Burnt Orange: Color Me Wasted

TrueColors #5

by Melody Carlson

Amber Conrad has a problem. Her youth group friends Simi and Lisa won't get off her case about the drinking parties she's been going to. Amber chalks it up to jealousy and just pokes fun at their concern. Even though she secretly wonders if they might be right. Everyone does it. What's the big deal. Up until her senior year, Amber has been the model of perfection, just like her dad, Pastor Conrad, taught her to be. But when Claire Phillips invites her to more and more parties, Amber's little white lies spark raging wildfire that threatens to overtake her life. Will she be honest with herself and her friends before things really get out of control?

Genres: Young Adult, Christian, Christian Fiction, Fiction, Teen, Contemporary, Faith

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Melody Carlson is the award-winning author of over two hundred books, several of them Christmas novellas from Revell, including her much-loved and bestselling book, The Christmas Bus.

She also writes many teen books, including the Diary of a Teenage Girl series, the TrueColors series, and the Carter House Girls series.

Melody was nominated for a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award in the inspirational market for her books, including the Notes from a Spinning Planet series and Finding Alice, which is in production as a Lifetime Television movie. She and her husband serve on the Young Life adult committee in central Oregon.

Reviews

[Corvo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Around 3 pages in I was like “what if this was like the Outsiders and the first line of the novel was also the last line” and I was right

[maggie nalli · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
def the best in the series




still trash tho

[Hannah Talbot]

I started to read this book because I am a teenager and now recently driving. Amber, the main character, is a Christian girl who's dad is a pastor. Amber meets this girl named Claire Phillips. Claire starts to ask Amber to go to parties sometimes, and then it turned into her going a lot more than she thought she ever would. Amber ended up going with this boy and then he left her in a house, in a corner, all by her self with a bunch of drunks. While she's sitting there, she notices a bunch of girls with all different colored lipstick on and she was wonder what that was about. Eventually, some guy walked over to where she was sitting and started talking to her. Amber asked him what the different colored lipstick meant, so he showed her. He took her to room in the basement and then she found out that there are different rooms for different sexual activities. Amber starts to get real nervous and scared and just wants to leave. She gets her coat and keys and starts the car up. As she was driving home, she was intoxicated, and she got into a crash. A bad one. She ends up in the hospital and her parents come and visit her. They are not happy with what Amber has been doing with her life and who she has been hanging around with.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this "TrueColors" series. While it may seem that everything gets wrapped up "in a neat little package" when the main character finds God, I still enjoy them tremendously. This one is my favorite, even though the "dangers of drinking" is sort of ridiculous. But the ending made me gasp and cry, and for that, I was able to forgive the alcohol preachiness.

[Edilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about teenage girl name, Amber Conrad. Amber is the type of person who follows God. She is also the type of person who has a good heart. But all of that changes when she met Claire. Claire is a girl who is an alcoholic and she is also a rich person. Amber started to drink alcohol and she's been going to a lot of parties. Ambers friend has been so concerned about her. Her best friend name Simi tried to help Amber to change. She keeps telling Amber to put God in her heart and also God will always be with her no matter how sinner she is. After that, Simi and Claire got into an accident but Claire is fine. But Simi died. I love this book a lot because it's mixed up with sadness and happiness. This book tells about God too. Lastly, it teaches me a lesson that no matter what happen, always put God in your life first and he will help you change.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Issue: Teen alcohol consumption
Sub issues: peer pressure, unexpected death

The book starts and ends with the same words, so I'll make a note here that giving your full name at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting is not the proper thing, as you are no longer anonymous.

Amber Conrad, Pastor's daughter, has never done anything overly sketchy in her life. But at school, she catches the eye of someone she complimented, Claire. Claire draws Amber into her circle of friends, and rather than Amber influencing Claire to lighten up on the alcohol, Claire influences Amber to try alcohol, drink alcohol, get a fake ID, go to a club, and generally live life with alcohol - and none of the Smirnoffs or wine spritzers, things like Long Island Iced Teas and the hard stuff. I want to say this took place within two weeks or a month.

Eventually, Amber is caught and confronted. She agrees to stop, so she schedules a meeting after work with Claire at Starbucks. Simi, Amber's best friend, gets off work at the same time but leaves slightly earlier as Amber is in the parking lot. Claire runs into Simi, who is killed.

In the aftermath, Amber eventually has a talk with Claire and they go to AA (where the book ends).

