This book wasn’t quite what I was expecting according to the blurb I read but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable. I was expecting a sort of psychological thriller but it was actually a reflection of friends growing into adulthood, expectations of your life and dreams, friendship and regrets.
With a thread of mental illness and domestic manipulation running throughout.

Totally unexpected storyline, which gave me cause to think about the book more deeply.
It could be a good book club book for discussion.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read.

Alice, Crow, Lara – three close friends.
And then Alice dies…… in a fire. Was it an accident?
That’s Sonia Orchard’s Into the Fire in a nutshell. It chronicles the journey of three people- Alice and her husband Crow and her best friend, Lara, who narrates the story. It showcases Lara’s and Alice’s journey from their days in the university till Alice’s death several years later.

Into the Fire was not an easy read for me because it held up a mirror to many uncomfortable truths. This book shows how people who were once close to each other (so close that they were privy to each other’s secrets) drift apart slowly and painfully. This novel also conveys how foolish decisions ruin our lives—not drastically and not outright, but slowly so that every waking moment is painful to endure. A significant part of the book is about our refusal to accept the consequences of our actions and our ever-increasing wants. Finally, Orchard also touches upon mental illness. The drudgery of life exacerbated by an unsupportive spouse who gradually turns into a malicious one can crush even the strongest of hopes and the happiest of persons.

Long after I finished the book and was wondering what to rate it, these thoughts hit me. However, when I was leafing through the book, it was, unfortunately, a dreary, rambling story. Orchard has prolonged it unnecessarily by quoting studies on philosophy most of which I didn’t understand. It’s only the last 20% of the book (Kindle edition) that’s gripping because Lara doesn’t prattle here at all. With no studies quoted or any dense, philosophical musing to disrupt the flow of the story, I could clearly perceive Lara’s feelings in the last few pages. A sense of unease grew as if the cold, clammy hand of reality was closing about me. Orchard never corroborates what happens between Alice and Crow. It’s always Alice’s version of events versus Crow’s version. Whom should Lara believe? The hysterical, emotional Alice who has got a short fuse, or the calm and controlled Crow.

If only the story was more compact, and Orchard hadn’t played peek-a-boo with Lara’s feelings by shrouding them in philosophy, I would have rated it higher+. Although I did not understand the esoteric musings, that may not be the case for everyone. People who prefer heavy books will like it. Those looking for mystery should brave a slow first and middle part. The book deals with dark themes, so, go for it if that’s your cup of tea.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was attracted to this book
by its aesthetically pleasing cover, by the theme of female friendship and by the Australian setting (and not necessarily in that order). I have read Jane Harper’s The Dry earlier this year, and I was curious to read more Australian writers. They seem to have quite a different voice from the mainstream American-British literature I’m used to. Which sounds pretty naive from me, I know, but I’m a complete ignoramus when it comes to Australia.

I loved the book, although it started slow and took its time to get to the main point of tension. But provided you’re not in a big hurry (in which case a more classic thriller would be more suitable), there are many things to enjoy in this novel. “Into the fire” chronicles the slow evolution of a friendship during two decades between two women, Alice and Lara, who met at university. It’s probably a universal sentiment to have had deep friendships loose their intensity as people grow older and grow apart.

The point that Sonia Orchard adds to this classic mix is that Alice and Lara had strong feminist ideals when they met, which united them, and Orchard dissects how life make these ideals a lot murkier when confronted with motherhood, marriage, work and partner choices. Lara has been in awe of Alice because of her independence and strong voice. She is surprised and upset when her best friend falls for a charming musician, gets pregnant and moves to the countryside to raise their kids.

There is also a strong element of mystery, but the friendship (and subsequent betrayal thereof) was what interested most. Lara is an unreliable narrator who is not completely sympathetic, but I could understand her and relate to her sadness and regrets.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.

Totally in love with the narration of Lara's weekend, what starts out to be an innocent catching up becomes a full blown mystery. Lara keeps returning to her memory of her friend, but the conclusion she reaches might be the scariest of all. This is a well written and thoroughly thought out book.

