Book Summary and Reviews of After We Burned by Marieke Nijkamp

After We Burned by Marieke Nijkamp

After We Burned

by Marieke Nijkamp

  • Critics' Consensus (3):
  • Published:
  • Jul 2025, 352 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

She deserved more. They all did. A gripping and emotional new suspense novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of This is Where it Ends.

A terrible accident. A horrible loss. A regrettable tragedy. That's all anyone in Fenix can talk about when a fire consumes the local high school, taking the life of a student. The town mourns, except who really knew―let alone cared about―Eden when she was alive? And why was she in the building that night?

Five teens each hold a piece of the truth about what happened. They also have their own secrets, secrets they will fight to protect with the same fury as the blaze that killed Eden. But silence is meant to be broken, and this story can't be extinguished…

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Topics relating to physical and sexual abuse, bullying, and the ways powerful people leverage their influence combine in this dark, gritty story about coming together and empowering one another." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A topical assessment of the ways power and prestige can enable and cover up violence." ―Kirkus Reviews

"Nijkamp lives up to their well-earned reputation... A chilling mystery for readers looking for gritty depth." ―Booklist

This information about After We Burned 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.

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Author Information

Marieke Nijkamp

Marieke Nijkamp (she/they) is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of This is Where it Ends, and many other bestselling and acclaimed young adult novels. When she isn't writing for kids, teens, and adults, she loves to garden, roll dice, and daydream. Marieke lives and writes in Small Town, the Netherlands.

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