Burned follows the sexual awakening of Pattyn Von Stratten, a teenage member of an LDS community in the west. After her first sex dream, she finds it difficult to suppress her urges and desires. But, this dream does more than simply open Pattyn’s eyes to the world of sexuality. Soon after, she is exposed to the inequalities and injustices within the LDS community regarding gender and the proper role of women. She quickly begins questioning and challenging everything she thought she knew about family, religion, sex, and herself, ultimately landing her with a one way ticket to Aunt J’s ranch in rural Nevada. It is here, in the middle of the vast, desolate desert that Patty n’s awakening truly begins, it is here that she learns what true love feels like, and what it means to be a family and a woman,. After rave reviews of author Ellen Hopkins I was geeked when my copy of Burned finally arrived. Although it was at first difficult to read a novel written entirely in verse, I quickly grew to appreciate Hopkins� unique style. Additionally, her use of description is perfect. I was annoyed when she included lengthy, detailed descriptions about Pattyn’s appearance, but I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful imagery of Nevada. One thing Hopkins is faulted for by Burned readers is her inaccurate description of LDS life as full of domestic abuse, patriarchal rule, and forced marriage. I, however, cannot blame Hopkins for this. I believe that her portrayal of LDS life is a metaphor for life in a patriarchal society in general. The issues are the same across the board: domestic violence, marital and motherhood expectations, sexual rumors spread around school, heartbreak, expectations regarding virtue and virginity. With that, I was surprised and pleased to find a YA novel for young girls that calls explicit attention to the inequality across the genders. These are issues most girls will face at some point in their life, and I found Hopkins� initial dealing with these matters to be positive and refreshing. I do, however, fault Hopkins for the way she begins to tackle these issues later , and it is for this reason that I was so disappointed with her and the novel. What is so troubling about Burned is that initially Pattyn is an empowering role model for girls; she gains the trust of readers and we hold her to a higher standard for this reason. She defies expectation of her community by challenging social and sexual norms, and she is not afraid to stand up for herself and speak out about these issues. I was excited to see how far Pattyn would push, she seemed unstoppable and I couldn’t wait to recommend Burned to my fourteen-year-old sister. But, unfortunately, Hopkins is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and I could not, in good faith, recommend this novel to anyone. Although I do realize that this is only my interpretation of Pattyn, and others might be pleased with her actions. I also found the love story between Pattyn and boyfriend, Ethan, to be unbelievable. There is very little dialogue between the two, no chemistry apparent, and little space dedicated to describing their relationship. We are left to simply accept that Pattyn and Ethan’s love is “real� and as true and Pattyn seems to believe. This made it hard to accept her actions and her authenticity as a character. I do not plan to read anymore of her novels, despite the wonderful reviews I’ve read of her other books.
After rave reviews of author Ellen Hopkins I was geeked when my copy of Burned finally arrived. Although it was at first difficult to read a novel written entirely in verse, I quickly grew to appreciate Hopkins� unique style. Additionally, her use of description is perfect. I was annoyed when she included lengthy, detailed descriptions about Pattyn’s appearance, but I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful imagery of Nevada.
One thing Hopkins is faulted for by Burned readers is her inaccurate description of LDS life as full of domestic abuse, patriarchal rule, and forced marriage. I, however, cannot blame Hopkins for this. I believe that her portrayal of LDS life is a metaphor for life in a patriarchal society in general. The issues are the same across the board: domestic violence, marital and motherhood expectations, sexual rumors spread around school, heartbreak, expectations regarding virtue and virginity. With that, I was surprised and pleased to find a YA novel for young girls that calls explicit attention to the inequality across the genders. These are issues most girls will face at some point in their life, and I found Hopkins� initial dealing with these matters to be positive and refreshing.
I do, however, fault Hopkins for the way she begins to tackle these issues later , and it is for this reason that I was so disappointed with her and the novel. What is so troubling about Burned is that initially Pattyn is an empowering role model for girls; she gains the trust of readers and we hold her to a higher standard for this reason. She defies expectation of her community by challenging social and sexual norms, and she is not afraid to stand up for herself and speak out about these issues. I was excited to see how far Pattyn would push, she seemed unstoppable and I couldn’t wait to recommend Burned to my fourteen-year-old sister. But, unfortunately, Hopkins is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and I could not, in good faith, recommend this novel to anyone. Although I do realize that this is only my interpretation of Pattyn, and others might be pleased with her actions.
I also found the love story between Pattyn and boyfriend, Ethan, to be unbelievable. There is very little dialogue between the two, no chemistry apparent, and little space dedicated to describing their relationship. We are left to simply accept that Pattyn and Ethan’s love is “real� and as true and Pattyn seems to believe. This made it hard to accept her actions and her authenticity as a character. I do not plan to read anymore of her novels, despite the wonderful reviews I’ve read of her other books.