I have been in Lara;s shoes, so I relate to her particularly well. So I am in awe that someone manages to capture the guilt and the nagging feeling. Kudos.

Into The Fire is an engaging, riveting book that also provides a narrative on women and our roles within society. The author also gives a critical analysis of feminism and how certain things - motherhood, marriage, relationships, choices - can coincide and, often, work against our firmly held beliefs. At its most basic level, it is the story of Lara and Alice, their friendship, their lives, their realisations. It is a journey, a beautifully told story of two women.

This book was hard to finish, as it was apparent early on that it was not the thrilling mystery it appeared to be. Most of it was psychological philosophizing that went on and on as the main character, Lara, looks back over her relationship with her best friend, Alice, who died in a fire.
The timeline jumps back and forth between the present and the past as Lara reflects on the events that occured between them and how each affected their relationship. The timeline in the present is pretty short and only covers a few days while Lara visits her friend's husband, Crow, and their children. The timeline in the past drags on and on and covers way too many insignificant non-events in too much detail.
The main gist of Lara's reflections is that she and Alice both started as active feminists determined to go places and conquer the world. Soon enough, Lara felt Alice drifting apart and toward a life of domestic simplicity that Lara herself could not relate to. Crow is described as a captivating, charismatic lothario but comes off as a selfish jerk that I couldn't see anyone giving up their dream for, especially a young woman with such impressive aspirations. Yet somehow, every female is enamoured with him, even Lara.
I would have enjoyed the story much more if there was less theorizing and more action. Anything happening, really. By the time you finally make it to the end of the story, it's such a relief. Never fear, you will be rewarded with a much longed-for revelation. If you can get through everything else, that is.

I received a free e-copy of Into The Fire by Sonia Orchard from NetGalley for my honest review.

An intense and heartfelt book with raw emotion dealing with friendship, mental health, guilt, betrayal, and even tragedy. A book of reflection and strength and self discovery. I didn't want this book to ever end.

I loved reading Into the Fire, but beyond that -- I was intrigued with it. A group of Australian university students form intense, lasting connections, with the book spanning the next 15 years, seeing them through very different choices and into divergent, perhaps incompatible, lifestyles.

Lara adores and admires best pal and roommate Alice. Alice falls in love with Crow, who early on becomes a rock star. One of his school mates, Christian, later woos and wins Lara. Someone in this group is mentally unbalanced, manipulating the others for obscure, narcissistic purposes. Author Sonia Orchard draws each character so fully that I could see each as pawn, each as chess master.

Still, it is the women's story. From their youthful, ardent feminism to the sobering discoveries of real-world intimacy and motherhood, Lara and Alice each sees herself through the other. The tragedy of a house fire, revealed at the outset, forces Lara to examine her follower role in the group and confront true independence

I loved the Melbourne setting, and the generous helping of solid psychological theory deftly applied as each relationship developed. I loved the spot-on depiction of their youthful Idealism, their adult cynicism, and Lara's hard-won wisdom. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of Into the Fire.

A year after her best friend died in a house fire, Lara can’t come to terms with the loss. Logic says there was no more she could have done to save the mercurial and unhappy Alice, but Lara can’t escape the feeling that she is somehow to blame for the tragedy.

She spends a weekend at the rebuilt house with Alice’s charismatic widower, Crow, and his three young children. Rummaging through the remains of their shared past, Lara reveals a friendship with Alice that was as troubled as it was intense. But beneath the surface is a darker, more unsettling secret waiting to be exposed.

I loved that this book was about overcoming your past and letting go of guilt. Beautifully written with characters that you can't help but care for. This is one novel that really makes you think!

Thank you #NetGalley for an arc of #IntoTheFire
Pub Date: 29 Jan 2019

I received a copy of Into The Fire from Netgalley

When I first started reading Into The Fire I wasn't sure if I'd like it. It seems like a pretty straightforward story but like life, there are quite a few twists in turns along the way that happens when people grow and change. It's about friendship, and how we all change as we grow older. No one stays the same and what's interesting about the book is how realistic the characters are. They're selfish and have their own motivations as they age. We can see Lara and Alice drift apart and sadly that happens a lot in real life. The book hinges on these characters, how they interact with each other. There's no action here so it's the characters who have to carry the weight of the novel.

