Jen's review of 'Burn Bright' by Marianne de Pierres

Burn Bright (Night Creatures #1) by Marianne de Pierres

Publication date: March 1st, 2011

Publisher: Random House Australia

Number of pages: 316

Format: Paperback

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Description: Into a world of wild secrets and deadly pleasures comes a girl whose innocence may be her greatest strength. 

In Ixion music and party are our only beliefs. Darkness is our comfort. We have few rules but they are absolute . . .

Retra doesn’t want to go to Ixion, the island of ever-night, ever-youth and never-sleep. Retra is a Seal – sealed minds, sealed community. She doesn’t crave parties and pleasure, experience and freedom.

But her brother Joel left for Ixion two years ago, and Retra is determined to find him. Braving the intense pain of her obedience strip to escape the only home she’s ever known, Retra stows away on the barge that will take her to her brother.

When she can’t find Joel, Retra finds herself drawn deeper into the intoxicating world of Ixion. Come to me, whispers a voice in her head. Who are the Ripers, the mysterious guardians of Ixion? What are the Night Creatures Retra can see in the shadows? And what happens to those who grow too old for Ixion?

Retra will find that Ixion has its pleasures, but its secrets are deadly. Will friendship, and the creation of an eternal bond with a Riper, be enough to save her from the darkness?

Listen well, baby bats. Burn bright, but do not stray from the paths. Remember, when you live in a place of darkness you also live with creatures of the dark.t

My thoughts -- I can't believe I took this long to read this book. I remember starting the book last year, but then put it down for some reason and hadn't had the chance to read it again since.

 And when I recently decided to pick this up again, I was so glad that I did.

The story takes place in the future. I am not sure when... as I'm not sure it says, but the world is different and  is separated into different areas. Where Retra lives, it's more like a compound where you are pretty much enclosed in like a community, but she especially gets monitored after her brother left her all alone. When he escaped to a 'fun' and carefree place called Ixion.

We follow Retra as she goes on a journey to somewhere she has only heard about but never been, in search of her brother. But when Retra does arrive, so soon realizes that not everything is as she thought it would be. It'll change her whole perspective forever, and she might never want to leave.

We see a sort of triangle... in a way. Retra likes a guy, who doesn't seem to share her affections, and then we have this other guy from Ixion who seems to be obsessed with her. he also protects her from the others who might want to cause her harm.
Its not your traditional triangle.

This book was quite different.  It was full of mystery and raw emotion. Of family loyalty and new friendship. It was about one girl discovering a new lease on life that she never thought she had before.

I didn't realize this author was Australian until I read that she was, nor did I know was this only available here in Australia. I do hope the US and other places manages to get this release at some point, as I can see this is the kind of book that would do well overseas, especially given the genre.


I look forward to reading the next book in this trilogy. I have heard many good things about it.

Rating:  4 out of 5