Atlanta Burns (Atlanta Burns, 1)

I’ve been on a roll lately, seeking out some of my favorite author’s lesser known works, because I’m just weird that way. Whenever someone in the book community suggests a new author to me, I almost always seek out their most obscure piece of work, and start there. Breaking from my normal habit, I first discovered Chuck Wendig through his Miriam Black series, and speaking of which, if you haven’t read through that spectacular series, what are you waiting for? I went on to love his Star Wars books, and his end of the world magnum opus, Wanderers. Well, after all that, I thought it high time I started at the beginning. The Atlanta Burns books are marketed as young adult, but they are anything but. Wendig doesn’t tone anything down here, the creative Wendig profanity and gratuitous violence are both present, along with suicide, sexual assault, cruelty to animals, nazis, hate crimes...the list goes on and on. The title character plays like a younger earlier version of Miriam Black, but without the supernatural hocus pocus, and she’s a hell of a main character. Forced to commit an act of violence that haunts her nightmares, and becoming a sort of go to person for the oppressed and bullied at her school, she’s my favorite kind of protagonist. Damaged, and flawed, channeling all the pain of her past into determination, and strength. I actually found myself cheering out loud at times, but it’s not all triumph and good times for Atlanta. This book is dark at times, seriously, dark, and messed up things happen to good people here. No one is safe. Some of the events that occur here made my cry, made me sweat, and one event in particular almost made me throw the book across the room. This book is made up of two novellas, Shotgun Gravy and Bait Dog, but they fit together so beautifully, you won’t notice any stitching together of the stories. They work together perfectly as one novel. I’ve gone on and on about how awesome Atlanta is, but I also want to mention in closing, there is a great supporting cast present, all contributing in large ways to this grim story, and I became just as attached to them as I was to Atlanta.I’m a firm believer that you can’t have a great hero without great villains to challenge them, to bring out those heroic characteristics, and Wendig has created some here that will make your insides boil, and make it all the more pleasing when Atlanta takes her baton and shotgun to them! Kaboom!There are two books available in this series, but I plan on waiting a while before I dive back into this world. First reason being, this story tore me up, frayed my nerves, and made me scream, as only the best books can, and secondly, I kind of liked where he left things at the end, and I’m happy to let our heroine have some peace and quiet for a bit. I know I won’t last long though. 2 hours past finishing this, and I’m already itching for Atlanta to pick up her shotgun, find some bullying scumbags, and mess their world up, because someone has to.

Oof. This book.First, I'll say that Wendig can write. His language is evocative and even his sentence structure puts you right there with Atlanta, seeing what she sees, feeling what she feels. Which is not always the best thing.I found myself wondering about who Atlanta Burns was before the traumatic incident that shaped her life as we see it in the book. How much of her attitude is typical teenage angst and how much is due to being brutally attacked, being forced to take extreme measures to defend herself, and then being institutionalized for months? Then again, I'm not sure anyone in Atlanta's town has "typical" teen anything since the town itself is home to a large number of white supremacists, violent bullies, and a dog fighting ring. This is in addition to the more mundane issues of corrupt police, uncaring teachers, distant parents, and extreme wealth inequality.Suffering from PTSD, harboring serious distrust of her mother, and alienated by her own crowd, Atlanta returns to school without any real coping mechanisms to deal with her triggers and flashbacks. Despite her own misfortunes, she is drawn to helping those who are being tormented, but is further tortured by guilt when her attempts to help only seem to make things worse. Watching her poor decisions and self-destructive behavior as she leapt from frying pan to fire to unholy inferno twisted my stomach. The story was interesting, the characters engaging, but it was just so hard to read.I have the next book but haven't been able to start it yet. Considering how this one ended, Atlanta's probably going to be neck deep in trouble and sinking fast. If you like your protagonists scrappy and flawed and enjoy reading about folks holding Nazis at gunpoint, this is probably up your alley. But be warned: it's dark.

I really like Wendig's writing but I didn't get on with this. I am not sure if this is meant to be Young Adult fiction - but it read like Young Adult fiction, albeit with dark undertones.It is nicely written, as usual, but I didn't find the lead character or the story interesting (if I were still in school, I suppose I might have done) and felt like everything in the story was a little predictable. You wouldn't call this bad but I did have to work to get to the end

Loved this book! It had sat on my Kindle forgotten about until recently and after reading it, I kicked myself for having left it so long. The story is interesting enough to hook you but I think the character of Atlanta Burns is the best part. She kicks ass. The other characters are strong too. This would translate well to a film or a TV series, if enough Atlanta Burns stories emerge. It’s rare that I’ll buy a sequel immediately after reading a book but I have done just that in this instance. I’m off to read Atlanta Burns: The Hunt now :-)

....such a good story of cliff edge will she finally be killed this time? But no! Atlanta wings it every time and comes up bruised and battered but stronger . She's exactly who you want fighting your corner...

I love Wendig and scifi so i wasn't sure i'd like this,but his writing style is so addictive. Atlanta is an amazing character,so much attitude from her but the will to do the right thing. Loved it.

Great story, great writer, great heroine. That last letter is vital.This man should be on every bookshelf.