Orchard is a talented writer who is able to pull us into the story and allows us to feel as if we're not simply reading a novel, but experiencing it along with Lara. We see just how selfish she is, even resentful at Alice for settling down. It's the feeling of betrayal that winds its way through the book and makes you examine your own life a little. The ending itself is even a shock because Orchard subtly takes a left turn and you never see it coming. You begin to think that Alice is really mentally ill, but is she? Was she the cause of the fire that took her life? Into the Fire is a compulsive read that examines two lives but it's never boring despite the lack of action. We see these characters drift apart and make their own decisions and they aren't always the best decisions. I like a great story. I like characters who are realistic and flawed. Here there are plenty of flawed, selfish characters, and they know they are, but it's just how they are. They can't change who they are.

Into The Fire is the kind of book you read for the characters. It's a slow-moving novel without a lot of action or big revelations. The ending is the most jarring aspect of the book and you never see it coming. It's a book that you become absorbed in and you soon find yourself unable to stop reading.

This multilayered novel deals with the friendship and lives of two inseparable friends Lara and Alice. During their university time they were best friends adapted feminism and wanted to be modern women not anything at all like their mothers. However life unfolds in very different ways and both choose different paths. This impacts their increasingly strenuous friendship and leads to reflections about the chosen way of life. All is told after the death in a fire of Alice and layer upon layer is peeled back and what the reader sees are themes like belonging, betrayal, guilt and womanhood. I found it a fascinating read as both women are strong and yet fragile and have to adapt . A very worthwhile novel.

I was given an ARC in exchange for a review. The story revolves around three major characters and their relationships with each other as they evolve thru different life roles: lovers, parents, career choices etc. There was a focus on psychology, feminism and the choices we make. Honestly, while i appreciate the work and research that went into this creation, the characters seemed all so self absorbed that I couldn’t develop any sort of relationship with them. I did finish and was surprised by the ending. I’d give it a 3.5

This is the kind of book that makes you stop and think. Would I do that? Would that be my reaction? It throws you into the thoughts and feelings of the main character and her best friend. You find yourself in the story with them, thinking about how you yourself would handle such situations. Its a story of friendship and life, with some added mystery and something that makes me feel incredibly uneasy (in a good way!) In the background. The writing was intense,it captured my imagination and kept me hooked all the way through, although I had troubling liking the main character I understood her and I don’t think she was written in a way that you were supposed to think “oh wow isn’t she wonderful” because shes just human like everyone, flawed. I adored this book, my only criticism is that it doesn’t have a few more pages. I need more, I WANT more. I loved it.

A realistic look at friendship. The lives of Alice and Lara came together and grew apart over the span of more than a decade as we explore Lara's views, highs and lows of her relationship with Alice. I found the prose meandering (in a good way), the characters became real people and the pacing made the story. I felt this was more realistic or literary fiction than mystery or thriller. While there was a little mystery woven into the plot, I found it much more a story about finding closure than about finding the answer.

Told in first person through Lara's eyes, we are introduced to a grieving woman who is coming to terms with the loss of her closest friend. As she spends the weekend with her late friend, Alice's husband and children, Lara reminisces of her times with Alice. She remembers good times and bad times, arguments and joys. Throughout it all, the author orients us solidly in Australia: "The moon is not yet visible in the sky, I can't see more than a metre off the side of the road, just the poa grasses lining the edge of the dirt and the palsied limbs of the stringybarks jutting overhead, bleached white in the headlights."

While flawed, I found I cared about the characters and wanted to know more about them. As the narrator, Lara had secrets from the reader, but we also saw the most growth in her character. At the beginning of her friendship with Lara, she was in college and trying to find herself. Later, she was trying to figure out who she was apart from Alice and at the end we know she is going to discover a self without Alice. We know because we have faith in the growth and changes she has already experienced. I would love to access to Alice's journals and see how her mind was working throughout the story. I couldn't decide if I liked Crow or not, but I am pretty sure that is what he would prefer. He was a person and I certainly felt I could be angry with him, laugh with him and sympathize with him at different points in the story.

At the end of chapter 3, Lara writes "I was enjoying the kind of serene benevolence that can settle on you like a mist when everything in life seems to be in a perfect equilibrium." At just 10% into the novel, this was exactly how I felt. There was a comfortable feel to the narrative and the story. We knew things were not going to stay that way, but for the moment, life was good. The path we follow from college to adulthood has detours and bumps galore, but all relatable. After a traumatic loss, our minds reel and will flit from one memory to the next, picking apart the details of what was important and what we may have done wrong. A year removed from the accident did distance both the reader and the narrator from some of the fresh emotions occurring closer to the death, but even muted, they were there.

Interspersed throughout the story there were some interesting psychological theories and ideas. I found the one about the differences between male friendships and female friendships sticking with me. The basis of friendship is an interesting topic and the differences between men and women is certainly a global one. The comment towards the end "We were not the women we once were, and we were the ones who could best bear witness to that change. Sad as it was, it was easier, simply, to look away." also struck a chord with me. We depend on people to know us at our best and our worst. Sometimes, it's hard to see the ones we love at their worst and it is easier to busy ourselves with the day-to-day of our own lives. It is also sometimes easier to avoid those who may notice we are not living our best lives.

I enjoyed this excursion down under. I think I may need to go call my best friend and remind her that I love her! I found I could not quite give this the full five stars because of the <spoiler>handling of the abortion. It may be my puritanical, prudish, American self, but the cavalier almost brazen way the abortion was discussed and dealt with rubbed me the wrong way.</spoiler> I found myself thinking about this book and its characters long after I set the book down for the day. Thank you to NetGalley for providing this reader a new book and introducing her to a new author!

Into The Fire was a fantastic example of moving on from your past and the feeling of guilt and betrayal. This book was a wonderful reflection of strength Lara displayed while dealing with her friend's unexpected death even though it took her a while but she fought through her battle of guilt and discovered more about herself along the process.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review and we are proud to consider this title for our library collection and that is why we give this book 5 stars

I was given an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

The first third of this novel was quite interesting, but then the pace slowed and the characters themselves are not enough to carry the suspense. By the time I was 2/3 in, I no longer cared about what happened to them at all. So by the time we got to the big reveal I just wasn’t present. Meh

A year after her best friend died in a house fire, Lara can’t come to terms with the loss. Logic says there was no more she could have done to save the mercurial and unhappy Alice, but Lara can’t escape the feeling that she is somehow to blame for the tragedy.

She spends a weekend at the rebuilt house with Alice’s charismatic widower, Crow, and his three young children. Rummaging through the remains of their shared past, Lara reveals a friendship with Alice that was as troubled as it was intense. But beneath the surface is a darker, more unsettling secret waiting to be exposed.

Through exquisite prose and searing insight, Into the Fire explores the many ways, small and large, we betray one another and our ideals. It’s a compelling story about power, guilt and womanhood from an outstanding voice in Australian fiction.

I was excited to have a story take place in Australia, but I was disappointed to find that this book was lacking strong communication.

There was a lot of misunderstandings and I felt confused reading this book.
While it’s full of discovery, this book lacked

As much as I was intrigued buy this book, I was disappointed. The location attracted me, but there will little about it in the book. The story is about a woman and her best friend and how their relationship evolves over time, relationships, children and mental health.
As with all relationships. there are misunderstandings, miscommunications and frustrations that affect how everyone deals with one another.
To me, the tragedy at the end was more intriguing than the agozning way of her getting there.
I appreciate the thoughtfulness that went into writing this book, but at the end, all i wanted to know what was what happened.

Sonia Orchard writes an intense and meaningful story that is harrowing and believable. The dialogue in this book crackles (forgive the pun, please) and the story satisfies.

Believable, thoughtful, and beautiful writing from a voice I have just discovered but hope to visit again soon.