Teenage drinking is illegal. For a reason. However, I've noticed two things about this series: 1) Everything is black and white. In this one, if you're not abstaining and never drinking alcohol, then you're an alcoholic. 2) If a person is already a Christian (this one is Pastor's Kid (PK)), then their troubles are because of a choice to not have as close a relationship to God as they used to. Which both of these is not how life is: You can drink alcohol in moderation, find out your tolerances and stay in them. Yes, sometimes your troubles are because of choices not to be chasing God, but sometimes not. I haven't seen a book where that is addressed (yet).

[Tray Washington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, this one left me speechless. I am a big fan of Melody Carlson, so I expected a very good happy ending and for everything to turn out to be just fine. I expected the main character, Amber, to easily find her way back to God, but this was not a cookie-cutter Christian book. I love how Carlson kept it real with her readers. Alcoholism was never a big issue with me. Before I became a Christian, I was against drinking because close family members struggled with alcoholism. I can count on one hand how many times I have drunk alcohol. My first two times were underaged. Like Amber, I was hanging out with a crowd and gave into peer pressure. I can see how I could have easily became Amber. I believed drinking was wrong, but I compromised my morals and values just to "fit in."

The biggest take away that I got from reading Burnt Orange is when Simi asked Amber, "does your questionable activity make you feel closer to God?" You may not struggle with alcoholism, but you can replace it with porn, lust, greed, smoking, infidelity, or whatever.

[AnyKname · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I'm on a negative roll lately.
I've liked the previous books in this series, this one I did not like. I don't expect Melody Carlson books to be good, but I expect them to be fun. This story was not fun! I know the previous bookPitch Black: Color Me Lost wasn't fun either, I'm still trying to figure out what made that book better than this one.
I think this book could be useful in telling teens to not drink, but I personally did not need that message, I personally don't want to drink.
At some points I was thinking of giving this book a 1 star because I was struggling to think of redeeming qualities. The ending somewhat redeemed it for me.
For content, I don't think there's any concerns, I mean, obviously there's drinking. Not really any sexual content I can think of.
I hope I like the rest of the series better

[Amaya Gianneschi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a really good book because they show how a teenager has a problem with drinking .And her friends say she needs to go to rehab.She goes to a party and some people don't make good decisions and she has a very bad jealousy problem read to find out.

[Kathy Mescher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book touches on Christianity and drinking. From Amber's point of view and I think it's a pretty good topic.

[Ruby Kilmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was so great and emotional. it reminds me of my friend who her boyfriend peer presserus her

[Shania Zarza]

Good book, it shows the consequences of letting alcohol control you.

[Merary · Rating 3 out of 5]

My thoughts on this should have been written three years ago. Oh, well.

As always with this series, spoilers ahead.

Actual rating: 2.5/5 stars

We have been through a few True Colors heroines so far. We were first introduced to Pitiful Kara in the first book Dark Blue: Color Me Lonely, the girl who cried for a lost friendship. Then, it was Bitchy Jordan, a bitchy boyfriend-stealer suffering the consequences. Then, Self-Absorbed Zoe, followed by Whiny Morgan. In this installment, we get to know Amber Conrad. Oh, right, I need to give her a nickname. Um, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you . . . Idiotic Amber.

Wow, I'm so original.

So, what exactly is Amber's situation? Well, kids, remember the ever-so-popular slogan "Don't Do Drugs"? Well, this is a Christian series, so it can't go that far. Amber is an alcoholic. At least, that's what everyone is afraid of. You see, she's your typical Pastor's Daughter™ and her every move can be rightfully scrutinized if she does the wrong action. Going to drunken parties isn't exactly what a Pastor's Daughter™ should do, but Amber assures us that she is doing just fine. Until, you know, she meets Claire Phillips and she gets drunk every time she invites her to go out with her.

Amber is an idiotic hypocrite. Hell, she said that herself! If you were to meet this girl in real life, she would tell you how pretty you are to your face, but think that you are actually hideous. Thanks for the reminder that Christians are judgemental hypocrites, Carlson. Did I mention how idiotic she is? When Amber realized that she had a problem, she researched the dangers of alcohol. She didn't know before that alcohol was that bad for you. Oh, my God, what was she being taught at home and church? Then again, Christian education tells you not to do something without telling you the risks. And people wonder why there's an overwhelming amount of teenage pregnancy in states where abstinence-only (without information about birth control) sex education is practiced.

Whoopsie daisy.

And to make this even worse, when she went to a bar with a fake ID with Claire, she feels disgusted that her friend's sister, Leena, SOMEONE WHO IS LEGALLY ALLOWED TO GO TO BARS, is at the same place that she is. SAYS THE GIRL WHO IS DRINKING ALCOHOL WHILE IN HIGH SCHOOL AND LYING TO EVERYONE ABOUT HER WHEREABOUTS!



