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[Following is a volunteer review of "Burn Zones" by Jorge P. Newbery.]

In Burn Zones, Jorge Newbery writes about a life of personal and financial success, coupled with overcoming disaster and adversity. His entrepreneurial attitude was created when he was just 7 years old, and decided that he could be a paper deliver boy in his extra time. He traveled around the suburbs of L.A. on his bike, lugging heavy stacks of papers up and down countless streets. This was his first job, which also taught him his incredibly strong work ethic. Jorge became a mobile ice cream dealer at age 11, a busboy at 13, and left school at only 15 to start working full time as the owner of a record company. This early life experience with financial self-affluence led Jorge to prosper later in life with his various business ventures.

When an unforeseen disaster sweeps him off his feet after a risky gamble, Jorge becomes severely in debt, and he enters another of his so-called “burn zones”. He works harder than ever to get back on top, and learns many valuable lessons along the way. This memoir is less of a how-to manual on financial success, and instead a self-evaluation of his own risk and reward. Jorge now endeavors to teach others about the pitfalls and benefits of financial affluence, and to prevent the type of failure that he experienced throughout his own early life.

Overall, I would rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I enjoyed the narrative style in which this memoir is told, and it is clear that Jorge Newbery put an incredible amount of effort into making his story relatable, teachable, and engaging. One aspect of the memoir that stood out to me was the almost whimsical way in which Jorge relives his past and reflects on his triumphs and tribulations. He is genuinely proud of his progress throughout his life, and this fact is evident in his retelling of his achievements. He describes his early life in detail, his business deals from the young age of seven, and his accomplishments as a competitive cyclist with a modest but proud demeanor throughout.

My least favorite part was reading about the way he dealt with his finance difficulty, as it was the only part of his journey that he retold with a somber tone, and the aftermath was explained with a somewhat dull trepidation of the next struggles ahead. That was the only specific downward point of the entire plot, where Jorge neglected to put an optimistic spin on his past, and that could have been entirely planned by him to evoke more emotion from the readers.

This book was a fantastic, inspiring read, definitely suitable for all audiences, and full of wise financial advice. Jorge truly means well with his attempt to educate and entertain his readers, and his own life is a perfect example of hard work and dedication to his interests. A reader of any age can find value in this memoir, as it covers almost every stage of Jorge Newbery’s life. The book outweighs most other “financial how-to” guides in that it’s a personal tale, and this type of story can do much more than a step-by-step list. Jorge Newbery has written a must-read for all ages, and I strongly encourage anyone who is focused on remaining financially secure and independent to pick up this moving memoir of one man’s road to success.

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Burn Zones
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I read another of Mr. Newbery's books, Debt Cleanse. That one references his backstory, but does not go in depth about it. It would be interesting to read the rest of his history, I think. Thank you for the review!

The book is a simple narrative of the author’s life and his experience, rather than a preachy “how-to guide” to instant success. Loved reading it. I really enjoyed your review.