Burn Bright (Night Creatures, #1) in Aussie Readers

May 19, 2011 Glaiza rated it really liked it

Shelves: australian-author, young-adult-fantasy, speculative-fiction, young-adult

There is a hint of sci-fi, supernatural and dystopian mystery in Ixion and I liked how the reader got a glimpse of there being more to the whole world in which Ixion is situated.

Some readers might find Retra's sealed upbringing made her an odd and hesitant heroine in the beginning but I liked how her experiences of living in Grave realistically shaped her actions and thoughts. I also liked how she was beginning to question and come to terms with finding her own indepedence in Ixion. Her friends ...more

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Feb 03, 2011 Rachael rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, romance, dystopia, love-love-the-cover, favorites

Brilliant! best book I have read in a long time. From the beginning I was hooked. I cannot wait for book 2 in this series.....And the cover is awesome!

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Jun 16, 2011 Kat at Book Thingo rated it liked it

Shelves: young-and-new-adult-fiction, review-copies, speculative-fiction

Full review at Book Thingo.

De Pierres sets the story up beautifully, taking the reader on the same journey as the bewildered Retra, for whom Ixion requires a complete reassessment of everything she knows (or has been taught) thus far. But as the story progresses, De Pierres falls into the common trap of keeping details thin in order to maintain various mysteries of the world she’s creating. Retra’s naiveté also becomes irritating after a while, and it’s difficult to believe that she could su ...more

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Nov 20, 2010 Kai rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc, for-review, teens, 2011-tbr-pile, books-i-own

Full review posted at Amaterasu Reads

Stare intently at the book cover and you'll have an idea of what to expect when you read Burn Bright. It's unique, and unusual, if I may say so. The story is beautiful from cover to finish!

Unsure as I was, even skeptical you can probably say, but like the powerful allure that the island of Ixion possesses, I was drawn to this book solely by its strange premise and uniqueness.

Retra is different. She's a seal and parties and having fun are the last thing on ...more

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Nov 25, 2010 Tahlia Newland rated it liked it

Shelves: ya, fantasy

The cover of this book is fabulous, the story very different and imaginative, and the world of Ixia fascinating. It had the potential to be amazing, but for me it didn’t quite make it.

The story went straight into action, which is supposedly a good technique for grabbing readers, but not if you don’t give them a reason to care about what happens to the characters first. We were told why Retra ran away, but it would have been much better if we had been shown why. It only needed one scene at the be The cover of this book is fabulous, the story very different and imaginative, and the world of Ixia fascinating. It had the potential to be amazing, but for me it didn’t quite make it.

The story went straight into action, which is supposedly a good technique for grabbing readers, but not if you don’t give them a reason to care about what happens to the characters first. We were told why Retra ran away, but it would have been much better if we had been shown why. It only needed one scene at the beginning showing Retra’s relationship with her mother and father and we would have identified with her and understood why she was prepared to bear the amount of pain she did in order to run away. As it was, we went straight a bizarre world where events happened in such a fast time frame that we never got to know Retra before she became someone else.

I found the speed of her character development unbelievable and the reasons for them too thin. One experience doesn’t make us throw away a lifetime of conditioning. She started as a meek, solitary, ignorant, girl from a repressed background who hardly spoke and kept her emotions in check, then suddenly she’d become outspoken and lashed out in anger against one of the ‘rulers’ when the usually more brazen people around her didn’t dare. Next, she seemed to know a lot, had an enquiring mind and was giving orders to others.

In the middle of the story, a Riper ‘enlightens’ Retra when he heals her, and suddenly she is not only ‘bonded’ to him (how?) but she is a very different person. We weren’t told what ‘enlightened’ meant in this context, or how it was achieved, leaving us only with the traditional meaning. How she became enlightened and what she became does not fit with the traditional meaning, so at the least, it was a poor choice of words. Even with a different label, how does someone’s mouth on a wound change you into a different person?

It felt as if the author had left out important aspects of character development and motivation in flavour of a shorter action based book – a poor choice in YA fiction where character and relationships are vitally important, at least to girls, perhaps not so much with boys. Although there will, no doubt, be people that will like this book despite its flaws - the world of Ixia alone will be seductive enough for some readers – for me, it fell far short of its promise.

There was also a very disturbing element in this book, the combination of sexual advances and pain infliction by figures of authority on young girls. It was a minor element, but sex and violence together are a combination that I am particularly sensitive to, especially sexual sadism and especially in YA books. It gave a bad taste to the whole book – disturbingly creepy. My seventeen-year-old daughter was horrified when I described the two scenes and said that she wouldn’t want to read that.
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Mar 03, 2011 Stacey (sassysreadingnook) rated it it was amazing

When I first saw Burn Bright I was drawn in by the amazing cover. I'd heard so many great things about this book so i bought it and I wasn't disappointed.
Marianne has opened a new and exciting world, one that will suck you in and have you on the edge of your seat through the whole book.

When i started reading Burn Bright I wasn't sure what to think, this world is completely different to anything i've ever read. It's refreshing, phenomenally creative and takes you on a journey full of danger and ...more

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Jul 16, 2011 Mish rated it liked it

Shelves: australian-authors

I had mixed feelings about this book. More good than bad feelings but there’s just the one aspect of the book that troubled me.

I will start off with a brief outline. I was intrigued by concept and premises of Ixion. It’s an island of no rules, everlasting darkness and nights of pleasure and music. It’s an island run by these guards called Rippers who are there to protect the islanders and its place were teenagers escape too from a life of boredom and rules. But in Joel case, it’s not an escape I had mixed feelings about this book. More good than bad feelings but there’s just the one aspect of the book that troubled me.

I will start off with a brief outline. I was intrigued by concept and premises of Ixion. It’s an island of no rules, everlasting darkness and nights of pleasure and music. It’s an island run by these guards called Rippers who are there to protect the islanders and its place were teenagers escape too from a life of boredom and rules. But in Joel case, it’s not an escape from rules alone, but harsh punishment and freedom of speech from their community. When Retra’s bother Joel escape, the strict regime became harsher on the family and Retra had to endure the brunt of it; being monitored day and night by camera, and having obedience strip lodged under the skin. Unable to bear it any longer, Retra escapes to find her brother at Ixion. When Retra arrives at Ixion, it’s nothing is what she imagine it to be. There are rival gangs amongst the islander and there’s something untrustworthy and sinister about the Ripper.

The plot took me a while to get into, and that’s probably because I don’t read enough fantasy books like this, where you need to understand a new world the author’s created. But once I got my head around it, I found the plot to be rather wild and extremely creative. The description of the island of Ixion has a dark almost gothic feel to it, and the author adds a touch of sensually to the backdrop of the story without going too far and leaving things to your imagination.

The thing that disturbed me the most were these pods the teenagers were using (and they were using them freely and willingly). These pods are meant to stimulate the mind, senses and keep your body energized for longer periods of time. Now! That sounds like drug to me. I may be a little old fashion here but I really don’t believe that drugs should be introduced and written into a YA novel. It gave the impression that it was acceptable and the only way to have fun, which I found appalling. Drugs have been a problem when I was at school and it’s even a bigger problem in today’s society. It’s a parent’s worst nightmare.

I will continue this series because I like the story line but I don’t believe it’s should be for YA audience.
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Nov 23, 2010 Mandii-lee rated it it was amazing

i.loved.this.book ! ! !

it was so intriging

all the characters were diverse (and may i say i find it odd that i have a book crush over lenoir but he won me over)

cant wait for 'Angel Arias' ...more

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