Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Apr 2022
288 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
From acclaimed author Ashley Woodfolk, Nothing Burns as Bright as You is an impassioned story about queer love, grief, and the complexity of female friendship that will keep your heart racing, and breaking, until the very last page.
Two girls. One wild and reckless day. Years of tumultuous history unspooling like a thin, fraying string in the hours after they set a fire.
They were best friends. Until they became more. Their affections grew. Until the blurry lines became dangerous.
Over the course of a single day, the depth of their past, the confusion of their present, and the unpredictability of their future is revealed. And the girls will learn that hearts, like flames, aren't so easily tamed.
It starts with a fire.
How will it end?
"[A] tautly written, fast-moving novel in verse that captures the unbalanced experience of an all-consuming love...Exploring themes of loyalty, infatuation, and the value of self-love over romance, Woodfolk peppers this fraught, almost suffocating love story with eye-catching lines that signpost the teens' deepening codependency from their bond's initial spark." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Friendship evolves into a fiery, complex first love for two teen girls...The rich language describing the way the two love each other is magnificent...A beautiful, emotionally charged novel." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A masterfully crafted love letter to tumultuous, young, queer love and its lessons. Recommended for all libraries." - School Library Journal (starred review)
"Unapologetically shows the more challenging elements of falling—and staying—in love…This book has completely transformed the way I think about what it means to love unconditionally." - Nic Stone, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Odd One Out
"Nothing Burns as Bright as You is a beautiful exploration of first love with the emotional resonance that only an Ashley Woodfolk novel can bring. Exquisite from beginning to end." - Angie Thomas, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Hate U Give
"Nothing Burns as Bright as You is utterly captivating, brimming with passion and heartbreak and the beautiful complexity of the human heart." - Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Is Also a Star and Instructions for Dancing
This information about Nothing Burns As Bright As You was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Ashley Woodfolk has loved reading and writing for as long as she can remember. She graduated from Rutgers University and worked in children's book publishing for over a decade. Now a full-time mom and writer, Ashley lives in a sunny Brooklyn apartment with her cute husband, her cuter dog, and the cutest baby in the world. Her books include The Beauty That Remains, When You Were Everything, and the Flyy Girls Series.
The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
