Which one spreads faster - lies or wildfire?

It’s just an ordinary summer day for a group of five friends. Until it turns up to be the most disastrous day for them all.

Like most of the teens in the town, they spend the hot summer days at the Gap Lake. Drinking beer, smoking weed, chilling and making plans for the future. All of the girls- Hannah, Mo and Violet are going to college, while the boys - Drummer and Luke are staying local, finding a job in Gap Lake. But what a strange group of teenagers they are! Hannah - the sheriff's daughter. Violet - an heiress, living in Santa Barbara, but spending the summers with her rich grandma in Gap Lake. Luke - the troublemaker, always neck-deep in troubles. Drummer - the playboy, taking all the advantages he can take from a girl and then throw it away like a rag doll. Finally Mo - a quiet, sweet girl, not famous with anything, fighting her way to the top, aiming for college and a career as a nurse.

But when Luke takes out his pipe while chilling at the Gap, Hannah reacted in the most natural way a sheriff's daughter can - she started yelling at him, that lighting a match in a red flag day is recklessness. The hell comes to earth when Hannah knocks out the pipe off Luke's hand and they accidentally started a fire. The fire that in no time engulfs hundreds of thousands of acres and will destroy homes and will kill people.

There is so much in this book. Friendship being the most important one. I love how fierce Hannah fights and keeps their secrets just to protect her friends from jail. Because monsters don't tell on monsters! They are calling themselves the monsters, because of that summer play where nobody wanted to play the human. The main two rules in the group are: "monsters don't tell on monsters" and "monsters don't date monsters" and Hannah is trying to keep them both. Even though she is in love with Drummer since she remembers, she won't overstep that rule they've set. Imagine what a hit she received when finding out that actually Violet and Drummer are seeing each other. Betrayed. A realisation that Drummer keeps her on a hook because she is always there for him, always ready to clean up his mess.

I didn't like the characters tho. I couldn't connect with them. For me, they are all selfish and unlikable. From spoiled kid to too straightforward one. A guy who uses women and a guy who can't get out of the mess he created. They are quite miserable for teenagers. However, I almost started to like them, when a confession from Mo changed everything for me and I even started to hate them a bit.

I was more into the second part of the book. Actually, the first chapter of the book belongs to the second part of it. It got me confused for a second, but then I galloped through the first part, impatient for the second. Wanted to know what happened with V, why are they looking for her body? Did she die because of the fire? Did the fire kill her?

The story is fast-paced, the twists are perfectly placed. Even though my guess was right, the author keeps you on the hook till the very end. Whereas I knew how this story is going to finish, it didn't take away the enjoyment of reading it till the end.

Although the book is spread through a period of time, starting with the fire, continuing with V's disappearance and at the end we have them a few months after the fire. Surprisingly, the parts fit together perfectly and this is what I like the most about the book - in the end, it ties all the loose ends together. No open end, no wondering. Just an absolutely catch of a book! Fast-paced, hooking and intriguing.

Just the thought of wildfires terrifies me, even though whenever there is one near where I live they are never anywhere close to the scale of those in America, Australia or mainland Europe. Watching the devastation on the news is utterly heart-breaking. Even before reading the author’s note, it was clear that Jennifer has personal experience of such fires and that experience really comes through in her description of the fire, and in the emotions that it raises.

Lies Like Wildfire is a fascinating story about how one bad decision can spiral out of control, and how one lie can lead to another, and then another. The comparison between the raging wildfire and the ever increasing web of lies, both forging their own path of destruction, makes for a cleverly constructed novel.

Although each of the characters was hard to like at times, and I found Hannah more than a little annoying, it was absolutely compelling reading waiting to discover where the lies were going to take her and her friends and what the truth really was.

I read this book for a blog tour, so thank you so much to the blog tour organiser for letting me take part in this tour, and thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

Trigger warnings: fire, death, mention of drunk driving, murder, lies, secrets, injury, blood, bear attack, animal death.

