Book Review: “Burn Baby Burn” by Meg Medina
“Burn Baby Burn” by Meg Medina (2016)
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction
Page Length: 8 hours (Audiobook version)
Synopsis:
Nora Lopez is seventeen during the infamous year 1977 in New York.
After a freezing winter, a boiling hot summer explodes with arson, a blackout, and a serial killer named Son of Sam, who is shooting young people on the streets seemingly at random.
Not only is the city a disaster, but Nora has troubles of her own: her brother, Hector, is growing more uncontrollable by the day, her mother is helpless to stop him, and her father is so busy with his new family that he only calls on holidays.
And it doesn’t stop there. The super’s after her mother to pay their overdue rent, and her teachers are pushing her to apply for college, but all Nora wants is to turn eighteen and be on her own. There is a cute guy who started working with her at the deli, but is dating even worth the risk when the killer especially likes picking off couples who stay out too late?
Award-winning author Meg Medina transports readers to a time when New York seemed about to explode, with temperatures and tempers running high, to discover how one young woman faces her fears as everything self-destructs around her. (description from Goodreads)
Review:
This YA novel follows the story of Nora, a teenager that is carrying a lot on her plate and is striving to get out of a world where she feels trapped. It’s a coming of age story during a turbulent time as Nora’s family is struggling with finances, her incontrollable brother, and the news that a serial killer is on the loose. Nora tries to navigate the crossroads of her own life and figure out her plan for after high school as danger lurks in the background. She is faced with so many hard decisions throughout the story and her choices end up having a butterfly effect. Even when the answer seems clear cut, she knows that her choices might cause her whole life to change.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audiobook and I appreciated that this novel is a blend of self-discovery and suspense. There were so many tense moments that puts the reader on edge and the narration puts heavy emotion into Nora’s character. The reader can feel her sadness, frustration, longing for a solid home life, fearing for her safety, and her desperation to start a new life.
Medina’s writing is highly immersive and the smallest details such as disco clubs, platform shoes, and overall setting set the scene for 1977. It’s also heavily rooted in historical events such as the blackout of ’77 in New York and touches on topics such as race relations, family, feminism, and mental health. I appreciated that the romance played a smaller part in the story. It was a part of her growth process, but wasn’t the central focus.
Burn Baby Burn was such a good read and has many important narratives such finding hope in bleak circumstances and speaking your truth. This is my second novel I’ve read from Medina and I want to read more from her.
TW: Drugs, Violence, Death
Final Verdict:
