3.5 Stars

I could tell the sheer amount of work that went into collecting the stories and information shared by Lizzie Johnson in this book. I found the Indigenous story included to be extraneous and confusing in the midst of the stories of the people of Paradise. I also occasionally got lost in the stories of the people. While I realize Johnson was attempting to tell the story chronologically, it was occasionally hard to recall the individuals until I was part way through each part of their story. I found myself scrolling backwards often to try and place people again.

What happened to the town of Paradise was absolutely heartbreaking. I'm glad that Johnson was able to share some of the stories of the families and what happened. May we use this to move forward with better changes to protect communities in the future!

A stunning and engrossing look at one of this century's biggest tragedies. Superbly well-written and engaging. A detailed, thorough and well-research book.

*** I have received and read an E – ARC from NetGalley in exchange for honest feedback. All thoughts and opinions are my own.***

I would have given it 5/5 stars, but the book felt far too long. Wildfires happen in an instant, and this book should have felt the same way. Instead of eagerly turning page to page, I couldn’t wait to be done.

I think that if this book has been packaged as two separate books, one delete up to and during the fire, and the other post fire and recovery, it would have been a better decision.

Overall, an absolutely stunning portrayal of a horrific tragedy.

Lizzie Johnson's book on the Paradise Fire in California is an insightful read, though its pacing and presentation of intricate details made it a challenge to stay attentive from start to finish. I kept putting it down, picking it up, putting it down—I live in an area prone to wildfires so maybe the topic was just too close for me to stay engrossed for the amount of time that it took to get all the way through.

I got this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.As someone who is a former resident of Paradise, California it broke my heart to learn of all the damage caused by the Camp Fire.This book was very well written.It is beautiful and devastating at the same time.

5 blazing stars
Lizzie Johnson, journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle spent five years interviewing, researching, and writing Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire. Her passion about climate change and expert writing skills show up in captivating stories of a deadly wildfire in Paradise.

In covering such a large conflagration, it would be easy to get bogged down in technical details, but Ms. Johnson’s writing is always personal and well-organized. She investigates mistakes that were made by Pacific Gas and Electric, whose faulty equipment started the fire. She follows through with the people she interviewed and how their lives were impacted.

At the end are extensive notes about her research and interviews. Good books make me want to learn more and I searched images of the 2018 Camp Fire. I alternated between reading the ebook and listening to the author narrate the book. Her voice is clear and passionate and added to my enjoyment of the story.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to read this book because my daughter and her family lost their house to the Sonoma County fire which was called The Tubbs fire. Her home was in the subdivision called Coffee Park in Santa Rosa and they lost most of the subdivision also. It destroyed more than 5,643 structures which was half of Santa Rosa. They had very little notice at 2AM. Her neighbors house happen to have fire in their backyard which probably saved their lives. A Lot of people had several generations of family living in the same house. Can you imagine loosing all the contents you had from years and years. She just happen to be 8 months pregnant with her first child. As they drove out of the subdivision they had limbs of fire from trees falling all around them.
After an investigation lasting over a year, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) determined that the Tubbs Fire was "caused by a private electrical system adjacent to a residential structure"
This books brings to life a lot of what they also went thru during this time. A good but sad book it is well worth reading. Thank you for sharing to read it.

Paradise is a story that is told from multiple perspectives recounting the events of November 8, 2018 in Paradise California and the surrounding area. The Camp Fire was a wildfire with everything in favor of the fire growing and spreading quickly. The area had suffered a drought, without any precipitation for months and low humidity. This created fuel for any spark of flame. In addition to this, the day was windy with gusts up to 100 mph. This wind caused a relic of equipment used by the power company, PG&E, in a tower bringing electricity into the area. One of these almost 100 year-old towers had a hook on it holding the power cord up and over time, the metal had worn down to the point that it suddenly broke, sending sparks of electricity down and starting a wildfire. Within minutes, the fire was called into CalFire but it was in a location that was impossible to reach. The fire traveled faster than ever expected because as the embers blew in the wind and landed on new fuel where they created multiple new fires. It traveled almost 8 miles in the first hour. Despite the town having created a thorough evacuation plan for such events, no one anticipated a fire behaving this way. Therefore, it became an inferno requiring a total evacuation of the town. Chaos ensued and over 80 people lost their lives that day. The town was destroyed.
This book does an incredible job at creating a narrative that keeps the pages turning as the story tells the events and decisions made by those in the town as the events unfolded. In addition to this, voices and experiences following the tragedy of the Camp Fire are also discussed. How did they escape? What happened? Who is to blame? What could have been done better? What is left? What will the residents do afterwards? Will anyone feel safe again? These are some of the questions that are tackled and addressed through the voices of the townspeople.
For anyone that wants to read about an historical event in a narrative style, this book is for you. I can’t recommend this enough. Terrific read. I followed it up with searching for videos that I recalled seeing at the time to have the visual picture to correspond to the book. I live in an area that has the opposite issues so this was a great learning experience.
100% recommend!
#Paradise #NetGalley #CrownPublishing

I was REALLY impressed with this book! I was so invested and interested. It was beautiful and moving and I would highly recommend it!!

Incredible and sensitive journalism. I hope Lizzie Johnson writes more books. She's from Nebraska!! I recommend the audiobook.

Lizzie Johnson's Paradise gives voice to the many lives that were lost and destroyed through the devastating 2018 wildfires in Butte County, California - known as Camp Fire. An essential read that is as captivating as fiction and terrifying because it isn't, readers are forced to grapple with the roles of negligence and climate change in this disaster.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

Lizzie Johnson, a staff writer at the San Francisco Chronicle, covered the impact of climate change on California. Part of that impact is reflected in the Chronicle’s coverage of the North Bay Wildfires of 2017 and the Camp Fire of 2018. Johnson led that team. The Camp Fire is probably equally well known by the name of the town it wiped off the earth: Paradise. As Johnson provides through first person on site descriptions, Paradise literally did become hell on November 8, 2019.

This book begins on a relatively quiet note, describing the routine daily existence of firefighters working for Cal Fire and a local leader. I initially wondered if this book was for me. Where was the “event” I had come to this book for, why so slow and calm. Now it comes to me: this must be the reality of living in wildfire country. Things can be routine and fine until they definitely are not.

The description of the beginning of the fire is fascinating for all the factors that came together to culminate in the horror that resulted in Paradise. The different stages are outlined clearly in the text. They range from the over-arching climate change, to a power company that has long neglected infrastructure upkeep, strange wind behavior, untested and uncoordinated and ultimately ineffective evacuation plans, even lack of community planning in the hills and mountains that were first settled long ago and grew with little oversight. I’m being simplistic here. The book is fascinating on each point, especially as individuals in places of authority begin to realize that something beyond their experience is underway.

I do recommend this book for anyone interested in the real world implications of climate change. It’s similar to a true crime novel in its intensity. And once the intensity begins, it continues for a long time. There is a lengthy section with footnotes at the end of my copy. Johnson also discusses some of her work with citizens and officials of Paradise during and after the fire.

I am rating this book 5*

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this!

Wow. What a ride this was! I knew this would be very good but it exceeded my expectations!

I could not stop reading this. Finished it in 2 days. Sooner if the world had let me! Lizzie Johnson can write. Will look for her future works.

Highly recommend. I have told my CA friends and family about this. This is a "must read".

Although I was in Northern California in 2019 after the fires, we never got that close to any of the damaged areas - though we could see swaths of it from a distance. At home, I didn't really follow the news all that closely, so reading this was certainly an eye-opener and one that I was quite grateful to be invited to read! Powerful, eye-opening and absolutely heartbreaking, Johnson relays the story of the 2018 Camp Fire wildfire blaze that absolutely razed the town of Paradise, California and claimed the lives of 85 residents.

Told in a chronological, narrative non-fiction style, this book paints a vividly detailed description of the devastation. I couldn't put it down, though it brought tears to my eyes and had my stomach in complete knots. The author highlights various individuals in the moments leading up to the fire and the hours of the blaze, plus the aftermath. Impeccably researched, I definitely learned a lot - not just about the Paradise fire, but also about wildfires in general and the firefighting methods and resources of California. As I was reading, I often found myself Googling for images of the town (though I am certain the final copy does include similar photographs as to what was readily available online). Before reading this, I had never even heard of a fire tornado and I must admit, I don't know that I have ever been more thankful to live in a climate where wildfires are not such a major concern. And after going through such devastation, I can understand not wanting to return to rebuild!

The book really focuses on the fire itself and doesn't delve too deeply into speculation on future solutions for these types of blazes or into the politics that also come up around the events. It's a straightforward read and one that I think would certainly spark interesting discussions amongst readers. I know my book club often chooses nonfiction reads and I think that this would certainly appeal to them - as well as to fans of the nonfiction style of Erik Larson.

It's a close examination of a terrible tragedy in our country - and one that highlights the negligence and culpability of PG&E - a company that I am sure many readers recognized if not from other headlines, than from Hollywood - Erin Brockovich being the first film depiction that sprang to my mind. It's an impressive first book and I am definitely looking forward to reading more from Johnson in the future!

The story of The Camp Fire of 2018, the deadliest fire in California’s history, and Paradise, the town that it destroyed. This book is investigative journalism meets suspense, and it’s very well done.
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This is a hell of a read. I had to put it down because it gave me a stomach ache. It is a terrifying glimpse at what it’s like to be in a deadly fire. Through interviews and research Johnson creates so much suspense that you can’t help but get emotionally involved with the characters. The political and corporate actions that led to this fire have had such deadly consequences. It’s almost too much to bear.
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My only critique is that the book sort of fizzled out. It’s the nature of the beast, because eventually catastrophes do end. I wished Johnson had found a different way to structure the book so that the climax happened later. As a reader there was just so much denouement.
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I certainly recommend this book. Especially given the likelihood hood that we all will experience some form of climate disaster in our lives (if you haven’t already).

