Title: After We Burned
Author: Marieke Nijkamp
Publication: July 1, 2025
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: Mystery/Thriller, YA Fiction
Pages: 352

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SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)

A terrible accident. A horrible loss. A regrettable tragedy. That’s all anyone in Fenix can talk about when a fire consumes the local high school, taking the life of a student. The town mourns, except who really knew―let alone cared about―Eden when she was alive? And why was she in the building that night?

Five teens each hold a piece of the truth about what happened. They also have their own secrets, secrets they will fight to protect with the same fury as the blaze that killed Eden. But silence is meant to be broken, and this story can’t be extinguished…

REVIEW:

**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Having read several books by Marieke Nijkamp before, I always have high expectations when picking up another one of her novels. I previously gave This Is Where It Ends five stars, so I was excited to dive into After We Burned. Nijkamp has a way of taking really difficult topics and turning them into interesting, twisty stories that keep you guessing. This book follows the aftermath of a school fire that killed a student, but as the story unfolds, we learn that a group of students knows a lot more about what happened than they are letting on. I really enjoyed how little pieces of the story were revealed along the way until you finally got the full picture of what happened.

While I enjoyed the overall story, I have to admit that this one just didn’t grab me the way her previous books have. The writing was good, and the story flowed really well, but I never found myself desperate to pick it back up and find out what happened next. Usually with a good mystery, I am constantly wanting to read just one more chapter because I NEED to know what happens. That just wasn’t the case with this one. It actually took me longer to finish than I expected because I wasn’t feeling that pull to keep reading. I can’t really pinpoint anything specific that was wrong with the story. It just didn’t hook me the way I had hoped.

With that being said, Nijkamp is still a fantastic writer. I really liked how she slowly pieced everything together and kept you wondering who knew what and how it all connected. There were plenty of twists along the way, and I appreciated how everything came together at the end. While this wasn’t my favorite of her novels, I am still a fan and will absolutely continue reading her books. If you enjoy YA mysteries with lots of secrets, twists, and a story that slowly reveals the truth, I definitely recommend giving After We Burned a try. Just because it wasn’t a five-star read for me doesn’t mean it won’t be for you!