Lies Like Wildfire by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez is a great YA mystery/thriller that I got the chance to read for the Ultimate Blog Tour organised by Dave, and I’m so glad I signed up. YA mystery is one genre that I can speed through and just keep turning the pages, and this was one such book, I just kept wanting to know what was happening, if the fire would go out if they would find Violet, and what secrets the liars were keeping from the families and the town, but also from themselves.I have to talk about the setting for this book as well as the characters! This book is set in a town in the U.S., in California if I’m not mistaken. From the first pages, we get chucked into this setting which is soon to be on fire, and it was a race against the clock to get the fire put out, but also to find out who set the fire, since it’s a federal offence. The characters we meet when starting this book are a real rag-tag group of friends who have mostly come together because they all live in the same town, with the exception of Violet who is the daughter of rich parents who galivant across the world each year, leaving her to her grandmother in this small town. They are all called the “monsters”, by themselves and by their friends and family, but I was just rooting for everything to be okay for them.

I really liked Hannah from the start, how she is fighting to keep her friends together and later, also fighting against her memory to figure out what could have happened to Violet. I thought that she was a really good narrator, although somewhat unreliable at some points, but that just added to the overall atmosphere of lies, secrets, tension, all made greater from the wildfire raging across California. We learn a lot about Hannah’s family and her personal struggles, her wish to become an FBI agent, and I really liked getting to know her.

I also liked the other characters, I had a soft spot for Mo as I am totally that person who brings a million things in their bag for outings, and make sure everyone is fed and watered ahah! I also thought that Luke really drew the short straw and I felt so sorry for him, and would really have liked to know him better. I just wanted them all to get out and go do everything they had planned for their life after high school.

As I mentioned above, I have really gotten into YA mysteries/thrillers that I find so different to their adult counterparts. There is usually a great atmosphere and things are just so much more edge-of-your-seat for me, which was the case here. I just wanted to keep reading this book at every chance I got, as I wanted to find out if the monsters would make it out unscathed and what truths would be revealed.

Overall, Lies Like Wildfire was such a great YA mystery/thriller that had me immersed each time I picked it up for “just one more chapter” that turned into 10. It had a really tense atmosphere that makes you keep turning the pages, and the countdowns of how many days the fire has been raging, the casualties from it, and another event (that I won’t mention) just kept me reading to find out what was going to happen in the end.

I liked the pace which I found strong and flowed really nicely, along with the great writing style. The relationships between the characters and their dialogues were nicely written and it made for very believable characters and a very intriguing plot.

I gave this book 4 stars and I really enjoyed it. It was a really fast-paced, well-written and well-thought-out quick YA mystery/thriller. I also NEVER saw that ending coming and it left me with my mouth hanging open because it takes a bit to surprise me, and that wrap-up definitely did leave me stunned. The author did a great job of pointing the suspicion elsewhere! It was a great reveal!

If you love fast-paced, quick, intriguing, tense stories with rag-tag groups of friends, secrets between them, and other mysteries mixed in, and you don’t mind the trigger warnings I mentioned above, then I highly recommend this book, I’m sure you would love it!

This book was a roller coaster of drama and thriller one after the other. I mean, the characters do go off rail in the book and it just keeps the story interesting.

Five friends start a fire by mistake and that mistake cost them a lot. One of them dies and now they don’t know whether to tell the truth or not. The story from the point of view of Hannah, one of the main characters. Hannah wants to keep the secret that they started the fire because it will keep them and their future safe. But it doesn’t end up that way. Her character development was shocking as it gets.

When I started reading this book, I thought it was only about the fire but as the story moves we see how the characters are with each other. There is jealousy and so much drama going on that the story keeps you on the edge.

The story was worth the read and I absolutely liked this book. I can say that this book is one of my favourites.

SO GIVE THIS BOOK A READ AND YOU WILL LIKE IT

Thank you to the publisher, Penguin, and NetGalley for providing this eARC as part of a blog tour with The Write Reads in exchange for an honest review.

Five best friends have spent every summer together in their hometown of Gap Mountain. This year is different though: with college and work on the horizon, they decide to make the most of this last summer, until plans for a lazy afternoon by the lake go awry and they accidentally start a wildfire in the forest. As the sheriff’s daughter, Hannah Warner knows well the penalties for starting a wildfire in California, and so they do the only thing that comes to mind – lie to the investigators. But the fire grows increasingly deadly, and with each day it rages on, it becomes harder and harder to maintain their lie and their futures are at risk. Will they be able to keep the secret and protect each other or will their friendship crack under the mounting pressure and guilt as they witness the destruction the fire is causing?

