Unfortunately I have decided to DNF this one, it wasn't for me.
I will continue to check for future books from this author as I like to give author's a second chance and I won't be put off from DNF this one for my future reads.

I absolutely gobbled this up. Imagine finding out your recently deceased mother was responsible for the death of your childhood friend. This plot had me in a choke hold. I could not put this down. A small town full of secrets and twisted characters.

Sophie McKenzie’s Burn This is a gripping psychological thriller that skillfully intertwines past trauma, family secrets, and small-town suspense into a compelling, page-turning story. The narrative begins when Bella Wilkins discovers a hidden diary while clearing out her mother Barbara’s house. The diary, ominously marked BURN THIS, recounts the murder of Bella’s childhood friend Vicky, a crime dismissed by the police as fiction. From this moment, McKenzie expertly ramps up tension, drawing readers into a mystery that spans decades while keeping them guessing at every twist.

The strength of Burn This lies in McKenzie’s character work. Bella’s determination to uncover the truth and confront long-buried secrets makes her a relatable and compelling protagonist, while the story’s layered relationships—especially between mother and daughter—add emotional weight to the suspense. McKenzie’s pacing is impeccable: she balances moments of quiet tension with shocking revelations, making it difficult to put the book down.

Fans of Lisa Jewell, Gillian McAllister, and Alice Feeney will appreciate the book’s darkly atmospheric tone, intricate plotting, and relentless suspense. Burn This is a must-read for those who love psychological thrillers that are as emotionally resonant as they are twisty, blending family drama and murder mystery into an unputdownable read.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – A twisty, emotional, and utterly compulsive psychological thriller.

Nice premise but it was a bit too slow to keep my hooked.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I liked the premise of this novel. However, the narrative pace was too slow for me and I failed to finish.

A fun and unique thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire ride. This was one where I really didn’t know what was going to happen next!

An interesting concept for a plot, but it lagged a lot, and I had trouble staying connected. I liked the characters and the writing was solid. I'm just not a fan of the journey.

I was hooked from the prologue and was able to speed through this book in a day. It was a wild ride and definitely had some twists and turns that I did not expect! I wasn’t a fan of the ending, even though the title of the book is literally Burn This so it’s what they did. I get it.

Setting the scene for a mysterious life changing moment for the main character has you wondering what is real and what is fiction within this storyline. The way the author sends the main character back to the scene of a life changing event will have you on the edge of your seat wondering what is real and what is not; A who done it with a twist!

This is an enjoyable read but there's some inconsistency in the characters that frustrated me at times.

It opens with a spat between two friends, culminating in 10 year old Bella leaving her friend Vicky alone in a park and ridden with guilt when Vicky's body is later found.

Thirty years later Bella returns to her hometown moving back into her childhood home after father's move into an aged care facility. While clearing out boxes she finds a book with 'Burn this' written on the cover. Inside she finds poetry written by her long-dead mother as well as something that seems to indicate she witnessed Vicky's murder yet kept silent and Bella now wonders why. She attempts to get the police to reopen the case but fails until another suspicious death means Bella herself becomes a suspect.

In the background we spend time with Bella's family and childhood friends. Her family relationships are complex and I felt there was some inconsistency in their behaviour - particularly how they treated Bella.

There's also however a smidge of romance tipping this into romantic suspense territory which I enjoyed. Until of course she realises her love interest could be involved in some way...

I enjoyed this and certainly didn't guess at the direction it ultimately takes us.

This thriller novel starts with an intriguing concept. While I thoroughly enjoyed the first half, the second half unfortunately felt slow and dragged on. The introduction of numerous characters simultaneously was a bit overwhelming. Additionally, I was hoping for a different narrative direction. As a result, I rate this a 3-star read.

It's an interesting concept for a thriller novel. I've really enjoyed the first half of the book but the second half felt like dragging. It felt like the book had too many characters all at once. And also was hoping for the story to take a different direction. Overall, it's 3 ⭐ read for me.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was a nice mystery with some interesting characters. While it was a little slow, it kept me turning pages!

This was a fast paced read with a ton of twists. This book is filled with family secrets and drama and I loved it!!! This book kept me turning the pages and reading as quickly as possible.

This book was SO fun. A quick read that had twist after twist. Along with a mind-blowing ending. Just another thriller that kept me up way past my bedtime because I HAD to know!

This book had such an interesting premise and such a promising start. The rest of the book doesn’t live up to that, but it’s an easy one-afternoon read. I wish the characters had more depth to them. 3/5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for letting me read an ARC of this book.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

What would you do if you found a notebook labelled Burn This amongst a dead relative’s belongings? I’d probably do exactly what happens here - get involved, get the wrong end of the stick more than once and uncover some long buried family secrets. A good twisty read

I really wanted to like this but it felt a little underwhelming. The plot is pretty great and so is the writing style. However it is a very straight forward book with no flashbacks and a lot of unresolved points (and quite a few which had zero importance to the plot).

It's a good book for beginners of crime thrillers with a cozy family drama vibes. The seasoned crime thrillers fanatics might not be the biggest fan.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

An unsolved cold case is personal in Burn This as the protagonist best friend goes missing in this labyrinth mystery. When the shocking secrets are finally revealed, no one will remain unscathed.

Sophie McKenzie's Burn This is a top quality psychological thriller.

I was really hopeful going into reading Burn This by Sophie McKenzie. I loved the plot of the book when I first read the description and was intrigued going into this.

The book begins with Bella, aged 10 and her best friend Vicky, also aged 10. When Vicky is murdered going to find a lost football in the woods, her killer is never found and the book then jumps to present day, Bella now being an adult with a daughter of her own who has just returned to her home town.

As Bella delves into finding Vicky’s killer, multiple secrets and deceptions are revealed. I did enjoy reading Burn This but I did find it slower paced than other thrillers I’ve read. I did read this over the space of 12 hours as I wanted to learn what happened next and I thoroughly enjoyed the last 50 pages and finding out who the killer is. Overall, it was a nice easy read that I could tuck into.

Thank you to Sophie McKenzie and Net Galley for this eARC!