Review: The Night We Burned

The Night We Burned by S.F. Kosa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book through Early Reads.
This was a very interesting book. It is the story of Dora, a woman who works in journalism and is trying to move on from a tragic past. The reader also follows the unfolding of the events that seem to be a part of Dora's past: the decline and downfall of a cult in rural Oregon, which Dora is desperate to keep hidden. Dora's desire to leave her past behind is seriously threatened when the few surviving members of her former cult are being found murdered and her colleagues are working to find the truth.
The book started off just a bit slow, but Dora is a fascinating character who quickly draws the reader in with her struggles to function "normally" in the present and her quest to leave her past behind. In the earlier timeline, the reader knows bad things will happen and really doesn't want to witness them occur, yet the way the author tells the story is terribly compelling.
I really had no idea what would happen with Dora in the present storyline, and wondered how exactly she would get out of the "cult" in the earlier storyline. There were definitely some suspicious characters who I wondered if they could be responsible for the murders and I was kept guessing. There was a very big twist that I did suspect from about halfway through, but it did not take away from my enjoyment of the book at all.
If you enjoy thrillers, suspense, or twisty mysteries, then I would recommend this book.

View all my reviews