Book Review: Atlanta Burns by Chuck Wendig
Genre: Young Adult
Series: Books 1 & 2 of Atlanta Burns
Publisher: Skyscape (January 27, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Atlanta Burns is the kind of book that takes time to percolate; after finishing the last page it had me feeling all discombobulated and I needed time to think on it for a bit. If you’re familiar with Chuck Wendig’s work then you’ll have some idea of what I’m talking about. Never let it be said that the guy ever holds his punches when he tells his stories, and you can be sure this is not your run-of-the-mill Young Adult fare.
The book’s protagonist Atlanta Burns is a high school student who no one wants to mess with. But she’s been through some traumatic stuff, and her reputation came at a high cost. However, Atlanta’s not going to let what happened to her stop her from doing the right thing, and she’s definitely not one to stand by while bullies prey on the weak and the defenseless. There are some terrible people in this world, and armed with her shotgun and the moxie to match, Atlanta is going to do whatever it takes to stop them.
Two stories make up this book, “Shotgun Gravy” and “Bait Dog”. Both are powerful, yet not easy to read. In the first, Atlanta and her new friends go up against Neo-Nazis, crooked cops and bigoted bullies. The second story sees her attempting to break up a dog fighting ring and deals with the themes of animal cruelty and abuse. Atlanta’s world is a bleak and brutal place to be, and reading about things like lynching, sexual assault, tortured puppies, kids being burned with cigarettes and such, it’s hard not to get through this book without thinking, wow, people SUCK. It made me sick sometimes, it really did.
But works like these also have a place in YA fiction. Like this quote in the book says: “Life is equal parts strange and beautiful and horrible, and we’re tossed into it without a map or an instruction guide. Poems and stories have a way of helping us make sense of things.” And that’s how I see these stories in Atlanta Burns. It might not be pleasant and it might not be comfortable, but it’s important to face some of these issues head-on and not soften the blow because it’s true – one can argue that Wendig is painting things too dark but the sad reality is the things in this book do happen, and it would be a mistake to pretend they don’t. Atlanta Burns is a book that explores difficult subject matters, and exposes them in all its ugliness so that we as readers can process it, make sense of it for ourselves.
Wendig has a message here. It’s not so surprising that he went with the Neo-Nazis as his main baddies, though this book is peppered with a lot of despicable scum-baggy types as a whole. Thing is, in any slice of society you look at there’s bound to be good folks and bad folks, but in Atlanta Burns there seems to be an overrepresentation of the bad, and if I’m to be honest, even Atlanta herself is not entirely likeable. To Wendig’s credit though, he does attempt to shine a light in the dark of this whole “things don’t get better” bleakness. In this world of bigots, bullies and corrupt cops are characters like Mrs. Lewis, Steve AKA “Chomp-Chomp” or Detective Holger who show Atlanta that things can be different.
This was a wonderful read. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t warn you against some of the shocking, horrible things that are in this book. It’s categorized as Young Adult, but definitely not typical of the genre. Calling Atlanta Burns a dark book is an understatement; it deals with some very mature themes, and even some adults may find parts of it difficult to read especially if they are sensitive to those particular subjects. I really enjoyed this book, but as always with Chuck Wendig, reader discretion is advised.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes contained above are from the advance copy and are subject to change. My thanks to Skyscape/Amazon Children’s Publishing!
The BiblioSanctum 
Yes, a very tough read. But like I said in my review, Chuck brings you down (way down!) and then sort of brings you up at the end, at least enough to feel hopeful about life. I totally know what you mean about having to mull things over for a while before you can talk about it.
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Haha, “sort of” brings you up. I don’t know, his Miriam Black books were pretty bleak the whole way through 😉
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Tammy and Lynn *waves* both recommended me this book but I am a little nervous reading it, truth be told and yet I really want to read it. Its on the wishlist though.
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As long as you’re prepared for some of the hard topics in it, I think you’ll be okay. I hope you’ll like the book 🙂
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Great review – Love the Miriam Black series & this sounds like a winner.
Cheers
KT
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I’ve read almost everything by Wendig, save for a couple books here and there, and Miriam Black is my favorite!
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It’s nice to have a good YA book like that! It’s quite intriguing. I don’t think I now about this one and I”‘m not that attracted to the cover but after your review? Maybe if I have the occasion.
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It’s a tough read but well worth it. I’m with you on the cover, it didn’t really appeal to me either, but a lot of people seem to love the art.
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I can like YA that does not feel like YA
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Yeah, I prefer YA that strays from the conventions.
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Really glad you enjoyed this, but I think we both know . . . I would not. o.O I am going to read that dystopian though. SOON.
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The Heartland books are quite good! And yeah, I probably wouldn’t have picked this one up either if it weren’t for Wendig, I don’t usually read contemporary.
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I keep meaning to read this — I do like Chuck Wendig’s work, although I was a bit weirded out by the idea of him writing YA. He likes profanity far too much!
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True, his YA does tend to be on the grittier side and his characters are much rougher and foul-mouthed 🙂 But his YA is usually a refreshing change from the more conventional stuff out there.
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And this is considered YA? Anyone remember when The Outsiders was considered edgy? Man how times change.
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Ha! Good point.
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This book was hard to read, but honestly, I think that more books like this need to be out there. While there’s something to be said for standard YA stuff, that leaves you with a santized view of the world, with little to help you cope when people are, well, people. Jerks, and cruel, and sometimes it’s not just the teenagers who want you gone but the adults too. Wendig’s ability to pull no punches is tough to handle but definitely worth the effort.
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I agree, not only do books like these break the tedium of the standard YA stuff, they tell truths and make readers think.
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I know I had a different experience with this book, but I think a lot of it is my closeness to the subject matter. As a book alone, aside from my concerns, it definitely is a well written book that makes you think. Nice review.
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Yeah, I think readers will have very different reactions to this book, depending on their own experiences and history. I really appreciated your take on the book because it showed me a side that I wouldn’t have considered, and things that wouldn’t even have occurred to me.
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I still have to read this, but I absolutely agree that books that make you uncomfortable and don’t pull punches belong in YA. And as a fan of dark books and YA that doesn’t meet the stereotypes of the classification, I look forward to reading this.
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I’m with you, and your comment and take on YA makes me think you’ll enjoy this one then.
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There are definitely warnings necessary with this book but I thought it was a great read. It’s interesting that it was two books – I hadn’t realised that but now you’ve said it it does make sense.
Lynn 😀
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I didn’t know either until I saw the Goodreads details. The two stories fit together seamlessly though!
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The setting and plot for this does make me scratch my head a little bit at being called YA… regardless though, still sounds like a good read.
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The classification definitely is debatable. On NetGalley, I actually saw it under the “New Adult” section. Regardless, this is probably suitable for more mature readers.
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