Well researched and written and scary. The author did a great job with this true story and it scared me. Fires are so frightening!

Paradise by Lizzie Johnson – Excellent and Compelling Story About a Town’s Tragedy and its People

When I saw the book Paradise – One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire by Lizzie Johnson, I wanted to read it. As someone who lived over 40 years in California, wildfires were an unfortunate part of life. When the strong winds start blowing in the fall, every Californian knows that there’s a chance of a wildfire starting. I knew that this would be a hard book to read, but I am so glad I did.

Lizzie Johnson did an excellent job in telling the story of the town of Paradise which is situated in northern California in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Butte County. She captured the feel of the town and its citizens. Anyone can write about facts and numbers, but Lizzie did a marvelous job making this grievous history personal.

Through all the research that she did, the town’s people she got to know, and how she shared their stories you will better understand the Camp Fire, how it started and why, its devastation and toll, not just to buildings, but to people’s lives and homes. The story is very gripping as she shares the stories of individuals whom she follows through this dreadful day. Eighty-five people lost their lives in the most horrific circumstances. The people that survived, and how they bear the scars from this devastating fire and are working to rebuild their lives.

I appreciated how Lizzie Johnson told the stories of the people of Paradise. She documented what happened, how the fire started, events and circumstances that made evacuating the town’s people safely problematic. So glad the fire wasn’t the end of the story. She tells about the people of Paradise in the months and years afterward.

The ugly truth about PG&E’s criminal negligence and irresponsibility that started the fire is told, as well as decisions by the mayor and town’s council and how it impacted the evacuation of citizens. There was one cause of the fire, but many factors that made the situation worse.

Lizzie Johnson did an excellent job in telling this difficult and painful story in a way that made it personal, showing care and honor to the people impacted. After reading Paradise, when I hear about the Camp Fire, I’m thinking about the people whose lives were impacted by this devastation. I highly recommend this book. It will give you a better understanding of the wildfires in the west that are increasingly common and their dreadful impact on people’s lives.

I would like to thank Crown Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of Paradise by Lizzie Johnson. I was under no obligation to give a favorable review.

This book is an in-depth account of the 2018 Camp Fire in a town in California called Paradise. Even if you've read or heard about this fire, I guarantee you will learn so much especially about the victims as it follows them very closely. It also ties in the history of wild fires and why PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric) was at fault for this fire.

This was horrifying and so sad to read, but I loved the way it was written. It flipped between different victim stories which made you want to know what would happen next for every person's story. That definitely reeled me in, and I couldn't stop reading because that writing style made it read a lot like fiction. It really reminded me of Columbine by Dave Cullen (one of my favorite books btw) in that way since I couldn't put that book down either. Similar to Columbine, Lizzie Johnson really humanizes the victims by giving them their own detailed stories.

I highly recommend reading this one!!! One of the best nonfiction books I've read this year. You'll definitely want to buy this one especially if you're a big fan of nonfiction! 4.5/5 stars.

[This is a really heavy read and very graphic at times so keep that in mind when you pick this one up as it has triggers relating to death, fires, etc.]

✨Book Review✨

First off, thank you to @netgalley and @crownpublishing for the eARC of Paradise by Lizzie Johnson.

Forest fires have been something that has cycled through all the forests on Earth since the beginning of time. Though, with global warming their intensity and unpredictability has worsened. Paradise is the story of one town’s struggle to survive a wildfire, exactly as the subtitle states.

Lizzie Johnson is a journalist and this book is much like reading a really long newspaper or magazine article. She does an excellent job sharing all the facts and interviews with individuals who lived through this abhorrent experience. You read about so many people just trying to survive…how children were evacuated on a school bus, how a woman who had a c-section earlier that morning is transported in the back of a hospital employee’s vehicle, to everyone in between.

Do you remember the movie Erin Brockovich? Well, unfortunately, PG&E was the cause behind the lives lost in this fire 🔥 as well. 😡 Where’s the accountability?!

Towards the end of the book Johnson mentioned this documentary, which I will be watching as ASAP.

I highly recommend this one if nonfiction is your jam. It read and flowed well, though I had to pace myself reading such sadness at times.

Published: August 17, so go get your copy now!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

What a book!!! Lizzie Johnson did an outstanding job of showing the devastation, loss, fear and bravery of the people of Paradise. I went to the town of Paradise twice briefly years ago and remember what a quaint and peaceful town it was nestled in a beautiful setting. To think of fire destroying all that in two hours is devastating.

Johnson puts faces and stories to the names and we feel their terror as they try to escape the fire. My heart ached for these people and not only what they went through during the fire, but also afterwards as they tried to rebuild their lives.

I live in southern California and fire danger is always present - in some areas more than others. I pray I'll never have to go through what these people did. Bravo to Lizzie Johnson for bringing this disaster to attention.