This was certainly an intense read, action packed from beginning to end and I really enjoyed it! It alternates between two timelines, one following the events leading up to the fire and the consequences and the other, some months into the future, where one of the friends, Violet, has disappeared without a trace. I loved the narration style and the suspense and mystery was maintained right until the end. The experience of escaping the raging fire and the evacuation of the town was so well written and the author has done an excellent job with the description of these events.

Despite the entire book being narrated from Hannah’s perspective, I thought the author did really well at giving us a good idea about all five of the central characters and their personalities. The characters were, frankly, extremely unlikeable. There are flawed characters, which make a story realistic, but this was one kind of extreme where I couldn’t bring myself to root for even one of them. They seemed to me a very toxic group who don’t treat each other well at all despite claiming to be best friends. Hannah was probably the worst of them to be honest and not nearly as good as she thinks herself to be.

But the best part of this is that you don’t need to like the characters to enjoy this book – the lies, secrets and sheer curiosity to know how each of their stories end was what kept me reading. Each of them have a lot at stake, some more than others and this secret being revealed could ruin their lives, so they are willing to go to any lengths to protect it, no matter who gets in the way – even one of their own.

The ending was a little ambiguous, and while I usually find that kind of conclusion annoying, it sort of worked in this case. I would still love to read a follow up novel, perhaps a few years into the future, to see if all the lies ever catch up with Hannah and if she becomes an FBI agent like she has always dreamed. I would highly recommend this book and fans of mysteries and thrillers like Karen McManus’ works are sure to enjoy this.

What I Loved

Lies Like Wildfire is a haunting and memorable tale even without the wildfire blowing through their small town. It is not just a complex, edge-of-your-seat thriller. It's also a rather tragic tale of a group of friends growing up and moving on literally and emotionally. The transition between high school and adulthood can be challenging to traverse with friends and significant others, in particular. This novel makes that reality hit home like no other story I've read before. This is a story about a group of teens who must face a tragedy that could either cement their bond as friends or blow it up at its very foundation.

The wildfire event keeps the pages flipping very fast for the first half of the book. Living on the east coast of the US, I've been fortunate to never experience anything like the wildfires that rage on the west coast. You hear news reports about them all the time, but it all seems so distant and far removed. This story made each little aspect of the fire feel so real, from the innocent and accidental way it was started to how quickly it got out of control and the lives and property lost as a result. When the characters were running for their lives from the fire, tears welled up in my eyes at just the pure emotions that were also raging.

I loved the theme of good versus evil and if doing the wrong thing for the right reason is a morally acceptable gray area. It is very complicated, as many ethical issues are, and exploring that gray area is profound and thrilling in its own way. This exploration takes up an extra few notches as one of the "monsters" goes missing, which keeps the pages flipping rapidly in the second half of the novel. Did someone do the unthinkable? Does that morally gray area suddenly turn the darkest shade of black? These questions provide all that a reader can hope for in a thriller: plenty of twists and turns, loads of red herrings, and the eventual jaw-dropping conclusion with all its many complex and deeply profound connotations.

Characters

Hannah is the main character and unreliable narrator of the story. She is one of five "monsters" – a group of friends named for their shared desire to not be a human in a Where the Wild Things Are play when they were 7 years old. They were forever best friends after that summer and even came up with rules to keep their friendships solid and untested.

I can't say that I really liked any of the teens. Mo (Maureen) was the most relatable for me, but I even got frustrated with her by the end of the story. They are each very complex individuals struggling to find their place in the world, and they are all made up of a mixed bag of good qualities and frustrating qualities. Even though totally fitting their age, I did appreciate that the characters did not come across as whiny or superficially angsty. Instead, their emotions deeply reflected having to navigate ethical issues that would eventually define them.

Reminds Me Of

In the blurb, it is compared to One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus. I can see that. It also goes a bit deeper, exploring internal and external issues that force the characters to define who they want to be in this world.

What I Wish

As I read this jaw-dropping story, the only thing that I found myself wishing was the inclusion of a few complete scenes of what the group of friends was like together before the fire. There are brief reflections here and there, but I never felt like I got a good sense of what that bond was like before it was tested. I think, for me, it would have taken that tragic aspect of the story to a deeper level if I could picture the dynamics of "monsters" when it was strongest.

To Read or Not to Read
A thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat and make you reflect on the morally gray areas, Lies Like Wildfire is a book you will not be able to put down. Even when you do, you will find yourself reflecting back on it and all the deeper meanings contained within its pages.

I absolutely loved the premise for this book and was really excited to read it. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. Although it wasn't for me I did race through it because the writing is very easy and accessible so readers won't struggles with a complex plot or themes, which was one of the books advantages.

However, personally the reason I didn't enjoy it was because the characters were all unlikeable and lacked any personal development. It felt to me like the characters were one dimensional & this just took away any enjoyment for me. Character development for me is one of the main reasons that will determine my enjoyment of a book and without this element in the book I just couldn't rate it higher than I did. More importantly, trying to understand the motivation behind the characters behaviours and actions was very difficult to understand because it felt like there was no motives beyond lying. Of course the title itself makes it clear that lying is there sole motivation after the consequences of the main fire, but the protagonist Hannah showed little motivation behind her further actions and behaviours in the second part of the novel ,which only left me confused and asking why she did it and for what purpose.

The plot also felt slightly disjointed between the two plot points of the fire and murder. It felt in some ways that the author couldn't quite decide whether they were writing a general mystery or a murder mystery, so the genre felt unsure of itself. That said I did enjoy the twist at the end and can say I was surprised because I didn't see it coming, but like I already said the narrative didn't naturally flow into the murder mystery second half for me so was confused about how the plot suddenly took that turn.

This is a thrilling, and chilling!, YA novel that explores the dark sides of youth, where the consequences of their action spirals out of control! And what follows is the story of lies,tension, regrets and betrayals and I thoroughly enjoyed it - I can already picture the drama series on TV!!

A group of friends are out in the woods and accidentally start a fire - the impact of which is deadly! They don't want to admit responsibility for their actions so they make a pact to stay silent - they weren't there. They saw nothing. But that involves trying to cover their tracks and soon cracks start to appear in their stories, and as the death toll rises, the conscience of some of the group starts to get the better of them... much to the disgust of others.

This is a really clever book as it covers so many relevant topics of the time - the dangers of using flames in a dry area and how quickly that can spread and how the local areas have to deal with the devastation of one reckless act. It does get very dark at times but really does show the impact of peer pressure and how selfish some people can be to save their own backsides.

It is fast paced and disturbing but a gripping read showing the impact of a rash decision that leads to such devastating consequences for so many innocent people. How quickly life can change.....

Once I read the blurb for this book I just knew that I had to read it and oh boy what a wild ride it was. The monsters were very intriguing and complex characters in my opinion. They were characters that I loved to hate and hated to love. There were so many twists that I didn’t see coming especially that jaw dropping ending. I can’t wait to see what this author does next.

Wow! What a premise! What a wild ride! The topic of this book couldn’t be more up-to-date, and it was truly scary reading about how the flames are raging and consuming everything along their way. No trees, no animals, no buildings, and no people are safe from the fire. In a matter of seconds, the friends are making a decision: no one tells anybody what happened this fateful summer night. So, nobody will ever know they were involved, right? Right???

From the start, the book hooked me. Alvarez is a very skilled writer – every sentence smoothed to the point. In a matter of lines, I was riding along with Hannah and Drummer towards the lake they like to spend their lazy summer nights at, was smelling the smoke from the fire and felt the friends’ fear. Chapter after chapter, secrets are uncovered, mysteries unleashed, but not all enigmas solved. As dark secrets come to light, the Monsters’ bonds are losing their tight hold. Hannah is in love with Drummer, who is sleeping with Violet – even though it’s one of their firm rules never to date each other. What else don’t they know about each other? The tension rises, and then, one of them goes missing. The one who threatened to tell the police everything. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. Hannah finds herself in the hospital, not remembering anything. What happened to her? What happened to her best friend? Who is behind all this?

