I really love Elana K. Arnold...it is official! I read her book Sacred (check out my review for Sacred here) and really enjoyed it, I just finished her first contemporary release Burning, and loved it! Her writing flows nicely, her characters are unique, and something that is unique to her writing style is that her books always teach you something about other cultures. Which I for one love!!!!!

Burning was a great addition to the world of contemporaries! Learning about the Gypsy culture was probably my favorite part about Burning, it was just so interesting! Not only do you learn about the culture itself, but Lala also tells stories that are from her culture (which I really enjoyed). I love that Elana can write great YA novels, and not only teach life lessons in those novels, but she also teaches you about other cultures too! I really wish that more YA novels would do that, I love when I can really enjoy a story, and also walk away from that story having learned alot. Now after finishing Burning, I want to learn even more about the Gypsy culture!

 Ben and Lala were both likable characters, while I did like Lala alot more, Ben was still a very interesting and nice character. Burning is written in alternating point of views between Ben and Lala, I liked being able to see through both of their eyes, mainly because I loved hearing what they thought of each other. Hearing what Ben thought of Lala was so, well heartwarming and cute. He really just deeply cared about her and wanted to know everything about her. Seeing Ben through Lala's eyes was also amazing, and honestly if it weren't for hearing what Lala thought about him and how she viewed him, I probably wouldn't have really cared that much for Ben. I would've have liked him, but Lala made me really like him. She made me view him, and the world differently then I normally would.

• side note: Beside Ben and Lala, I also really enjoyed the secondary characters. I even liked Hog Boy, who is Ben's friend and an obnoxious pig, but I couldn't help, but like him just because he is so out there and so different than characters usually put in YA novels.

The romance was nice in Burning, I felt Burning constantly gave me just enough to keep me on the edge of my seat and wanting to know what was going to happen next to our lovebirds. Alot goes on in this novel, and through it all you never really know how the characters are going to end up. While I did like the romance in Burning, I felt it was lacking slightly which was why Burning got a 4 instead of 5. I really would have liked to have seen more interactions and dialogue between Ben and Lala, throughout Burning it was sometimes hard for me to wrap my head around why Ben and Lala cared so much for each other so quickly. I loved the moments in Burning where Ben and Lala are together, and it really would have been nice to have had more of that.

Overall I believe Burning was a solid contemporary read that any contemporary lover could enjoy. It's something unique and different, so if you are tired of the usual characters and storyline that is in contemporary romance novels then give Burning a try, you will hopefully love it like I did, and walk away from it knowing quite a bit more then you did going into it. Elana has proven herself twice now to be an amazing writer, and I can not wait to see what future novels she will come out with.

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