A review by bookbriefs
Nothing Left to Burn by Patty Blount

3.0

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3.5/5

Right from the first page, you can tell that Nothing Left to Burn is going to be an emotionally raw and powerful story. It is told in dual narrative between Amanda and Reece. Nothing Left to Burn really got to me. I loved that the book starts out featuring the male protagonist, Reece. Reece really touched me. I felt for him so badly. If anyone needs a hug, it is Reece. Luckily, I was also able to tell right away that he has a kick ass friend in Alex.

Nothing Left to Burn is a great young adult emotional contemporary. Reece's older brother Matt died a year prior to the start of the story, and Reece is still reeling from the loss. That and the fact that everyone around him (except for Alex) seems to be blaming him in varying degrees for his brother's death. (which, side note, kind of bugged me for the whole story.) In order to honor a promise he made to his brother, Reece joins the local junior firefighter program to get close to his dad. (since said dad was being a major jerkface.) And at this program Reece meets Amanda. I bet you can guess what happens next.

Yep, emotional romance. I liked the romance in nothing left to burn, but for me it came secondary for Reece's journey. Amanda has her own issues, but they didn't really measure up to Reece's. I don't mean that they weren't as important as his. She hasn't really had a place to call home, other than the firehouse, but her emotions didn't bleed out of the pages quite like Reece's did for me. Still, it was nice to see Amanda and Reece impacting the other one. Amanda has to deal with all sorts of crazy with her current foster family, so there were plenty of roadblocks in store for our young friends.

Nothing Left to Burn is a great young adult book for readers that like their romance with a heavy side of emotional and deeper issues. This is not a lighthearted, beach read. But it is a worthwhile read. I had a few minor annoyances throughout the story, but it didn't take away from author Patty Blount's powerfull-ness to her prose. She has a very strong book on her hands with Nothing Left to Burn.

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs