exceptionally captivating and immersive. It’s one of those books that you continue to read “just one more chapter” until there is nothing left except the disappointment that comes with the book reaching its end

It was fine. I've read worse. I've read a lot better.

DNF @ 10%

I’ve become a big dnf-er in recent months, especially when I was working two jobs because my time was oh so very precious. This was one that didn’t make that crucial “worth it” mark. I’ve had Bonfire sitting on my digital shelf for months but in my mind, I was saving it for when I needed something awesome, for when I wanted to read a really great book. I’m not sure exactly how I established such lofty expectations for this book, but I did. This really had all the workings of a book I’d no doubt love: mysterious disappearances, the small-town girl returns home, and possible legal/courtroom drama. It could have been a perfect combination of Sharp Objects and The Fever but quickly morphed into an Erin Brockovich novelization but without the allure of Julia Roberts. There wasn’t anything completely terrible about Bonfire, there just wasn’t anything special about it either.

I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Thanks Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this for an honest review. This one was a little tricky for me. Took me a bit to get into. But in the end I really liked it. Thanks again.

I think every book person longs for those reads that are so fantastic that you just have to tell everyone about it. A book so good you have to shout it from the rooftops! Krysten Ritter's debut, Bonfire, was one of those books for me.

First off yes, that Krysten Ritter. Known for her roles on Jessica Jones, Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, and (my favorite) Veronica Mars. And given I'm a fan, Bonfire made my must have list as soon as it was announced. And while I hoped, as is the case with any book, that I would like it, it turns out I actually quite adored it!

Abby Williams left Barrens, Indiana after graduation and never planned to return. But, ten years later, working as an environmental lawyer, she finds Barrens calling her home once again.

Optimal Plastics took a dying town and breathed new life into it. They've given money for new additions to the local school, for a brand new community center, and, of course, employ a massive number of locals. But when a farmer complains that his crops are suffering because of tainted water, he places the blame right at the feet of Optimal. And his isn't the only complaint. Which is where Abby and her team come in.

For Abby, though, it's much more than just the current claims against Optimal. When Abby was a senior, a fellow group of classmates began exhibiting strange symptoms. In the end, the girls responsible convinced everyone it was all fake, but the leader of the so called prank disappeared shortly after. Abby always wondered what happened to Kaycee Mitchell, but returning to Barrens has turned that wondering into obsession. Especially when she convinces herself Kaycee might have been telling the truth about her illness and that Optimal could have been the cause.

Bonfire is a great mystery but it's more than that too. It's a story about a girl facing her past.

Abby wasn't popular. She was actually bullied by Kaycee Mitchell and her friends, which is part of the reason she left in the first place. But her home life wasn't great either and her drive as a lawyer is at odds with her almost overwhelming desire to avoid her father at all cost.

So she's there for work, and it's not an easy job investigating a company that can basically do no wrong in the eyes of most of the community, she's reunited with the very people she didn't get along with in school, and avoiding her father is out of the question. We soon learn, too, that Abby turns to the bottle a little too quickly when under stress - and returning the Barrens is nothing but!

And that's all in the beginning of the book. As we get deeper into the story, we learn much more about the town Abby grew up in and the secrets that have been buried there for so long.

Bonfire is an abandon everything read. A book that sucks you in and demands that you finish it in as few sittings as possible. I know, because I would have finished in one sitting but obligations tore me away! So it took me two sittings. But don't think it wasn't on my mind every second I was away from it! Ritter's story invaded my brain and actually hasn't left it. And now I want all of you to read it and love it too!

Bonfire é um thriller escrito pela atriz, cantora, roteirista, e agora escritora, Krysten Ritter. Não sabe quem ela é? É a nossa querida Jessica Jones! Ela também já fez participação na série Breaking Bad e protagonizou a série Não Confie na Vadia do Apartamento 23. Além de vários filmes, um deles Os delírios de consumo de Becky Bloom.

O livro é narrado em primeira pessoa, pela protagonista Abby Williams, uma advogada especializada em direitos ambientais. Abby é uma mulher bem sucedida, natural de Barrens, uma cidadezinha pequena no estado de Indiana, mas que há muitos anos saiu de lá para morar em Chicago. Abby não é casada e nem tem namorado fixo, pelo contrário, ela é super desapegada e coleciona uma série de casinhos.

O escritório de Abby pega um caso onde precisa investigar a Optimal Plastics, uma empresa que é a principal fonte da movimentação econômica de Barrens. Ela e um outro advogado tem que checar uma denúncia que diz que a Optimal está poluindo a água da cidade, onde muitas pessoas já adoeceram por causa da água. Sua antiga amiga de infância, e também líder do bullying contra Abby na adolescência, desaparece e Abby vai cavar fundo para saber o que está acontecendo. Então Abby precisa voltar ao lugar de onde ela saiu há uma década e para onde jurou nunca mais voltar.

Então gente, esse plot não é o que podemos chamar de inédito, pois existem milhares de histórias por aí com a premissa parecida. É certo que é uma fórmula de bolo e que já foi provada muitas vezes que funciona e muito bem. A personagem sofria muito bullying na adolescência pela 'abelha-rainha' e suas súditas, e quando se formou foi embora de Barrens levando consigo todos os traumas e mágoas do passado. Tão logo ela retorna a Barrens, as lembranças que ela fez questão de esquecer vem voltando, Abby percebe que nada por ali mudara, aquela maldita cidade continuava igual, todo mundo cuidava da vida de todo mundo, menos da sua própria.

Temos então dois plots paralelos, um é a investigação contra a empresa e o outro é sobre o passado de Abby, que particularmente eu achei mais interessante. A investigação é um tanto clichê, eu diria até previsível. Bom, pelo menos pra mim foi. A personagem não é o que se pode chamar de cativante, ela é bem mal humorada, bebe muito e é bem introspectiva. Não sei se é porque eu li esse livro pensando "Foi a Jessica Jones quem escreveu", mas eu achei a Abby muito parecida com a Jessica, com esse jeito taciturno de ser.

A história é bem escrita, a narrativa da Krysten é gostosa e dá pra ver que ela leva jeito. Ao contrário de alguns livros escritos por atrizes, este não tem coautor, ou pelo menos não explicitamente. A trama é boa, as descrições são boas, e é interessante ver como a personagem vai lidando com seus assuntos inacabados do passado. O livro aborda diversos assuntos que estão super em pauta, como misoginia, relacionamentos tóxicos, bullying, corrupção, etc.

Gostei da explicação do título e gosto muito dessa capa. Se você gosta de livros rápidos, com muito suspense e conspirações, com certeza este é o livro certo para você.

The book started off well but it kinda went downhill halfway through. I couldn’t connect with the MC and the suspense was also not very interesting. Probably wasn’t my type of book.

My rating is probably more in the 3.5 range. I was so excited about this book (even though I'm not really a Krysten Ritter fan), but it was somewhat of a disappointment.

I'm going to be honest, I didn't know much about it before I started reading. I just remember being excited when I saw it as a Book of the Month selection. My excitement helped me to enjoy the beginning of the novel, but then I realized it started to drag a bit...and that's when I started noticing flaws.

My main issue with this book is that there are just SO. MANY. Themes. Trying not to spoil anything - there's conservationism/pollution, local politics, corruption from authoritative figures, high school bullying/cliques, sexual misconduct, depression, alcoholism, religion, terminal illness, and who knows what else I've forgotten.

The protagonist, Abby, kept believing things that weren't true. I was like "Is she crazy...? Or is she just super insightful?". Turns out it was more like the former. This was also a problem because I felt like character development was lacking - I wasn't sure who to believe. Not because everyone was shady...there were just a lot of characters and not much background.

It started to drag toward the middle-end, and I was just ready to learn what was happening and why. Honestly, if I didn't know how much was left in the book, I would have thought the book was wrapping up before the climax happened. When we finally reached the "thrilling" climax, it was very short and somewhat grotesque. Then everything just wrapped up in a couple of chapters without much more explanation.

Regardless of that, I do think that Krysten Ritter's writing will mature and her books will improve in the future if she continues to write. I would give her another shot. While parts of the book annoyed me, it was entertaining.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Crown Publishing for the ARC, for which I have given an honest and unbiased review*

Thank you to NetGalley, Krysten Ritter, and Crown Publishing for allowing me to read and review Bonfire. I enjoyed this book. 4/5

I was lost in the weedy and woody murky coulee with two of my Traveling Sisters as we read Bonfire. We started off intrigued by this story but soon became weighted down with a little too much drama and the dirty not-so-little secrets to this story. We became mentally exhausted and annoyed by it all and we just wanted to close our books and find a nice grassy spot to have a nap. However, our main character Abby was quite loud in our heads with the wild and annoying ways that she spun us down to some murky and lonesome places along with her from our peaceful coulee.

Even though this one didn’t quite work for some of us, it did take a turn that did catch my attention and had me raising my head from the murk and weeds and turning the pages to find out how it ended. I ended up in a spot in the coulee satisfied with this story.

Traveling Sisters Review also can be found on our sister blog:
https://twogirlslostinacouleereading.wordpress.com

"Memories are like fire, and need only a little oxygen to grow."

When I first heard that Krysten Ritter wrote a book, I was excited. I enjoyed her character in Jessica Jones and wanted to see what she would bring to the page.

Bonfire was good, but not great.

Krysten Ritter’s debut novel follows Abigail (Abby) Williams, a girl with small-town roots who escaped to Chicago and is now an environmental lawyer. However, when a case to investigate claims that Optimal Plastics is dumping waste into the reservoir and making some members of the town sick brings her back to Barrens, Indiana, her new life begins to crack. Her investigations lead her to also question the mysterious disappearance of Kaycee Mitchell, who left Barrens behind ten years ago, as well as a disturbing ritual called The Game. As she gets drawn further and further in, she must be careful, or else the flames will consume her.

I enjoyed this book overall. It was a fast read (listen), and it generally kept me engaged. I thought it would be an interesting environmental thriller, pitting economic-giant Optimal Plastics against Abby Williams and the little guys, but I was wrong. Instead, about halfway through, the focus shifted to The Game, which started when Abby was in high school and had evolved into something much darker and more sinister in the years since. Because of this, Abby’s high school experiences were spotlighted and her current team investigating Optimal got shoved into the background.

To be honest, the plot itself also wasn’t really surprising as I had guessed at a significant piece of the puzzle early on, and though I was fuzzy on the specifics and the “why,” I was surprised that it took Abby as long as she did to figure it out. The only reason she did manage to figure it out was by jumping to conclusions that didn’t seem plausible, remembering suppressed memories from her past, or finding clues that appeared out of nowhere. I get she was technically a lawyer and not a detective, but still, it was somewhat unbelievable. The ending also felt rushed as Abby connected the dots, realized who was behind everything, and confronted the accused – all within a short span of pages.

Overall, I was left somewhat disappointed. I was hoping for more "environmental thriller," more strength from the female character, and more deception from the plot. However, for all its flaws, I still could not put it down and needed to know how it ended, even if it was only to confirm my initial early suspicions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for a copy of this eBook in exchange for an honest review.

Bonfire it is one of those books that you want a reason to love it but the story simply fails on you. Abby Williams is back to her old town Barrens to investigate, as a lawyer, a pollution case. Once back, she is facing her past and that of troubled teens nowadays trying to make their way into adulthood. The pollution case is well-known to everyone living in Barrens, for a long time, but no one is daring to face the company who is the main local breadwinner.
On the way to achieve her investigation, Abby is getting more and more lost into her memories and old trauma, meeting all the time shadows of those terrible years.
One thing that I definitely loved about this book is the writing and the character development, especially for the troubled young girls. However, somewhere at the beginning, the narrative is lost and the more you advance into the book the more you cannot see too much the links between the 'investigation' and presence of characters into the story. It seems in the end that everything is in fact only about Abby and her fight to recover herself from past episodes. Although such an idea could easily make it into a book topic, the problem is that there are so many similar approaches that make it this book just one of the many about it and obviously not one of the best.
Most probably I would love to read more from this author - before reading the book I was not familiar with Krysten Ritter film bibliography, but I am not a movie person anyway - but the Bonfire just didn't succeed to catch my attention - and admiration too.

Rating: 2.5 stars

I am always wary of a celebrity author but wow Krysten Ritter can write!!! The slow burning suspense made for such a quick read and I can't wait to see what Ritter comes up with next.

