Burn This City

By: Brenda Poppy

Narrated by: Brenda Poppy

Kasis is an uninhabitable planet, yet there they were—inhabiting. It’s no wonder that prolonged colonization produced…side effects. Or gifts. But with a militarized government that persecutes people for being different, using such a gift could mean certain death.

Auburn Alendra is one of the gifted. Her power allows her to hear into the deepest corners of the polluted city, gathering secrets and using them to her advantage. When one of those secrets threatens her very existence—along with thousands of others throughout the city—Auburn must do everything it takes to fight back.

Along with a resistance force known as the Lunaria, “Burn” races against the clock to infiltrate the government’s Peace Force in search of answers and discover a way to avoid all-out warfare. Join Burn on a thrilling adventure as she navigates the perils of a scarred dystopian landscape and discovers the true cost of survival.

©2020 Brenda Poppy (P)2022 Brenda Poppy

Spoilers

There are a lot of ideas in this book. What I liked was some of this James Bond feel to it. When she Burn had to be undercover and receive spy-like gadgets. Also, there are technically superheroes in this world but mutant (basically Marvel, but ignoring that). I wished that conflict or that side of things were represented more. We know the Peace Keeper is terrible and should be stopped. But we rarely spent time with other mutants other than using them as a plot point, especially for the climax.
But I like the characters, and the actions were great. Love what the title means to the story. And that twist at the end was epic. Using the good guys as a scapegoat is fantastic and feels like something that can and has happened in real life. Really looking forward to the next book.
Sidenote: This reminds me of another story called Outlands by Tyler Edwards. Similar concept but obviously different in its world.