When We Caught Fire

by Anna Godbersen

Suzanne Elise Freeman (Narrator)

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Luxe series comes a lush, romantic novel about the love triangle that started Chicago's infamous Great Fire.

It's 1871, and Emmeline Carter is poised to take Chicago's high society by storm. Between her father's sudden rise to wealth and her recent engagement to Chicago's most eligible bachelor, Emmeline has it all. But she can't stop thinking about the life she left behind, including her childhood sweetheart, Anders Magnuson.

Fiona Byrne, Emmeline's childhood best friend, is delighted by her friend's sudden rise to prominence, especially since it means Fiona is free to pursue Anders herself. But when Emmeline risks everything for one final fling with Anders, Fiona feels completely betrayed.

As the summer turns to fall, the city is at a tipping point: friendships are tested, hearts are broken, and the tiniest spark might set everything ablaze.

Sweeping, soapy, and romantic, this is a story about an epic love triangle-one that will literally set the city ablaze and change the lives of three childhood friends forever.

• ISBN10: 0062855786
• ISBN13: 9780062855787
• Publish Date: 2 October 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperTeen
• Edition: Unabridged edition
• Format: Audiobook (MP3)
• Duration: 9 hours and 11 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[Joséphine]

Actual rating: 2.5 stars

Initial thoughts:

Some positive points:
+ It's historical fiction, a genre rather overlooked in YA
+ Vivid setting with the Great Chicago Fire as backdrop
+ A father willing to see the error of his ways and who apologises when he is wrong
+ Friends who love each other like sisters
+ Good audiobook narrator

Some neutral points:
+ Love triangle quadrangle (I didn't care for it but you might)
+ Lots of to and fro about marrying for love or status (again, you might care for it more than I)

Some negative points:
+ I didn't care for the romance, which consumed at least 80% of the book
+ The Great Chicago Fire was merely a backdrop to the romantic plot (not nearly enough exploration of the impact of the fire itself)
+ Very self-entitled main character, so I didn't even care when she was backstabbed

As you can see, I actually listed more positives than negatives. However, I found the romantic conflict rather trite, and since that's the predominant plot line, that significantly reduced my enjoyment of the book. Some readers find romance and weddings and "will she/won't she?" stories exciting though, especially accentuated by the vivid historical setting, so I can see some merit in the book. Plus, I did enjoy the devotion Fiona had to Emmeline and the friendship that they shared, regardless of societal expectations between mistress and maidservant. Too bad Emmeline cared for herself first before others, which did get on my nerves at times. She's not exactly a protagonist I wanted to root for.

[jeannamichel]

A romance that will set your heart aflame. Review to come.

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
2.5*

Historical fiction is so fun, is it not? And the Chicago Fire... well, that's intense! This particular book was... less so. Not a bad read, but I suppose a tad underwhelming? It's basically a story of friendships and romantic relationships colliding in a big ol' love triangle that happens to get extra dramatic. One of the girls (Emmeline) is a newly-minted high society girl who's set to marry some rich dude that she doesn't care about. Fiona, her bestie-turned-maid, is in love with their childhood friend (and ex-beau of Emmeline) Anders. Emmeline.... is hard to stomach. She's pretty selfish, and so indecisive. Which look, I understand, I am hugely indecisive too, but when you combine it with selfishness, it gets pretty hard to feel sympathetic toward her. 

Fiona, on the other hand is incredibly sympathetic. Easy to root for. Unfortunately, there were too many rich people shenanigans to wade through, and those I sort of didn't care about. Now. I liked watching how the girls' friendship was impacted by all of their choices. That was probably my favorite part of the story. But when it got closer to the end, it felt really predictable. 

The book, at one point, straight up tells you how it's going to end. Which, is a little bit of an odd choice, because it takes away some of the intensity. Plus a few of the other twists are just easy to see coming from a mile away. Still, the emotional aspect was there for me. Probably because I cared about Fiona, and kind of about Anders too, probably just because Fiona did, but still. 

Bottom Line: Liked Fiona, liked the focus on friendship, but could have done with a bit more excitement and less predictability.