I absolutely loved this book, so. I h that I went out and purchased a physical cope…..you have to read it!

Well this is a hard book to rate.

I found it a little difficult to get into at first and I checked Goodreads to see it's rating. It was around 3.6 so I thought perhaps others had struggled too. However, then I discovered that it was rated down a lot of the time by people who didn't seem to have read it and had just read the 'accusations' against the author. The world of YA sure is volatile. I can see why the idea of a 'blood witch' might cause worries of blood libel and anti-Semitism however the magic in this book isn't blood libel. They don't imbibe blood but rather the blood witches' blood that is already within them starts to long for violence and death. And also, our main character Ranka, is a viking - very much coded Nordic and tall, muscly and blonde. Nothing like Jewish stereotypes.

Secondly, the race of the Sunra twins is not an important aspect of the book, they are represented favourably from their first introduction and people of all races are on both sides of the main war the novel depicts. This isn't a reverse racism novel at all.

So, while I can't criticise the novel on these terms, I still can't say that I really liked it.

There were aspects I did enjoy - Ranka's journey is nice to see. Inclusion of healing from past trauma, a character seeing that she's been wronged and learning to advocate for herself are all good things.

While I enjoyed the sapphic element, the romances largely felt undercooked to me.

I struggled to care about the characters, and felt like we were distanced from the action. The opening included information about animals that I was sure would play a role later but didn't (unless I missed this?)

Overall, this was fine but lacking the emotional connection and really solid worldbuilding that gets me excited.

I do admire the author's recovery from a serious brain injury and her determination to finish the novel.
I would read her again if the premise interested me.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

An enjoyable read about witches and the fight for power in a broken kingdom. The characters were all interesting, my particular favourite was Aramis, but I felt perhaps they could have been explored a little further. The ending was exciting and fast paced to keep me turning the pages

Great book! I didn’t pick up another whilst I was reading this one so definitely a plus for me! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for access to this book

I know this book has had some controversy, and I did read the reviews beforehand, however, I didn’t let that affect my reading or review. The writing was incredible - so lyrical and built such a perfect atmosphere for the story. I couldn’t bond with any of the characters though, which is a big thing for me. I just didn’t care what happened to them and the only reason I kept reading was because I was intrigued by the plot. I spoke check out the authors future books but I’m not sure I’ll remember this.

Thank you to Netgalley, publisher, and author for a chance to read and review this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I know there's been a lot of controversy around this book after accusations of reverse racism and antisemitism were levelled against the author before it was even published. While I'm a white woman and therefore can't say if there's something I missed, from what I read I really don't think the accusations of racism were justified. The two main Black protagonists were pretty much heroised from their first appearance in the novel, and neither society represented is monoracial.

Leaving aside the accusations, I think this is a strong debut from Mix, and I was thoroughly pulled along by the plot and engaging characters. Ranka is a classic unreliable narrator and as we get towards the end of the novel and the reasons for this become clear, a very sympathetic character. I also really loved the other main protagonists, especially Aramis. The book could have done with being a little bit shorter but overall, Mix's worldbuilding is effective and I'd read more of her work.

I really wanted to love this but it just wasn't for me however I think there is an audience for it. The story is intriguing however the execution was a little flat for me and I found it hard to make it through.

I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed in this book. I liked it, but I wasn't very impressed by anything. The characters seem stereotyped, the story a bit predictable, the twists expected and the writing style...normal? Not exceptional. It's not a bad book, just I was expecting more and the whole loyalty change seemed a bit too abrupt for me, I couldn't see the signs, to be honest.

I am kicking myself for waiting so long to read this book. I absolutely adored it, I was hooked and couldn’t put it down!

The friendships, the betrayals, the romances. They were all perfect. It was action packed and gripping, the characters had so much depth.

Highly recommend

This was originally a book I was really excited about, and while hearing the allegations was upsetting and disappointing. The worldbuilding felt really weak; the world feels extremely insular, this made it hard to understand nuances in character goals, the magic system and the overarching plot.

The Ones We Burn is a moving story about a young witch's and how she discovers some truths about herself and the people around her. It's about her learning to love and heal.

Rebecca Mix portrays Ranka quite beautifully, and her process of trusting her new friends, and learning to accept this new change, and healing from her trauma is very clse to my heart.

I definitely recommend it if you want a character-focused fantasy story centered on human emotions while surrounded by magical situations.

Absolutely amazing 👏 this is what books should make you feel like. Could not put it down. Wish it was longer and immediately bought a physical copy

THE ONES WE BURN is an action-packed standalone YA fantasy about truth and lies and fighting for what you love.

This is a nice, chunky standalone. It's quite long for a YA debut but I'm so glad it wasn't crammed down into a typical YA word count (or cut up into two books.) It was nice to be able to spend that much time in a world while still being in only one volume, to get a story that didn't feel rushed or stretched.

As it is quite long, it meant there were quite a few plot points coming earlier than I expected because of twists to come. I like being able to predict something it coming but not the fall out, because it makes me feel like things are being set up nicely (hence I catch it/expect it) but then my expectations are subverted or exceeded with the consequences or exact way in which something happens.