And, goddammit, Carlson continues to write so terribly. I feel like a broken record by saying "SHOW, DON'T TELL, DAMMIT!" Also, teenagers don't say "whatever" on every sentence they utter. It was becoming so tiring to the point I wanted to scream. "I mean" "crud" "What's the big deal anyway?" "But, here's what's weird" "But hear this" "Get this" "How lame is that?" "DEEP DOO-DOO"



As far as cautionary Christian tales Carlson has presented so far, this was the most realistic one so far. The main character does realize her errors and tries to fix them without "magical" formulas that get resolved the next day. Unlike her predecessors, Amber's problems don't get resolved the minute she accepts God in her life because she already does, it was just fractured by her constant lying. This is how it should be approached: It should be an ongoing give-and-take, not just an acceptance that works one time forever. I don't think Carlson meant to write it this way, but the way I see it, the lesson here is not to shelter your children. Amber couldn't get out of her situation fast enough because she wasn't informed beforehand to the consequences that awaited her. "Don't do this, don't do that" it's not something that works in the long-run. What amazed me was how Claire wasn't treated like an ultimate villain for her alcoholism. Negatively, yes, because this is through the lens of our hypocritical protagonist, but she was given depth and sympathy. It was difficult not to root for Amber and Claire to overcome their problems.

The ending clinched my decision to give it a higher rating than I normally do for this series. A drunk Claire gets in an accident with Amber's best friend Simi and the sober Simi dies from the impact. It was a cruel reminder that life doesn't have a happy ending when the consequences are too high to deal with. The aftermath was done tastefully, the levels of preachiness were surprisingly low, and the protagonist's guilt made me feel sorry for her.

Why couldn't the series be portrayed like this? I actually took this one seriously. I know this feeling won't last long once I continue.

And to end this review on a lighter note, here's a quote from the book that makes me roll my eyes because of the cheesiness:

"Now that you're lightening up, they're seeing you in a whole new light."

[Macy Keen]

Burnt Orange
Macy Keen
January 23rd, 2017
Pre-AP English 10-5
Melody Carlson is writer of many book series and people describe her as a person who truly understand teen girls and what they go through. Many and almost all of Melody Carlson’s novels are directed toward teen girls or women and many of which are part of a series.
The book was written in the United States in 2004. This time period was when the world was slowly changing, as it always is, but directed toward teen girls and what they go through.
The story takes place in Amber’s high school and the church where she is in a youth group and her dad is the preacher.

Amber - the main character in the book who was raised in a christian home and with christian parents
Simi - one of Amber’s semi-close youth group friends who talks with Amber about what she has been doing lately
Lisa - another one of Amber’s close youth group friends who talk with Amber about what she has been doing as well.
Amber’s Dad - also referred to as Pastor Conrad in the book is Amber’s dad and also the pastor of the church.
Claire Phillips - on of the thought to be “cool girls” of Amber’s high school. She is slowly getting closer to Amber and invites her to parties.
I think the overall theme of the book is to not get caught up in the worldly things and to rely on what and who you are and just be you, not somebody that others want you to be. I think Amber is having a hard time fitting in with the “cool crowd” so she starts attending parties and doing things that she wouldn’t normally do and it starts to get out of control.
Amber has grown up to be nearly perfect as she has grown up in the church and with her parents, her dad of which is the Pastor of their church. Now it’s her senior year and she is breaking loose. SHe begins to do things that she wouldn’t have thought about doing until now. She begins to hang out and associate with people she wouldn’t normally. Her youth group friends Simi and Lisa have noticed some changes and heard things. They try to talk to her about what’s going on and the different parties that AMber had been to, but Amber refuses to talk. She constantly tells herself that they are just jealous but she also wonders if they might be right. She starts getting closer with Claire Phillips and gets invited to more and more parties. She starts lying to her parents about where she is and it starts to get out of control to the point where she is living a lie. She is coming home late and starts drinking. Amber knows this isn’t her, but does it to fit in. She was at a party one night and a bunch of girls has on different colored lipsticks. AMber didn’t know why, she had been drinking and was in the corner by herself with a guy. She asked and he showed her. She didn’t like what she had seen so she left. On her way home, intoxicated, she gets into a car crash. She is taken to the hospital where her parents show up. Amber is forced to tell them what is going on. They aren’t happy with her recent decisions. Amber decides to go back to being herself. While hanging with the “cool crowd” might be fun sometimes, she decides it’s nothing but trouble.
Symbolism and irony are a big part of this novel. In fact in many of the author’s novels, symbolism and irony take a big role. As usual the symbolism in the book is God. As Amber is slowly drifting away from being the near perfection she was taught to be, God eventually steps in and grabs her back to realization. The irony in the book is the way that Amber grew up, of course she did things wrong, but never anything that could cost her her life. But now it’s her senior year, she starts hanging out with people who aren't exactly what Amber is used to. An as expected, it turns into something bad.