As good as the tension, the writing, and the story arch in Lies Like Wildfire is, the characters are … well, quite unlikeable, to be honest. Since the author has written this story so expertly I’m gonna go ahead and assume she did this on purpose. Were we not supposed to root for anybody but look out for the clues? I’m not sure! Can’t really put my finger on the why, but the fact that I didn’t really grow to care for any of the characters made me like it less than I could have, but I still wanted to know what happens next.

If you are a fan of teen mysteries like Karen M. McManus’s books and don’t need to love every single character to enjoy a good story, then Lies Like Wildfire is the book for you! You can expect thrilling mysteries, sad tragedies, an excellently woven plot, and many dark secrets that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

4 stars from me for this story that was raging like a wildfire!

Lies Like Wildfire follows a group of friends whose lives fall apart after they accidently start a fire. Although an accident the group are looking at possible criminal charges, and to protect themselves and each other they swear not to tell anyone and come up with a lie. But as the fire spreads and people die, guilt starts to set in within the group and the whole situation spirals out of control.

The book is written well, and the story is told from the perspective of Hannah, in first person. First persons perspectives can be a little hit and miss for me but in this case it worked well in telling the story. This book is well thought out book with lots of action packed moments and twists that will keep you wanting more. I have to be honest some twists were a little obvious than others, and I did work out what happens, but still wasn’t disappointed. I loved the writing style, it was easy to follow and no point did I feel bored or lost.

As for the characters, well I have very mixed feelings about them. I mean I liked the other members of the group more than Hannah. I felt the others in the group came across as more realistic and I could relate to them more, out of the whole group I think my favourite was Mo. Now the character I struggled with the most with was Hannah. I wasn’t sure what to think about her. I mean yes she was loyal to her friends but I wasn’t too sure about her actions, as I felt they were more for her own gain rather than to protect her friends. I may not have been a fan of all the characters but they were well written and developed.

It’s not very often I say this but I would definitely love to see Lies Like Wildfire being made into a movie or tv series!!

This is a great YA debut novel. If you’re looking for a fast pace, gripping and addictive YA thriller then this is definitely one to give a go.

This was a quick read that nevertheless packed in a lot. A twisty, fast paced young adult thriller than What started out as a simple day out mucking around by a lake with friends ended up having disastrous consequences for xxx and her childhood friends – affectionately known to each other as ‘The Monsters’.
A rag tag group that consisted of Hannah, our main character, the Sheriff’s daughter, Violet, the rich out of towner who returns every summer, Luke, a traumatised teen who’s mum is an abusive parent, Drummer who Hannah has had a crush on for ages and Mo who managed to get herself a great scholarship opportunity for college. The summer should be their last together before they all head their separate ways as young adults – until that is they accidentally start a large forest fire and have to decide whether or not to own up and face the consequences or try to hide their involvement.
Things quickly take a dark turn when the group accidentally spark the fire and the action doesn’t let up from that point on. The descriptions of the fire spreading and the devastation of it felt very real, the author captured the ferocity and helplessness of it with skill.
The title is very apt. The lies spread within and without the group of friends with as much devastation and speed as the ravaging Wildfire decimates the countryside and town around them. The once tight knit group, who were already feeling the strain of growing up and moving on from each other begin to crack as disagreements over the best course of action rear their head. There seems to be no way to stop either the lies or the wildfire…

