Watch You Burn

Watch You Burn is a psychological thriller mixed with a murder mystery. Jenny has an undiagnosed compulsive tendency to set fires, and she has been exiled by her stepfather to stay with her father so that she doesn’t harm her younger half sister. Here, no one knows her past, really, and she is trying to be better, only the ‘itch’ to be scratched in less harmful ways. However, soon, her actions are about to throw the town into conflict, as her illness entangles with the new friendships she is making. Jenny’s perspective is troubling, with destructive thoughts circling and guilt from her past actions as well as her inability to contain her urges, swirling into a mixture of paranoia and scheming. She wants to keep her activities on the down low, but also gets a high whenever she sees the destruction her fire sets. When she is close to being suspected, her adversaries are taken of, which is a touch troubling to her. Along with that, escaping from the shrewd eyes of her friend, as well as her dad’s girlfriend has her constantly on the edge, which feeds the urges. Meanwhile, there’s the fact that her father’s business depends on the current job being done successfully, and there is opposition to that which puts her life in danger. The identity of the killer wasn’t really a surprise, because they were blatant clues in the text, so the mystery wasn’t as exciting as the anticipation of how it would all be revealed. On the relationship side, Jenny has a very superficial connection to people in her new life. Her friend is a little too clingy, but she is also heartened by her support. While she keeps people at a distance, Jenny also wants to know everything about them, which in some cases leads to her butting into things are not her business (particularly when it comes to a recovering addict who has asked for space). She is unlikable in that aspect, always looking for an in, seeking to be close to a person, almost to be point of feeling entitled to their secrets. She is also ruthlessly manipulative when push comes to shove, knows how to use her privilege to her advantage, and yeah, some things can be taken as her just trying to survive but she is not above throwing someone else under the bus. I kept wanting her to wake up and realize she needed real help, but she was so fearful of the criminality of her actions and the mounting strikes against her, as well as disappointing the people in her life (okay, that part is relatable) that she never considers it. In short, a gripping plot with a sympathetic but also unlikable antihero.