“‘Hello my name is Amber Conrad,’ I say in my most serious voice, ‘and I’m an alcoholic.’” This is Amber speaking. At the time she is just kidding while standing at the podium in her youth group room. Her friends laugh and she of course laughs too, but little does she know now, that alcohol eventually gets her in trouble.
“To my relief, no one in youth group seems to know about my previous evening's activities.” This is also Amber speaking when attending her youth group after attending Tommy Campbell’s party the day before. She has fun but she knew that many of them wouldn’t approve.
“Okay, It’s Sunday morning and I am two things: (1) slightly sick, and (2) seriously freaked.” After attending yet another party and drinking at the party, Amber wakes up the next morning hungover. She thinks she only had two drinks, but isn’t sure. She of course has church, it’s Sunday morning and she feels like crap. She just hopes no one notices.

[TWJ Magazine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eighteen year old Amber Conrad is the perfect pastor’s daughter. Or so she thought she was, before popular and rich Claire Phillips befriended her and invited her to all the cool parties – which of course have alcohol involved. In an effort to cover up her new habit of social drinking, Amber starts lying to her parents. She even lies to the best friend she’s had since middle school, Simi. Now, one fake ID and many little white lies later, she finds herself getting caught up in a dark web of alcohol abuse and addiction. Can Amber fess up and get some help before it’s too late?

Amber’s best friend Simi is willing to help her through her addiction, even offering to join her at an alcoholic anonymous meeting, so she can get some counseling. Though it takes a heartbreaking event for a truly sobering wake-up call to occur, Simi’s care for Amber is constant throughout the book. Claire abuses alcohol to keep herself numb. From the outside, she appears to have it all, looks, popularity and money, but inside she’s desperate and hurting. This hurt causes her to make poor decisions, which leads to life-altering events happening, which not only affect her, but a multitude of people.

Melody Carlson masterfully displays the effects that alcohol can have on a person’s self-control. Although Amber repeatedly promises herself, and others, that she will stop her drinking, her self-control is nonexistent around alcohol. She lowers her guard, even driving under the influence of alcohol. Burnt Orange shows teen alcohol abuse as a serious issue. It not only can physically harm those who drink, leading to alcohol poisoning and liver failure, it can also have deadly consequences for others. Sadly, the events in Burnt Orange can and do actually happen. Many, many people drive under the influence of alcohol and risk others’ lives as well as their own.

The Wordsmith Journal strives to guide readers to books of personal interest, with the understanding and respect that what appeals to some may not appeal to others. Therefore we attempt to keep our reviews focused on content, genre and style. The rating is necessary to make use of Goodreads and Amazon. It reflects the reviewer’s own level of enjoyment, but the review is intended to be informative for the benefit of all readers.

[Lauren Z. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a generally good girl who gets into some bad stuff. Amber went to church and she was the daughter of a preast so she was a straight A student. But she started hanging out with Claire who was a heavy drinker and the rest goes down hill from there. Simi, her best friend, trys to pull Amber out of her rut and things go awall. I'm not going to give away the ending but it has an unexpected twist at the end and it makes you think really hard about the choices you make and the ones you are going to make in the future. I think it gave me a slightly newer prespective on things, anyone would like this book but i would mainly recomend it to teens. I would deffinitally read this book again if i had the chance.

[$hanel · Rating 5 out of 5]

"My name is Amber Conrad and I`m an alcoholic" Amber Conrad announces. If only Amber could stop coming to all of Claire`s drinking partys then maybe she could stop this drinking habit. Amber goes to high school and gets good grades, has lots of friends and is just about everything else except her habits of drinking. Good thing there`s Amber`s best friend Simi who can help Amber stop all of this nonsense! What will Amber do after a terrible accident happens to Simi? Will she stop going to all of these drinking partys? Or will she continue? Another hit novel by Melody Carlson teaches teenagers all about drugs and how they can destroy your life.

