BURNING ZOZO

by Kristen Knight

When brilliant, beautiful, (and branded at the nape of his neck) Arius Adams moves to Santa Fe, New Mexico, he quickly becomes the center of local gossip, superstition, and for the desperate Skagen Family, long-awaited hope.

​​After taking a job with Adams, young Andie Skagen soon discovers that he moved to Santa Fe in order to find her and pull her into an ancient, dangerous plot. Horrified, she realizes that if she can't untangle Adams' dark secret and thwart his plans in time, she will lose her precious little sister, the boy she loves, and thousands of Santa Fe citizens.

335 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 15, 2019

Reviews

[CR · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty interesting. You could feel that it still needed some polish but for the most part it was really good. I think that I would read another book by this author in the future. The characters were interesting and the story was well done.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andie's complicated family problems and love life pull you in at the beginning. But those issues pale when the real action starts, and you can't stop reading....not for the faint of heart. The author has an amazing imagination.

[Tim Pendry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this young adult horror/dark fantasy very much for both the plotting and the writing. It is set in contemporary New Mexico. Local folklore creates a sea in which swims a horror and dark fantasy tale that is essentially catholic and biblical.

The protagonist is that common trope of American popular culture - the stubborn and consistently irritating (in her mistakes and inexperience) adolescent who 'grows' through risk-taking, learning some lessons on the way. In the end, she is on her own and comes through.

She is drawn (with sinister deliberation) into the world of a charming character of great evil who is the extreme version of a type of character every young girl needs warning about - the manipulative and attractive older sociopath. In this respect, the book does the job of the classic fairy tale.

Equally interesting is the way our heroine is placed in the world of undocumented aliens with no rights, a world of poverty but one where the author refuses to make things obvious by having her an oppressed Latino. She is white but not trash, the victim of her otherwise decent father's errors.

Her family, her difficult position at school, her frustrated desires for herself and her siblings, her struggling and mentally strained mother, her weak and frightened father, death in the family and struggling to make a living in a cold system are all described without undue sentiment.

I say 'without sentiment' but that does not mean that it is written without feeling. The book is awash with respect for feelings and if there is one word that describes its mood it is one of empathy amidst the manipulation and, latterly, the horror.

As an outsider, you soon start to see many American popular cultural artefacts as not American but as either Democrat or Republican. This book is definitely Democrat in its concern for the exploited and the proper purpose of the rule of law and its faith in the FBI.

However, Knight does not fall into the trap of most 'Democrat' literature because, apart from a rather strange platitudinous very short speech at the very end which feels as if she thought 'it ought to be there', the book never preaches or throws its messaging in your face.

The plight of the undocumented and the callousness of lawyers is simply, in this book, what happens. All we are asked to do is empathise with the weak. Because empathy is this book's strongest suit, even pure evil has a brief moment when empathy chases away the demonic.

This is not one for a detailed description of the plot which combines the serial killer thriller with occult horror. The uncovering of evil and the existential choices that have to be made are part of the pleasure in the reading. Above all, the author gives us the best as well as the worst of people.

[Ballet in AK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story: 5 stars

(I listened to this as an audiobook-podcast)

Wow. Just wow. This book is full of twists and turns. You connect deeply with the characters and are invested in their lives.

Probably best not to let younger YA readers listen until parent approved. The intensity and life experiences of the protagonist are not necessarily 12-year-old material.

That said, I highly recommend this book to older YA readers and adults. The political issues and glimpse into the fictional life of a family whose father is an undocumented worker is intense and gripping. And then there are the encounters with the wealthy and appealing Mr. Adams...

Well-written Ms. Knight! I can’t wait for your next book!

Narration: 5 stars

Nancy Petersen brings this book to life. Her expression, cadence, voices and overall acting are excellent! She has some subtle accents she incorporates and they sound authentic. I’d love to listen to another book read by her.

Music: There is music at the end of many of the chapters-so cool! Great music and clean lyrics!

*poor, **ok, ***good, ****very good, *****something special

[Natasha Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

🖤finding oneself
🔥 family
🖤friendship
🔥courage
🖤Bravery
🔥suspense
🖤plot twist
🔥biblical footings

If you had the chance to get everything you ever wanted would you? Would you save millions but risk loosing yourself?

Burning Zozo is an interesting story about a 16 year old named Andi. Her father is an undocumented immigrant and they have been hiding for years. That is until a mysterious man comes to town. He offers Andi a job. Pieces of Andi’s life start to click together… but at what cost? Her family? Her friends? Herself?

I will admit it took me a while to get really into the story but about a quarter of the way in I was hooked. This story was fully of twist and turns that left me wanting more. It had some interesting fictional biblical footings too that I really enjoyed as well.

[Linnae Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very unique. I got into the characters and wanted then to come out of the story okay. The different perspectives and situations of the characters felt real. I love that religion was treated respectfully.
It was a super quick read. Until the end I couldn't tell which way the characters were going to go.

[Jennie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Knight writes very well and the story is well constructed, but I disliked it because it is occult, not my thing, and not an area my publisher wants me to review. She does an excellent job of creating a creeping sense of evil. If that's your thing, you'll enjoy this book.

[Norrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a page turner! I loved the foreshadowing but was still surprised by the ending. The characters were engaging and the conflicts interesting. The author brings in a cultural aspect to the story that is intriguing and added to the development and the conclusion.

[Mallory Gish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book hooked me in the first 30 seconds. It had me constantly switching teams for characters through all of its intense twists and turns.

AMAZING!