Review: Burn by Suzanne Phillips

Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire but just remember someone always gets BURNED!


Cameron Grady is a 14 year old in the 9th grade who’s high school experience is not off to a great start. Cameron is getting terrorized by his fellow classmates, jocks Patterson and Murphy in particular. The bullying gets worse and Cameron has had enough. Will he survive or will the bullying drive him to take action?

Burn is an interesting read. It gives you a great understanding of Cameron, from his school life to his home life. You also see how school is affecting his life at home. Like for example, his relationship with his younger brother. Cameron wants to be seen as a stronger older brother but soon finds out that his younger brother is fully aware of the bullying that takes place at school. Cameron gets upset and becomes distant from his brother.

The problem that I had with the story was the way Cameron used fire. I felt it was a bit much but on the other hand shows that bullying can truly change a person.

I must say that going into this book I expected different events to occur. I actually felt mislead based on the summary on the back of the book, but to avoid giving anything away I will leave it at that.

All and all, Burn did keep me hooked to the end and the fact that what I thought was going to happen didn’t happen offered an unpredictable plot twist. Burn proves how serious bullying is and how the effects from it can stay with you way past your high school years.