Title: The Burning Of Juniper SlaideAuthor: Johanna Handley
Published: Sept. 5, 2016
Pages: 227
Format: ebook
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Juniper Slaide is the sole survivor of an arson attack that destroyed her home and killed her family. Nine years later she’s worked hard at putting the past behind her. She clings to her best friend James, the only person she’s been able to trust since the fire.
But one day James disappears.
Juniper tries to find her friend, but she uncovers more than she bargained for. As tensions grow and friendships are tested, she begins to realise that James wasn’t who she thought he was.
And worst of all, his disappearance is connected to her somehow, and what happened to her all those years ago … An exciting thriller full of twists and turns which you wont be able to put down!
Rating:
I have to say this was an amazing book, I honestly did not see it going the way it did.
For me this was a page turning I do believe it will be on my top ten books this year. This is more for the teenage readers though being an adult I really enjoyed it. Juniper loves fire and when she gets upset or has anxiety she runs off and burns things which of course you would think she wouldn't do something like this because her family died in a fire.
We see how Juniper has been forgetting a lot of things that happened in her past. It is like her brain has been rewired to forget and remember things in a different light, so when her best friend disappears that is when we see Juniper start to remember and open up. You see Juniper is a very quiet kid whose best friend James does all the talking for her, so when he disappears Juniper will uncover many hidden secrets but will it make her or break her. It does seem that everything she has been told or believed is a lie. Who can she truly trust in the end?
Not everyone is how they seem and this is something that I learned while reading it. I thought I had everything figured out but nope the author threw me a curve ball.
We go back and forth between Juniper and diary entries of the man who is believed to have started the fire. I first I wondered about this diary and what did it have to do with the story, it all ended up making sense the way that James's mom was, she has a disorder something is wrong with her mentally. As more things were reveled I found my heart breaking for James and his brother and I could see why their father was scared for them.
Now I did think the author did a bit over-usage of descriptive wording but nothing too much that would have me drop my rating. As far as characters go I think she did a good job with them, and for the plot
I see that this is a book 1 in a series, I am not sure what book two will be about since well, where the ending left off it seemed to be good to me.
Expat writer living in Qatar with husband, daughter and an array of rescued animals. Writes with a dog at her feet, two cats on her desk and three birds in her ear