Fabulous book. Thoroughly loved. Highly recommend!

In Bonfire, Abigail Williams, an environmental lawyer from Chicago, returns to her rural hometown in Indiana to investigate a local plastics company.  Growing up Abby always felt and was treated like an outsider among her peers in her hometown. Her return means facing old demons.  Her legal team investigates the potential ill health effects of the plastics company while she investigates the mystery of what happened to her childhood friend and later high school nemesis.  

I was impressed with this debut novel.  It is well paced and well written.  It kept me engaged. I especially enjoyed the phrasing used, mostly within Abigail's thoughts about what was going on around her.  She is a believable and likable character.  I would not mind seeing her again in a future novel by Ritter.  

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel.

Mystery
Adult
Bonfire, by Krysten RitterAbby Williams is one of the few to escape her small town in Indiana and get an education. She is now an environmental lawyer in Chicago, with a great future, a sweet apartment, and a set of friends, along with a rotation of bed partners. Despite her success she has barely unpacked her belongings in her big-city apartment. This is someone who is either living a lie or can’t shake her roots and is poised to escape again. Perhaps a bit of both. The book open as Abby returns home to investigate Optimal Plastics, the town’s main employer, for allegations of water pollution. She hasn’t been back in 10 years, though her father still lives in the aptly named Barrens. Abby has just pulled into town when her old nemesis Misha Dale appears. Misha, who tormented her in high school, calling her vicious names and starting nasty rumours. An all-round bully who is now the vice-principal at the high school she once ruled. At every turn, another former classmate appears. Have they changed? Has Abby? Missing though is Kaycee Mitchell, who ran away at graduation when the fake illness she and her friends had cooked up was revealed. Despite the girls’ admission to faking, Abby wonders if there is any truth to it, the possible start of Optimal’s environmental crimes. Ritter, an actor best known for her roles in Jessica Jones and as the untrustworthy B* in Apartment 23, has delivered a credible mystery with strong characters and a generally well-developed plot, though the far-reaching corruption and abuse stretched credulity for me. As one who “escaped” her own small town, I found it rather difficult to witness Abby fall under the spell of those who had been so cruel to her. The ending is a bit rushed and the evildoer will come as no surprise to most readers. Despite these defects, I enjoyed the book more and more as I read it. Ritter has an engaging writing style that is easy to read, and occasionally startles the attentive reader with biting observations and sparkling phrases: When did other people’s happiness start feeling like assault?, I came back to bury the past, but instead the past is burying me. and another favourite, There are the people of the world who squeeze and the ones who suffocate. A solid dark mystery with a few forgivable flaws. My thanks to Crown Publishing for the advance digital reading copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
More discussion and reviews of this novel: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34259859.

We all know the actress, Krysten Ritter, from a myriad of things: The B in Apartment 23, Gilmore Girls, Breaking Bad, Jessica Jones, etc. But in her debut novel, Bonfire, we get to know another side of her. And it is full of thrilling, scheming, curious characters.



Abby heads back to her small hometown in Indiana to work a case for her environmental law firm against the big corporation in town, Optimal Plastics. She has bad memories of the town, it being where she was teased and harassed incessantly in her high school. She runs into many of her old classmates, and notices the absence of her old friend, Kaycee. When they were in high school, Kaycee and many other girls came down with a mysterious illness that caused them to seize, vomit blood, and pass out. The illness eventually passed, and Kaycee left town. But no one knows where she went.

Abby is working the case against Optimal, but she also falls back into town gossip and rumor, and tries to figure out what happened to Kaycee.

This book is like Erin Brockovich meets Gillian Flynn, with the big corporation  (think Sweetums in Parks and Rec) with their hands in everything. And I do mean everything.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Links in post are affiliate links whose proceeds go toward the maintenance of this blog.

