Burned

Hopkins, Ellen. Burned. 2006. 532p. ISBN 1-44249461-1. Available at FIC HOP on the library shelves.

Pattyn Von Stratten has always been a good Mormon girl. The eldest of seven girls, she’s been helping her mother raise her sisters, and has often questioned the purpose God has for her. But when she has her first sex dream about a boy at her school, Pattyn suddenly finds herself moving away from God and the teachings of the Church of Latter Day Saints. It doesn’t help that her father is a violently abusive and alcoholic husband.

As she begins to experience love, Pattyn starts neglecting her familial duties and experiences a crisis of faith. Caught in a compromising position with a boy named Derek, her father sends Patty away to live with his sister for the summer. Aunt Jeannette and her father had a major disagreement when they were young. He had threatened to kill both her and her boyfriend at the time. Jeannette lives in rural Nevada hours away from a city. There, Pattyn meets Ethan, and soon the two are lovers.

Pattyn’s happiness soon collides with reality. Her mother is pregnant again, and about to deliver. Pattyn must return home to help her, but at the same time she will be returning to be tormented by her abuser. Is Ethan’s love strong enough to allow Pattyn to endure her situation until she turns eighteen?

This book is another great e. lockhart novel. If you enjoyed it, be sure to read We Were Liars by the same author.