I had Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado on my TBR (To Be Read) list for quite some time. I wasn’t in any particular rush to read it but I bumped the book up my list and dove right in when I found out it was the June 2023 book pick for the Horror Heaux Support Group.
Burn Down, Rise Up is a thrill of a book. The writing is informational, tense, and easy to digest. Set in the Bronx, New York, it’s observed that people are steadily disappearing without a trace. The disappearances command the attention of our main character Raquel, her best friend Aaron, his brother, Mario, and a friend ‘not a friend’, Charlize. Charlize’s cousin, Cisco is the most recent disappearance, and finding him requires Raquel and the others to play a dangerous game that could result in them disappearing too.
The characters of Burn Down, Rise Up are flawed but likable, and although many, they are all distinctly memorable and contribute to a believable story. It was refreshing to read a young adult novel where the characters don’t annoy me and I enjoyed the character interactions between Raquel and her friends. The cracks on each other and banter landed when necessary and it felt appropriate for me to laugh in otherwise stressful situations.
This book is a perfect balance of horror, history, and mystery. Horror, because I sometimes had that feeling of dread that I familiarize with watching movies like Candyman. History, because the author develops the story around the 1970s burnings and rebuilding of the Bronx without being heavy-handed with details that could take the reader out of the story. And mystery, because I was constantly seeking information regarding Raquel’s connection to the disappearances, how the Echo works, and what’s with the man in the corduroy jacket. So many questions that kept me reading. I loved it.
I look forward to reading more from Vincent Tirado and have high expectations for their recent release, We Don’t Swim Here.
If you like social horror, pick up Burn Down, Rise Up. You are sure to enjoy it.