Being responsible for the deaths of a number of people and the destruction of houses, tree and wildlife would mean you're a monster, wouldn't it? Well, the group of teens who start a forest fire that destroys their hometown before blazing through Yosemite National Park have collectively been known as the monsters since they were small children but it was a tragic mistake rather than an act of arson.
The first part of this compulsive YA novel follows what happens after Hannah, Mo, Violet, Drummer and Luke accidentally start a fire when they're spending the day at Gap Lake. It's clear that Jennifer Lynn Alvarez knows what she is writing about when she describes the fire; from the terrifying speed and intensity of the blaze to the panicked evacuation and then the devastating aftermath, these scenes are dramatic and emotional.
The monsters aren't bad people but they make decisions and act in ways that open them up to understandable criticism. I can fully appreciate why some readers may find them unlikeable but despite their obvious flaws, I couldn't help but sympathise with most of them. I was less keen on Drummer, however, although there were moments when I feared that his somewhat manipulative behaviour around girls would be excused or overlooked, I have no complaints about how his character was ultimately developed.
The storyline is narrated from Hannah's perspective and she is a cleverly constructed character whose actions meant I changed my opinion of her time and again. As the novel progresses and the monsters find themselves under increasing scrutiny, her account of what is happening is as compelling as it is disturbing. She is the daughter of Gap Mountain's town sheriff and while her personal history explains her increasingly obsessive resolve to conceal the truth, it's grimly fascinating to see how she reacts as the net closes in on members of the group.
The second part of the book explores events after one of the group disappears and by this point, the fractures between this previously tight group of friends mean these chapters feel a little like rubber-necking, watching their worst fears coming to pass. It's easy to condemn them for their choices and there is no doubt that what they do is wrong. Neither is it unfair to state that their behaviour is often toxic and dangerous but they are scared and guilt-ridden so I could empathise with them without agreeing with what they do. It's rather sombre seeing what such an immense tragedy inflicts on them all but although obviously a fictionalised thriller, I felt it was a realistic portrayal of what happens to people after a life-changing event, particularly one that means they now face potential jail time and fines of thousands or even millions of dollars.
Lies Like Wildfire is an emotion-charged, atmospheric YA thriller and despite being in my late forties, I enjoyed it very much. The descriptions of the wildfire are perhaps the highlight of the book and these scenes are beautifully, horrifyingly vivid but there is much else to admire here, too. The characterisation of these imperfect, selfish, panic-stricken friends is excellent while the rising tension as damning evidence in both investigations comes to light makes for a gripping, pacy read from start to finish, and the sense of place is superb throughout. I suspect the conclusion may be a little divisive and to be honest, I'm still not quite sure how I felt about it but that's fine, as the monsters discover here, life doesn't always turn out the way you expect, so why should the ending of a book?! This is the first YA thriller that Jennifer Lynn Alvarez has written and such an accomplished story means any future crime novels are an enticing prospect, I look forward to more.

Book source ~ Tour

Hannah Warner and her four best friends, Luke, Drummer, Violet, and Mo, have just graduated from high school. This is their last summer together before the girls go off to college. The boys aren’t, so they’ll be staying in Gap Mountain to work full time jobs. They just want to relax and have fun before they start working hard. Instead, they accidentally start a wildfire that devours everything in its path, killing people and animals and destroying forests, buildings, and life as they know it. But that’s just the beginning of this monster tale…

Wow. Where do I even start with this book? It seems like it’s going to be a tale of summer fun and possibly hijinks between five friends before everyone buckles down in the Fall. But right out of the gate they accidentally start a fire. Not a little fire that’s easily put out. Not a medium fire that requires a little more effort to snuff. Oh, no. They had to be monumentally stupid on a Red Flag day and start a massive fire that zooms out of control so fast it’s unreal. And horrifying. So horrifying. But you know what’s even more horrifying? These teenagers. Holy fuck. I hate them. Ok, I loathe three of them. Two aren’t so bad.

But if the fire wasn’t bad enough, then their lies just pile on. They lie to everyone about the fire. And it only gets worse when one of the teens decides she can’t take the guilt anymore and says she’s going to tell. Then she disappears. WTF? As police and fire investigators close in on the teens, they now have to search for Violet. Where is she? Did she run away? Get kidnapped? Or worse?

Reading this book is like watching a train wreck. You know it’s going to be bad, but you have no idea how bad or when it will stop and yet you can’t stop watching. You can’t look away. This book is the same. You have to turn the pages and keep reading. Will it get worse? Is it going to burn out of control forever? You have to know! If you like your stories to have nail-biting suspense mixed with some horror then you’ll want to read this.

Lies Like Wildfire is a compelling and intense, high stakes story about five friends and the deadly secret that could send their lives up in flames. In Gap Mountain, California, everyone knows about fire season. And no one is more vigilant than 18-year-old Hannah Warner, the sheriff's daughter and an aspiring FBI agent. That is until this summer. Hannah and her best friends, Mo, Luke, Violet and Drummer, who have been closer than close-knit since they were all 7 years old living in their small forest town close to Yosemite, cause an unfortunate accident. It's during one of their regular trips to the local lake to hang out when they spark a raging wildfire while smoking weed. It swiftly becomes enormous and deadly and terrified of the possible repercussions their instinct is to lie to the police and the fire investigators especially due to Hannah's knowledge of the law. But as the blaze roars through their rural town and towards Yosemite National Park causing both loss of property and loss of life in the process, Hannah's friends begin to crack and she finds herself going to extreme lengths to protect their secret. Their relationships are now fraught with tension with each wondering if the others can be trusted, and when a stupid decision leads to more of the same, it seems as though they will never be able to tell the truth about what happened that summer evening.

Everyone knows that sometimes good people do bad things, but if there’s one thing people hate, it’s liars. And then Violet vanishes completely. This is a compulsive and quick-paced thriller about the impact and toll that mistruths and maintaining a facade can take on your mental health and friendship group. It's a tense and wickedly twisty young adult debut that indirectly touches on the issue of climate change, the associated wildfires that have been burning recently in both Australia and the United States and the catastrophic effect they have on those who live or work in the fire's path. It explores guilt, envy, survival and accountability and is divided into 2 sections: before Violet’s disappearance and after it. Told solely from Hannah’s perspective, it allows you to become fully immersed in the narrative without the constantly shifting viewpoints that tend to spoil some novels and highlights the complex and now ever-evolving dynamics between the friends. As this is a character-driven thriller, we absorb each characters interesting backstory which addresses issues such as financial troubles, domestic abuse, toxic friendship and their imminent graduation from school which will ensure they go their separate ways. A captivating and, at times, heart-pumping page-turner perfect for fans of Karen McManus and E. Lockhart. Gritty, entertaining, and highly recommended.

My Review
Lies Like Wildfires is a very fast-paced thriller full of mystery and outright catastrophe. We are thrown straight into the action when Hannah and her group of friends, nicknamed The Monsters, accidentally start a wildfire in the California woods. All they wanted was to spend their last summer together hanging out and making memories before going their separate ways but what started out as a little fun in the woods, quickly turns into a raging wildfire, leaving nothing but chaos and destruction in its path.

This book really emphasises how out of control small fires can get in areas that are prone to wildfires and it really made me scared for the town of Gap Mountain. The description of the fire and the carnage it left behind was truly terrifying and created an atmosphere that was very realistic. I could imagine the burning buildings, the ashy air and the terror that the evacuees must have been feeling, it made it incredibly hard to put down and just made me want to read on.



Since the whole book is based on lies that just get too out of control, it does make you dislike the characters but I don’t know if this was purposefully done by the author. How are you meant to root for characters that have started a wildfire and created so much devastation to their friends, family and neighbours? I was sat on the edge of my seat wondering if Hannah and her friends would get caught and I actually kind of wanted them to. I did start to feel sorry for the monsters at some points because the will to protect each other is so strong and you can tell they do care a lot about each other. Sometimes it is just shown in the wrong way. Despite all this, it is still a brilliant and thrilling story.

Overall, Lies Like Wildfires is a very enjoyable read that will leave you shocked by all the mayhem and havoc that occurs. With shocking twists and loads of tension, you won’t be able to put the book down as long as you don’t mind a few unlikeable characters!

Rating: 4/5

Hannah, Nathaniel (Drummer) Maureen (Mo) Luke and Violet had been best friends since they were seven years old. They were known in the small town of Gap Mountain in rural California as The Monsters, a nickname that they had been given on the day they became friends after they were the only kids who volunteered to play the wild things in a summer daycare production of Where The Wild Things Are. The group were now in their late teens and spending what could be their last summer together before the girls went off to their respective colleges.

But, one hot day in July, their plans for the future went up in smoke when they accidentally started a forest fire which swiftly turned into a wildfire that destroyed parts of the town and left devastation, destruction and death in its wake.

Terrified of the consequences of their actions, the teens made a pact of silence but some of them are not as strong willed as the others and lies like wildfires have a habit of getting out of control.

When the investigation into the origins of the fire begins to yield results and the law enforcement agency's start questioning the friends, splinters and cracks start to appear in their once tight knit group, loyalties are tested and then, one night, one of the monsters mysteriously disappears...