Erin Brokovich meets All the Missing Girls in this debut novel of psychological suspense from actress Krysten Ritter. Ten years after graduating from high school and ditching her small-town past, Abby Williams is back in her hometown of Barrens, Indiana. Now a lawyer with the Center for Environmental Advocacy Work, Abby is leading an investigation into water pollution and illegal waste disposal by Optimal Plastics. As the team uncovers a trail of corruption and cover-ups, Abby is pulled back into a decade-old mystery: the unusual illness and subsequent disappearance of her one-time friend, Kaycee Mitchell. Now Abby herself is experiencing mysterious symptoms. In Ritter’s deft hands all of the old rivalries, romances, and cruel games from the past repeat themselves on a collision course with the present. Teen readers who are familiar with Krysten Ritter from her starring role on the Netflix series Marvel’s Jessica Jones will be thrilled to discover her talents as an author, and they will enjoy some truly harrowing moments along the way.

I am a huge Krysten Ritter fan, have been since her Veronica Mars days. (Here you should picture a meme or video clip of Gia asking Logan what he really thinks of her and Veronica dragging him away before he starts something that will end in tragedy, which meme does not appear to exist.) Right now she's famous because of Jessica Jones, of course, in which she plays the Marvel universe's cynical, haunted, alcoholic, superpowered PI. Remember this; it bears on our story later on.

When I saw she wrote a book, a mystery called Bonfire, I was all in. I'm a fan of Ritter's work, I'm a fan of her characters and a lot of the stories she's been in. No reason to think she can write, but no reason to think she can't; she seems like a very smart woman. And the book is about a troubled woman going back to her hometown to figure out a thing that happened in high school, so okay, sure thing!

Oh, I wanted to like this, reader. I want only good things to happen to Krysten Ritter. I want her to be happy and successful. The character is an alcoholic investigator who is haunted by a troubled past, so Jessica Jones herself should be quite comfortable with the characterization. The main character, Abby, is described as plain and awkward, but I still pictured her as Ritter, with that gangly Jessica Jones, "I'm not trying to look gorgeous" thing going on.

But unfortunately, I don't get her. She was bullied horribly in high school, for being awkward, and poor, and from a too-religious family. Now she's a hot-shot lawyer with an environmental defense organization, and she's come back to town to investigate whether the One Big Corporation that keeps the town alive is poisoning the water, though of course what she's really doing is Confronting Her Past.

Except it's not clear what about her past needs confronting. Her ex-best-friend-turned-worst-enemy got mysteriously sick in high school, but it was "proven" that she faked it for attention, then she "ran away" and no one ever heard from her again. For some reason Abby is haunted by this girl, but it makes neither rational sense (which, okay, your high school obsession won't always) nor emotional sense.

Neither does her intense attraction to a guy named Condor who is one of those salt-of-the-earth good guys you find when you go back to your corrupt small town. As soon as she makes eye contact with him she wants to be near him but doesn't let herself, because Reasons, I guess? It also doesn't make sense that she makes nice with her second-biggest high school bully (like, she panics and befriends her instead of expressing her real emotions). Or that she drifts away from her investigation partner. I guess the drinking makes sense, but the beach party where only the members of one graduating class attend doesn't. Once you grow up, even in a small town, you have acquaintances a few years older and younger than you.

The hardest part is that the writing is so close to good, you can feel the wind go by as it misses. The language is neither overly flowery nor workmanlike; it's got a nice level of character and flourish that would be perfect if it was just a bit more deft. I have some highlights that struck me as off, but most of them don't make sense out of context. She refers to high school as "spending years as a bullseye in a field full of arrows." It's so close to being a solid metaphor but maybe because a bullseye can't move, or maybe because a field full of arrows sounds like they're standing still.

Or "how many storage rooms are built out of broken hearts and broken relationships, dead fathers and brothers and wives." That's an interesting thought and image, how much sad, dusty past you find in your average storage business, but "storage room built out of" seems wrong, doesn't it? Like it's filled with composed of, something else. I understand the metaphor, but it sounds wrong to my ears.

At this point, about halfway in, I'm pretty sure I can guess what's going to happen, to the point where I'll be pleased and excited if I'm wrong. (See scare quotes above for hints as to my guesses.) But the fact is that it really feels like I'm reading about someone who is going through the motions of being a disaffected noir detective confronting her past without actually thinking or feeling anything that said noir detective would actually think or feel in the context I'm following.

I'm so sorry, Krysten Ritter. I really do see the bones of something good here. I just think there are a few more drafts, or maybe another novel, between what I'm reading now and a really great detective story (in which you will definitely play the lead role).

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley for review.