Amazon Burning
(2014)
What I liked:
The setting is the Amazon rain forest and I enjoyed learning more about the Amazon and the Indigenous people who live there and struggle with the changing landscape. The ecology of the rain forest is an extremely important issue and one that gets brushed aside by politics but also by everything local that often takes precedence. It's difficult to care about what goes on thousands of miles away when there is enough causes here in the US to focus our attention on. This book brings this issue to the forefront as Emma and her swarthy photographer friend bring to light not only an animal smuggling ring but discover truths about the rain forest they never imagined. More books including young adult books should be written about this area to keep it in our minds. The writing for the most part was good. Ms. Griffith is a journalist, well-traveled, and did a great job with dialogue.
What I could live without:
It's a romance and I'm not a prude but WoW. I know the word burning is in the title. I get that something had to be burning but I thought it would have been in higher order if the burning was the issue not the sex. The sexy scenes were far too graphic for me and they seemed uncomfortable for the author and her characters as they didn't flow well. What momentum Griffith created in good dialogue reverted to dime-store romance novel in a second. I like the mystery of a romance and I think it damages the overall good impact a book like this can have. At the end of the day are you writing soft porn or saving the rain forest? I vote rain forest and the book has so much to offer but there are many friends I can't hand this book to because of those very raw scenes.
I also thought the struggle between Emma and her professor was a very timely issue to add in and might have made the perfect reason for her to stay out of the sheets until the end of the book-leaving us with the understanding that her and Jimmy would now be free to pursue their passion for each other. Emma's ability to shut her professor down makes her a strong and worthy character that might think twice before jumping into bed. Just my 2 cents worth. Now you want to read it more than ever just to see what I'm talking about...let me know if you want to borrow my copy of Amazon Burning OR
You can buy it from Astor + Blue's website for $4.99 right now.
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