The Burning - Laura Bates 

After an unexpected and traumatic experience took place, sixteen year old Anna Clarke moved to a small fishing village in St Morans Scotland. Her new house is very run down and has a very mysterious aura. Anna goes on chilling adventures when she discovers that she is living in the house that was previously owned by Maggie who was a local girl associated with witch craft centuries earlier. The naive teenager attempted to erase what happened in her past by removing her social media profiles, leaving her school and even going as far as changing her name. Unfortunately what Anna doesn’t realize is that the truth always comes out. 

It wasn’t easy for Anna to make friends at her new school, she was bullied and rejected numerous times. Rumors about her were spread like wild fire and she was accused for sharing people’s deepest secrets. When the truth about Anna’s past is ruthlessly exposed the few friends that she did have were very quick to judge her. However,  there was one steadfast friend called Robyn Allnutt who didn’t leave her side. He never turned his back on Anna and was always there to protect her. They have very subtle romance between them. 

The Burning has so many valuable themes with great relevance to society. It displays the authors strongly feminist personality and it raises awareness towards sexist behavior. Anna shows bravery in the face of vulnerability by speaking out about women’s rights. We are shown the effects of cyberbullying and the dangers of social media. Both Anna and Maggie were victims blamed for the actions of another and their stories correlate.

This novel was very relevant to me as a teenage girl in today’s society. We are put under extreme pressures by our peers on social media to display a particular image and it’s unhealthy. Women are too easily manipulated by men to satisfy their needs. After reading this book I gained self respect and I’ve realized that it’s incorrect to put myself in uncomfortable positions for the gratification of others. Women are stronger than they know and they should never feel oppressed.