Reviewed by shannonmiz on
2.5*
Wildfire and I had a very tumultuous relationship. I fell in love, deeply and quickly. And when the love ended, it, like its name suggests, crashed and burned. My problems may not be a problem for you though, and there are things to love about this one, which leaves me incredibly conflicted. I'll do my best to sort it out.
The First Half
First and foremost, I am a sucker for a survival story, so when we open lost in the forest in the middle of an actual wildfire needing to escape, I was hooked. Annie had been through so much, which we learn almost immediately. She'd lost her mom awhile back, and her beloved grandmother had just passed away from a pretty brutal bout of cancer. As I had just lost my own beloved grandmother (who actually had a ton in common with Annie's, personality-wise) this hit extra hard and Annie won me over.
Add to it that she and Pete are besties, but she's secretly holding a torch for him, and hello, so relatable! Regardless of whether their relationship ever progressed beyond friendship, I loved their bond. They shared so much together- stories, secrets, memories, love. And his presence was exactly what Annie needed to get her through this difficult time.
The story alternates between action/adventure scenes and flashbacks from moments they shared together, and I found it was the perfect balance between character development and plot. I was pretty sure this was going to be a five-star read for me, tbh.
The Second Half (Fine, the last 20%)
Okay. Remember how we had that discussion about whether an ending of a book/series can ruin the whole thing? Turns out yes, it totally can. The worst part is, I can't even explain why without ruining the whole book! So. Look at your own risk, though I know that most of you can't help yourselves
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 25 December, 2019: Finished reading
- 25 December, 2019: Reviewed