I'd Rather Burn Than Bloom by Shannon C.F. Rogers

I'd Rather Burn Than Bloom by Shannon C.F. Rogers (320 Pages)

Summary: Some girls call their mother their best friend. Marisol Martin? She could never relate. She and her mom were forever locked in an argument with no beginning and no end. Clothes, church, boys, no matter the topic, Marisol always felt like there was an unbridgeable gap between them that they were perpetually shouting across, one that she longed to close. But when her mother dies suddenly, Marisol is left with no one to fight against, haunted by all the things that she both said and didn’t say. Her dad seems completely lost, and worse, baffled by Marisol's attempts to connect with her mother's memory through her Filipino culture. Her brother Bernie is retreating further and further into himself. And when Marisol sleeps with her best friend's boyfriend - and then punches said best friend in the face - she's left alone, with nothing but a burning anger, and nowhere for it to go. And Marisol is determined to stay angry, after all, there’s a lot to be angry about– her father, her mother, the world. But as a new friendship begins to develop with someone who just might understand, Marisol reluctantly starts to open up to her, and to the possibility there’s something else on the other side of that anger– something more to who she is, and who she could be.

Opinion: This is a teen realistic fiction book that follows Marisol as she navigates life post the death of her mother. The story is very emotionally charged and heavily focuses on Marisol's mistakes and guilt. I really appreciated her character growth and seeing her friendship grow with Elizabeth. But I feel like the end of the story is lacking in resolution. The reader sees how Marisol has changed, but even at the end of the book she keeps making big mistakes that we never get to see resolved. Because of this the ending feels rushed and like the reader is missing out on critical pieces of Marisol's journey.