rewards the reader for the effort of reading it. It is vivid, violent, meaningful, and simply wonderful. Very highly recommended.
However extensive Rye's synesthesic hallucinations, no matter how far the plot strays from our perceived boundaries of the world, this book is science fiction. Based on reviews and summaries, I came to it expecting fantasy. The lack thereof threw me off at first, but it works out for the best. The Burning Girl is a careful combination of precise detail and incredible imagination, each aspect balancing and complimenting the other. Fiery hallucination, vivid cross-wired perception, flashes of amnesia and dreams make for a wild ride, but they're balanced by incredible detail, realistic characters, and an intelligent, sensical sci-fi plot. The combination of the two gives method in the book's madness.
Yes, that's a lot to cram into one book, and so the text is sometimes dense and confusing. It's not a beach read, but nor is it impenetrable. Pay attention and be tolerant of momentary confusion, and the text will come to make sense—and it more than rewards the reader's effort to read it. In a word, The Burning Girl is incredible. From the empathetic characters to the rich language to the story—which hits so hard that it's like a fist in the gut—this book is a wildfire, brightly burning, violently destructive, and beautiful beyond words. I feel blessed to have stumbled upon it, and I recommend it highly. This is not the sort of book which will appeal to all readers, but if it does appeal to you, do yourself a favor and pick it up.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
