I'd Rather Burn Than Bloom
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3.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Packed with voice, Shannon C.F. Rogers' I'd Rather Burn than Bloom is a powerful YA novel about a Filipina-American teen who tries to figure out who she really is in the wake of her mother's death.
Some girls call their mother their best friend. Marisol Martin? She could never relate. She and her mom were forever locked in an argument with no beginning and no end. Clothes, church, boys, no matter the topic, Marisol always felt like there was an unbridgeable gap between them that they were perpetually shouting across, one that she longed to close.
But when her mother dies suddenly, Marisol is left with no one to fight against, haunted by all the things that she both said and didn’t say. Her dad seems completely lost, and worse, baffled by Marisol's attempts to connect with her mother's memory through her Filipino culture. Her brother Bernie is retreating further and further into himself. And when Marisol sleeps with her best friend's boyfriend - and then punches said best friend in the face - she's left alone, with nothing but a burning anger, and nowhere for it to go.
And Marisol is determined to stay angry, after all, there’s a lot to be angry about– her father, her mother, the world. But as a new friendship begins to develop with someone who just might understand, Marisol reluctantly starts to open up to her, and to the possibility there’s something else on the other side of that anger– something more to who she is, and who she could be.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this potent debut, Rogers explores themes of grief and moving on from loss through the lens of a biracial teen. Screaming arguments were a constant in Albuquerque native Marisol Martin's relationship with her Filipina immigrant mother. So when her mom dies suddenly in a car accident, Marisol feels guilty about the way things ended between them, and her reluctance to open up about her conflicted feelings pushes her further from her friends, brother, and white father. Impulsive decision-making in the form of excessive drinking, engaging in a dalliance with her best friend's boyfriend, and punching said best friend in the face result in strained relationships, school suspension and, eventually, juvenile detention. It's there that she meets magnetic Mexican American Elizabeth Parker, who helps Marisol accept her mother's death and learn to forgive herself. Via dual timelines that trace Marisol's life before her mother's death and three months after, Rogers crafts a fast-paced narrative through Marisol's powerful and poignant voice. Insights into family dynamics, changing friendships, and biracial identity make for realistically messy and enjoyable character growth that one can't help but empathize with. Ages 15–up.