This thrilling, captivating story is written in two sections and voiced entirely from the perspective of Hannah who was the daughter of the sheriff and planned to study criminal justice at college. Hannah was a complex and very difficult to like individual who appeared to be the unofficial leader of The Monsters (at least that was the way she made it appear throughout her narrative) To be honest, I thought she came across as quite immature at times and her only redeemable qualities were her love for her horses and bloodhound Matilda. Her loyalty to her friends came across as admirable but were her actions for their benefit or for her own preservation? The other members of the group of friends were realistic, relatable individuals, my favourite of which was Mo. I did feel a bit of sympathy for Luke and I loved how much he cared and worried about his younger brother Aiden. I also really liked Violet's grandmother Lulu, I thought she was a fantastic, feisty, fiercely loyal individual.

This is a beautifully described story, from the stunning scenery to the breath taking combination of beauty and devastation that was the wildfire. The description of the fear and terror of the evacuees and animals as the fire raged across the parched land were so realistic that the reader could close their eyes and imagine the scenes in their head and feel the heat from the flames scoring your skin.

This is a extremely well written, debut y/a thriller that rockets along faster than a wildfire that is caught in a gust of wind. It's a gripping, addictive read that had me hooked in from the first page and so captivated that I read the whole book in one sitting. I would love to watch a film or tv adaptation of this incredible book. Worth all the stars and more, very very highly recommended and definitely going to be one of my favourite reads of this year.

Rating 4.5/5

This is a very intense and emotional book, it’s the kind of story that easily sinks its hooks in you and makes it so that you do not want to put it down. From the start, there is this high paced, edge of your seat feeling that really doesn’t stop until the book ends and the tension that builds throughout the story is incredible, I think within the first couple of chapters I was close to tears and then, for the rest of the story, felt pulled on an emotional rollercoaster as the events unfolded. I loved that I could really feel the sadness and unease throughout this book because it meant that I was wholly invested in what was happening.

I thought it was really clever to play with the perception of good and bad with this storyline, the “monsters” aren’t inherently bad people they just made a silly mistake but then as things start to fall further out of control you get to see how the line between what people believe to be good and bad is often such a blurry one. It made the tension in the story palpable as you just wait to see how a character will react as the situation gets worse and worse, it is also brilliant in really exploring the group dynamic how we are made to feel like one character can be in the wrong when really they are closer to being in the right and the struggle of trying to keep the group together when the secrets and lies don’t pinpoint everyone.

The story is told from Hannah’s point of view and she is definitely a very mixed character in the sense that I started off the story with my impression of her and then as she feels bound to do what she believes is the right thing for all her friends you see a different side emerge. The same can be said with the rest of the monsters as well they all go through a lot of change as the story progresses and the high stakes of what is happening shows them for who they really are, which is an interesting contrast from what Hannah’s viewpoint might lead you to believe.

There are definitely a lot of unexpected things that happen in this story and I was constantly surprised at what was going to happen next. I think I was about halfway through the book and I thought to myself that there was already so much covered I wasn’t sure what else there could be, but then the author threw in more curveballs and kept making it harder and harder for me to put the book down.

Lies Like Wildfire is an intense, emotional and addictive story about secrets and lies and the cost that they can have on yourself and those around you. It is an edge of your seat read that I would highly recommend.

This was a fast paced and well-written read. The suspense kept building and kept the reader hooked. The main characters were realistic, but not all of them were likeable. A couple of them didn’t care about the consequences their actions brought to others, which annoyed me, but they were all fully developed.

This is a pretty intense book with a lot of details about the wildfire and the damage it caused, so fair warning for any possible triggers. I think readers who enjoy fast-paced YA thrillers like Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s The Naturals series as well as the Charlotte Holmes series by Brittany Cavallaro will enjoy this one as well.

What an incredible book this turned out to be!
I was expecting an easy to read teen drama, a bit of fluff, but there was so much depth and genuine raw emotion running through it that made it a much more complex read.

Trust is a fragile thing at any age but especially as a teenager with friendship group secrets. Every member if the group (the monsters) is different and with vastly differing home lives and circumstances, which really adds to the turmoil and drama.