ASHES TO ASHES by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian - REVIEW

         Ashes to Ashes is the dramatic conclusion to the Burn for Burn Trilogy written by Jenny Han (Author of The Summer I Turned Pretty series) and Siobhan Vivian (Author of The List).

         This trilogy centers around three girls, Mary, Lillia, and Kat. These three have some revenge to dish out, so they band together and help one another out. If you haven't read the last two books... BYE.

     (Spoilery section begins. You have been warned)

 

         Full synopsis of ASHES TO ASHES courtesy of the publisher:

They only meant to right the wrongs. It was about getting even. Burn for burn.

But the fire they lit kept raging…Reeve ended up hurt, then Rennie ended up dead.

Everything will turn to ash if they don’t stop what they started. But now that Mary knows the truth about what happened to her, will she want to?

Secrets drew Lillia, Kat, and Mary together. The truth might tear them apart.

         In Ashes to Ashes, Lillia, Kat, and Mary must deal with the consequences with what happened on New Year's Eve during the end of Fire with Fire.

         Going into this last book, I had a couple things that I wanted very much to happen.

• Alex realizes his feelings for Kat. (Which he did not.)
• For Kat to get into Oberlin, (Which she did, but ended up not being able to attend the school)
• Reeve and Lillia get their happy ending. (That didn't happen...)
• For Mary to stop haunting Jar Island and its occupants. (This did happen. Thank goodness.)

         The majority of the things did not happen. What did happen... certain parts made me have the urge to chuck the book at a wall. The book begins and everyone is still mourning over Rennie's death. Mary has disappeared seemingly out of nowhere. Kat is... well Kat and Lillia is trying unsuccessfully to distance herself from Reeve.

          Mary decides that it's the right time to snoop through her aunt's books and learn all the ways of the ghostly haunting trade. Great timing on her part.

          Someone was going to die, hence the title. (Which I guess you could count Rennie as that someone... but then again, Mary "moved on"... That's sort of a death.) 

• MARY: My frustration with her throughout the book was unbelievable. She was no avenging angel. More like a lunatic devil. Let's go around harming people. What a wonderful idea that was, Mary... MARY + GHOST POWERS = DANGER ZONE, BAD THINGS. I dreaded every time I flipped the page and it turned out to be a chapter in Mary's P.O.V. Someone always got hurt in almost all of her chapters. I'm really glad she had the least amount of chapters. She was just too hung up on revenge. YOU ALMOST KILLED REEVE! For what? For not liking you? Unbelievable. But I guess I can forgive her just a bit for saving them at the end.

• KAT: I think she got the short end of the straw (Along with Reeve, but we'll get to that later). She finally gets the recommendation from her boss and then Mary goes and burns it. Shame on her! Kat worked so hard to get into Oberlin and she gets in! But she can't go because that was her sacrifice to lock Mary up... But then Lillia goes and breaks the sacrifice by kissing Reeve and AHH. She doesn't end up with Alex either. :( I think I enjoyed Kat's perspective the most. Maybe because she wasn't always hung up on everything. She had that "We'll get through it in the end" attitude. Her comment about Alex's "junior high love songs about Lillia Cho?" Oh gosh, that had me laughing and smiling the entire chapter. I love Kat.

• LILLIA: Speaking of Lillia Cho... I personally thought her relationship with Reeve was really short-lived in this book. Their relationship is kept a secret for what? 1/4 of the book? Then when the truth comes out, she gets hated on and shunned (Not by Reeve or Kat, of course). I wanted to jump in the book and give her a hug. Fast-forward past some kisses and hugs, when she's finally happy with Reeve, Mary goes and forces her to break up with him and threatens to KILL him if she doesn't. This revenge thing was getting out of hand. But, of course, being the loving person she was, Lillia goes and breaks up with him. *CUE THE HEARTBREAK* What I didn't get is why she didn't just back together with him at the end... He found out about Mary and risked his life for her, and he still doesn't the girl.

• REEVE: Oh Reeve. Poor guy... I just want to cry for the guy. The ending did not go his way. *sigh* He was the sweetest guy during this book. The sweetest. He beats Alex and his 50 roses any day of the week. He injured himself during high school resulting in him taking another year of high school, then he reinjured himself again during college. "That was that." Lillia, why don't you elaborate please????????? When I found out that Lillia ended up with Alex, I was kind of hoping that he and Kat got together. They're both so sarcastic and... alike. I hope Reeve was happy in life. Moving on....

• ALEX: Does anyone realize that if the red roses were 5 bucks a piece, that Alex spent $250 (!!!!!!) on roses for Lillia? ...CRAZY RICH PEOPLE. Alex, truly, was the friendzone victim in this book. But I guess that's just karma. You friendzone Kat, you get friendzoned yourself. But hey! You got the girl you've been crushing on for who knows how many years!!! Congrats. I am just SO happy for you.  ._.

All in all, it was a great book. It went by too quick. I'm going to miss everyone (Maybe not Rennie or Mary, but still). 5 stars! It was so flippin' fantastic.