Burnt snow is a book following a girl's innocent crush on a boy, that leads into something completely different. There's something about this boy, Brody, that doesn't quite add-up, but that doesn't stop Sophie. Throughout the whole book, we follow her and Brody's complicated relationship, uncovering some interesting secrets. Paranormal secrets, even. But, although Brody seems to be the center of bad luck, Sophie has other, bigger things to worry about.

Good book, but not one of my most favored. The start of the story and finish were really good, but the middle was sloppy and none too appealing. There's a mixed amount of things I liked and didn't like. Almost none of the characters seemed to fit the storyline excluding Brody and Sophie. Other than them, all of the other characters needed a complete rewrite. The flow was rocky and I found the suspense to be unbearable and the pace too slow. If you're going to write a book like this, make sure it's fast-paced.

During part one and two we had a basic understanding of the story. We knew something was off about two of the main characters, but we didn't quite know what. We finally find out during part three but what when we do find out it turns into a completely different story stark in contrast to the first two parts. One minute it's about a girl liking a guy with bad luck, the next she's some witch with crazy powers.

The characters were out of place and I didn't fit the story at all. The author didn't seem to really know her characters. They were completely unpredictable and not in the good way. The two main characters were the only difference. They were exciting and thrilling and without them the story would have, undoubtedly, been a drag.

Flow was a bit weird and kind of rocky. As I said before it was too slow at the beginning and too fast towards the end. There never seemed to be a middle ground. But, in saying that, the ending was exciting and after all the suspense it was refreshing to finish the book on an interesting note and to be able to anticipate the next book.

As much as I loathed the way this book was written, I find myself wanting the next book. It was horribly written, yes, but when you sum it all up it's really good book. I have not one clue what will happen in the next book and the possibilities are endless. I recommend it to people who enjoy long books and have patience when it comes to book like this one (slow paced and sort of mysterious). I do think it is a good book, but it was too slow for my liking.

Warning: contains spoilers.

If you’ve ever read the Malleus Maleficarum, then you’ll have some idea what to expect from this book. It’s explosive, deadly and very, very intense (and also a little slow moving at times).

Burnt Snow takes the concept of the ‘burning times’ and brings them forth into a modern small town in Australia; and although the beginning sets the story well, the plot is a bit too slow paced, trying to cover a lot of twists and turns as well as build up tension for the story to come.  This is a book that would make a great TV series, and each episode would be explosive and exciting and you wouldn’t get enough of it; in a book it drags, and requires too much suspension of belief.

The characters individually are quite believable, if a little clichéd, new girl normally geeky, decides to try and get into the popular crowd but always feels like a fake, geek girl best friend, popular girl with arsehole popular boyfriend…. Clichés work, they give you an instant understanding on which to base a character on, then the author can develop that character from a level playing field, but too many cliché’s in a story tend to be distracting.

Despite the slow pacing I was prepared to say I enjoyed this story, right up until the last 20 pages. My heart was racing and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough; unfortunately, I also thought I was going to be sick. The violence wasn’t graphic, and teenagers reading this will be far less affected than me, but I’m afraid I really was horrified. Burn Snow does mention the Malleus Maleficarum at one stage, and the basic premise of the story is the Sophie Morgan is a witch, who only learns this in the last third of the book. From this point she also discovers that the witch finders (known as “The Finders”) are in town trying to find the witch that’s causing all these magic disturbances. We take a couple of Wiccan call cries (never again the burning times) and add in scenes from the “Hammer of the Witches”, mix it all together with some teenage angst, and out pours our story.

The lack of a happy ending was very distressing. We’ve just gone through absolute horror, and yes, Sophie is safe, but there is no contented ending. I know this is book one, but if book one leaves me anxious and unsatisfied, I am unlikely to want to see what happens in book two. After the intense fight/flight scene the reader really needed a chance to take their breathe and reassess the story; the reader should be comforted by the author, not left to contemplate the cold stark existence of the blank back cover.

Burnt Snow is well written, with good dialogue and an interesting premise; but for me it was a topic I’ve studied and am horrified by so does not make an enjoyable read.