[B.B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness. I'm surprised with myself, but this book made me BAWL. It was so sad, so sad... I think Meloday Carlson got better at writing, at least in skipping a book I've found out as much. Still have to read that fourth one... But this book is about alcoholics, can you believe. How could a book about alcoholics make me cry? Well it wasn't so much the drinking as what the consequences of drinking. So sad... And to make this book even better, there wasn't any boyfriend breaking-up that just frustrates, or the asking God-into-heart stuff that just annoys. This is the best book of the series so far, I think.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book about alcholism. The teenage girl is a senior and has always done the right thing. She meets a new friend and is suddenly going to parties, drinking, lying and giving in to peer pressure. She gets a fake ID and her best friend is really worried about her. THere is a terrible car crash at the end and things will never be the same. IT was a good story for parents and teens. Many people think that once kids get into high school they can be trusted and left alone. If no one is there when the kids need to talk they will find someone else to tell. Kids dont want to talk but they do need to have parents available when they are ready.

[Ashley]

This book is the fifth book in the True Colors Series by Melody Carlson.

My Synopsis:

Amber is a pastor's daughter and starts giving into the peer pressure of drinking. At first she thinks it isn't going to hurt anything until it gets out of control and she starts hanging around the wrong crowd.

Questionable content: underage drinking, partying, being drunk, lying, and a car accident scene is described

Pros: This book has a very good moral to it. It does not promote the drinking at all.

Cons: While this book doesn't promote drinking it does go into a little too much detail for me about drugs and alcohol.

Age recommendation: 16+

[Sabrina Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Burnt Orange color me wasted was one of my favorite books. I thought the author did a very good job at making it realistic so that many teens could relate to it. This book portrays friendship, alcohol, boys, and etc.

I would recommend this book to mostly girls, because the story is about a girl becoming an alcoholic, because she ends up getting in a wrong crowd, the ending is pretty sad. I recommend this whole series to Christians also, but even if you’re not a Christian, its still a really good book, it doesn’t shove Christianity down your throat.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely enjoyed this book. I think that it was the easiest for me to relate to in the series so far, which made it easier to read since I didn't have to spend all my time thinking how some of the characters had some of the stupidest social ideas and felt like a waste of my time getting to know. I have to say, I was seriously shocked by the ending, and I kind of felt robbed, but I think that it was actually good for the plot line. I just get a little carried away with my optimistic endings...

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fairly good Christian YA novel. It shows how a teenage girl temporarily turns away from God due to the temptations of alcohol because of the peer pressure of a "friend." She gets a total wake-up call when her "friend" gets in an accident while drunk, and the consequences are devastating. She recommits her life to Christ and joins AA, bringing her "friend" who is facing possible jail time with her. It was a simply written novel, but it was well done, and the characters were drawn well also.

[Lauren-Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a gift from my aunt- which probabably kept me from enjoying it/learning from it as I otherwise might have.

It is a story about a girl who is thrown into the world of alchohol. It's a good book, one of those books that encourages you to be a good kid, but a good book none the less. I had a problem with it because in the back of my mind I was (am) contemplating why my aunt would buy me THIS book.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is so realistic to my life in so many ways. I knew someone that was killed in a drunk driving accident that was not her fault. She died (as Simi did) and now I see much more of the details I never realized before. The reasoning behind claires drinking and how much God has a plan were clearly shown not only in this book, but also in my life. A true testimony has developed from this book and it has made a huge impact on me.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book 4 stars because you could pretty much tell that Amber was going to drink every chapter. I almost cried towards the end of this book because Amber's best friend Simi got into an accident and Claire ran into her. Claire is Amber's alcoholic friend. They couldn't save Simi and she died that night. Now Amber and Claire are going to AA meetings to help stop their drinking their addiction.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Quickie Review

Each of the volumes in Mrs. Carlson's True Colors series deals with a specific problem that plagues many young people today; this time, it's alcoholism.  The book does a great job of portraying the problems that drunkenness can cause, and the ending hammers the point home even further.  Still, some people may be a little unsettled by it.



Score: 4/5

[Ozi Fah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book really did teach me a lesson and gave me an insight on teenage drinkers. I liked how in the end, Amber tried to solve her problem. The thing I disliked about Burnt Orange was the fact that the author talked way to much about religion. I understand that Amber's father was a pastor and everything, but if someone who is not Christian reads this book there are some parts that they cannot relate to.

[Joan Arning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burnt Orange is the story of a pastor's daughter who decides she wants to be friends with the "in" crowd. She starts with one drink in order to fit in with the party crowd. This book is written for teenagers and ends in tragedy. The first part of the book seemed a little slow but the ending shows how life can get out of control if we don't stay close to God. I would recommend this book especially to high school age teens. I received this book from Clash Entertainment.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aw. The ending was so unexpected. I put down the book right before where it said "My best friend died tonight" so when I picked it back up it was upside down and I sort of read that part and while I was flipping it right side up I'm thinking: OH MY GOD OH MY GOD IT DID NOT JUST SAY THAT!

Anyways, so far, this is my favorite book in the series. But I still have like 7 more to go.