Rebecca Mix

The Ones We Burn

completely reignited my mood for reading - the descriptions of relationships were so authentic and raw; there was no sugar-coating feelings, the characters spoke to each other with the same witty and sharp honesty as real friends would

Caitlin

Mythos

1/5 stars

I was first introduced to this book by a booktuber who I had followed for some time. I was intrigued by the way the book was described. I simply added it to my TBR list without bothering to check much information about the book. I was disappointed to find out that certain details were omitted while recommending this book. This book is an example of reverse racism. Having two black siblings in power is fine, but not when you are characterizing them in a way that harms them. Not only is this problematic by itself, but the book is also antisemitic. The main character being a blood witch is another horrible stereotype used against the Jewish community. The author refuses to respond and has chosen to censor their comments. Due to this, I personally will not be wasting my time by reading this book.

Reference: https://twitter.com/AshiaMonet/status...
P.S.  There is more than one review referencing these problems, but I can't link them all.

The writing style was a bit clunky and heavy handed at times but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I know many people have said that it's problematic for some really horrible reasons but I honestly didn't see that. I think everyone should read books that people tell them not to and form their own opinions. 

Ashley Hernandez

The writing style was a bit clunky and heavy handed at times but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I know many people have said that it's problematic for some really horrible reasons but I honestly didn't see that. I think everyone should read books that people tell them not to and form their own opinions. 



OH MY GOD STUNNING, also an ATLA reference? Amazing

Delaney LaFalce

Ones We Burn

Latitude Tamarind

I want to write this here and now: this book is not antisemitic. The magic in the book is not really blood-related; Ranka's powers mostly revolve around her craving death. (I mean there's also other magic but it also isn't antisemitic). This can be gross and gory and unpleasant, but it is not antisemitic. There is no blood libel in this book. Blood libel involves killing and eating babies and/or drinking their blood for 1) dark Jewish rituals and/or 2) fun. A blood witch character would need to be coded as implicitly or explicitly Jewish, and Ranka is not. Just having a blood witch character or having a blood magic trope does not make this book anti-Jewish.

updated 7/3 to add: have seen someone say that because Ranka goes to Seaswept with the express intention of murdering Galen with blood magic, that’s a harmful antisemitic stereotype. I must say, assassination is not antisemitic as a concept (and I’ve already covered how the ‘blood magic’ in this book is not blood-libel related). If Ranka was implied to secretly be controlling the world order with her blood-eating rituals, that would be antisemitic. However, she does not have any blood-eating rituals. Also, if Ranka was also implied to be Jewish, that would be problematic, but she is not - she is blonde and is not at any point is portrayed with any stereotypically jewish traits, positive or negative. Ranka is one of the Least Jewish characters I have ever read about. And I read all the 100 books.

Mix writes (7/11): “The plot line involving blood-magic draws heavily from my own experiences of the physical consequences of trauma and my brain injury. The subsequent resolution is directly informed by my daily HGH injections to resolve my major IGF deficiency. There is no ritualistic use of blood or consumption of blood in the text.” which rings true for me; whenever Ranka meets another blood witch, she is desperate to make friends with them and to share her experiences, which reads more like a metaphor for queerness or chronic illness. If it was intended to be blood libel, Ranka would have an active community of Jewish people around her, helping to commit more blood-eating rituals. Instead, Ranka is totally and brutally alone in her experiences at the beginning of the book.

Absurdly long addition 7/26:
Jake Maia Arlow (author of the excellent How to Excavate a Heart) writes (6/26): "this is also how i feel about the fact that it’s about a blood-witch. like do i think it’s purposefully anti-semitic? no. is it about a powerful witch who gains magic from blood and is persecuted for that a la literally every blood libel stereotype leveled at jews? yes"
1) it is not about a powerful with who gains magic from blood - this is not how the magic system really works, and also she doesn't gain magic from blood, she gains it from death.
2) is she persecuted for being a blood witch? yes and no? she thinks she is persecuted for it more than the actual reality of it happening (disparate people in power have different opinions about various things), and also blood witches are both rare and respected within the text (Ranka is a blood witch but the previous queen was ALSO a blood witch, and also more blood witches are happening and ...It's also a story of unlearning your previous biases and learning that you aren't a monster, so this one is complicated). Being a blood witch is something that I personally relate more to having a chronic illness than a persecution narrative. I personally didn't find it antisemitic, but I don't usually think "all persecution narratives are automatically about jewish people", although obviously we can relate to persecution narratives due to [waves hand at history, Remember That We Suffered starts playing in the background]. And due to the fact that the blood magic is so far removed from blood libel, these two facts don't really connect into something that is antisemitic. (Compare/contrast to Wild and Wicked Things which also has blood witches and lesbians. I should reread that book, which I did say I was going to do; I remember nothing about it due to the fact that I read too many books. Also probably compare/contrast to Gideon the Ninth which also has lesbians and blood magic, which I remember nothing about due to not having read it). 

This is the only other Jewish person I was able to find talking about this book (with specifics), not counting the tiktok comments I trawled through, which I will not relate due to how awful tiktok comments are to follow (both in terms of content and in terms of how tiktok is set up). I also did further research bothering Everyone I Know and also some people I don't know about blood magic and if it is Always Blood Libel If It's Blood Magic, and the general consensus is this:

Blood magic is not always blood libel, especially when it does not contain any blood libelous aspects. It's a fairly universal concept to say "hey, this red stuff inside of us could be magical!" It can also be noted that we do not consider blood magic practiced by Latin-American or Afro-Caribbean cultures to be antisemitic. HOWEVER. Jewish people can be triggered by the inclusion of blood magic because of, you know, centuries of blood libel. I think that people who are affected by this content can read the synopsis and say "wow, this book is not for me, because it includes blood magic, which I am triggered by". (Obligatory; content warnings are not moral or immoral, they are literally just warnings for content). 

I also really enjoyed this podcast while I was researching, The Blood Libel Accusation with Magda Teter, who wrote Blood Libel: On the Trail of an Antisemitic Myth. 

update 7/28: doing regular twittering and found this thread by Dahlia Adler (editor of all my favorite anthologies) which reads "In general the amount of “This is antisemitic!!” I’ve seen going around about stuff that patently is not is uhhh disconcerting? Because I know you mean well but all it tells me is you associate us with even more terrible stuff than the baseline." Further, Abby Pickus in the quoted thread writes "I actually have read it, and it didn't seem blood-libelly to me, since I don't think anyone actually consumes blood. The "blood magic" is handled very differently." ("it" being The Ones We Burn in this context)

I am Jewish disclaimer etc etc. Nothing about us without us. Rating for visibility, this is literally the longest book review I've ever written, I absolutely cannot have any further thoughts about it. I also love to be proven wrong; please feel free to argue with me in the comments, or I have an open Goodreads inbox.

keith

Cloey Yerger

I did not read this book. Only posting this as a warning for anyone who thought they wanted to read it. It’s absolutely ridiculous that this white author thought of such a disgusting, insensitive, stereotypical, and inconsiderate idea as this, then wasted their time to write the entire book, promote it, and publish it. This author has no consideration for anyone besides themselves. This books has reverse racism and antisemitism. Avoid.

The Ones We Burn

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