I liked that this is a story about the fall out of a treaty with good intentions but bad consequences. The treaty was supposed to solve the country's troubles between Witches and Humans, but instead made it worse. It meant, for me, that there was no blame on either party for the situation they found themselves in. Rather it gave space for everyone to be shades of grey over how they reacted. That is where the blame lay, in who was listening or not, who was talking or not even trying, and who had seen it as a chance to gain power.

I actually started this one in audio form, and was engaged, but my brain was just struggling too much with audio as a rule (still not able to listen to spoken word yet.) I'm sure if I had been able to, I would have flown through this book as the bit I did listen to was great.

I really enjoyed this book! I was encaptured in the story telling and the world building. I loved the characters and the setting. I devoured this book in a couple of sittings and can't wait for more books from Mix!

This was a very thrilling read that kept me on my toes. It has a new take on witches that I really like, and there's a lot of conflict and choices that has to be made, but even as a reader it's hard to really say what's the right choice and what isn't. There's no one way here, no one bad guy vs the good one. It's complicated and hard and that makes the story really good and interesting.

Granted, it might not be as surprising as I would have wanted, which is also why it gets four instead of five stars here. The twists in the plot wasn't exactly unexpected and sometimes it felt a little too much like every other YA fantasy plot out there. But, that said, the writing is good, and I like the world building and the backstory given to the characters. I think most of the characters have great arcs that make them feel real and three-dimentional.

There's also enough action and forward momentum in the plot to make this a page-turner, which I really like. There was some slower parts in the beginning, but after a while, it really took off, and I wanted to learn what happened next and had struggle putting the book down. There's both action, mystery elements, a sort of "save the world"-kind of plot, and some romance, and the author really manages to weave it all together into a great story that sucks you in.

A good read that I can recommend.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton Audio, and the author, for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was one book that I requested after extensive sessions of going through Goodreads review and discussions with friends. This book garnered a lot of press, good hype in the beginning followed by very bad later. I wanted to see for myself what the whole thing was about.

The book follows the story of Ranka, the only surviving blood witch who is sent to assassinate the prince of the realm and put an end to the endless hate towards the witch as the existing peace treaty between the commoners and the witches is not working.

The book is long...and I mean looooooong and yet so much of the plot is in the air. I have so many questions, like so many and absolutely couldn't find answers to any of them by the end of the book. One of which was what the hell are the powers of a normal witch, like except their nails darkening, what else make them witches? like the most basic question, yet no answer.

I feel like this was a very ambitious book with so many different concepts touched like gaslighting, manipulation, senseless hate, anarchy, biological warfare, mother-daughter abusive relationships, yet none of these actually was portrayed well enough for the concepts to sink in. Like even though the book was so long, it did not contribute any depth to any of the core aspects of the story including world-building.

One of the biggest problematic aspect of this book almost always pointed out was reverse racism. I see where that comes from as the ruling siblings (the assumed heartless and monstrous) are described as dark skinned. However, in the entirety of the story, every aspect of representation, be it racial, sexuality, gender were all done for the sake of doing it. It was in my opinion, nothing but USP. So not relevant in anyway to the plot!
For antisemitism, it’s a bit unclear to me and it is not something I would pick up. The blood witch part is possibly the reason, though I do not really see it.

Verdict: Nop, definitely not a book for me, will not be recommending this book.

Also this review took me ages to write, because I am still not really sure what happened in this one hell of a book.

TW: gaslighting, manipulation, senseless hate, implied non-consensual sex, assault, blood/gore, cannibalism, biological warfare & human experimentation, child death, death, murder, Mob violence

Really enjoyed this - characters developed well and the story was unpredictable. Hopefully there will be another!

It is a testament of well crafted story telling when a novel is able to engage you even when you are going through a slump, a tough time, or are having a drain of focus. The Ones We Burn is one such novel. Rebecca Mix weaves a tale of a conflicted world where Ranka, a wild blood-witch from the north, is sent south to kill the prince she is destined to marry as part of a precarious treaty between witches and the humans who keep burning them. But when she heads south things are not as they seem and the people she is supposed to hate are helping to cure a magical plague that has been killing witches.

Throughout the novel questions of morality are posed and loyalties are tested. There is also a well handled undercurrent of the effects of childhood trauma, not to mention fantastic queer representation and some quippy dialogue. I particularly enjoyed the 3rd act but won't mention why because who wants spoilers right? I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys sapphic, witchy vibes, a dash of supernatural medical mystery and a good measure of violence for a reason.

A great adventure fantasy.
Both horrific and funny in equal measures.

Ranka is everything I love in a main character. Slightly morally grey, and swinging an axe.
The writing is wonderful, the pacing great but the plot feels a little long at the end.

What really carries the book though is the relationships and the world building.
Marvellous debut over all I think.

This was quite a good YA fantasy with detailed world building and an intriguing plot, overall this was a good read