Throughout most of this book I was bored. 40% in and nothing had yet to happen. I had to force myself to finish this ughhhhh. What was the obsession with nicknames???

Okay I won’t just rattle on about the things I didn’t like in this book because there was some things that were good. Some parts were relatable and uh, that’s it?

I mean if you’re a fan of coming of age books you’ll probably like this book.

This was my first Julie Buxbaum book and I’m kind of disappointed tbh.

I very much enjoyed this book! I love all of Julie's books really. It hit all the right notes and the romances were so cute!

I really enjoyed Julie Buxbaum's previous works of Tell Me Three Things and What to Say Next. But this one just did not work for me.

Year on Fire is about Immie and her twin brother, Arch, have been best friends with Paige since middle school. But one night at a party, Arch kisses Paige's boyfriend. Arch isn't ready to come out, so Immie takes the blame for the kiss, straining her friendship with Paige. Shortly after, a new boy, Ro (Rohan) transfers to their school from London, and both Paige and Immie are interested in him. Paige calls dibs on him, so Immie pushes her feelings for him aside, even though there is clearly a connection.

I just couldn't get into the writing style. Year on Fire is written so vastly different from her other books, it's a little hard to believe it's the same author. Year on Fire is told in 3rd person, and told from FOUR different povs; Immie, Arch, Paige and Ro.

Between the shorter chapters, and switching between so many narrators, I couldn't really connect to the characters and to the plot. And there was a lot going on with the plot- Struggling to be yourself, family issues, relationships, and fixing of friendships. Since each narration only had so much time to work through their given conflict, nothing really flowed naturally, and it all felt a little rushed.

I honestly feel if this was cut down to one or two povs it would've worked a lot better.

*I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I do not typically read YA, but have friends whose reading taste I trust recommend this author. I inhaled it in a couple of days. I was in a bit of a book slump after reading a couple of heavier reads, and this was the perfect anecdote. The characters were well developed and believable. This book tackled some tough themes - family issues and abuse, perfectionism and school stresses, the general upheaval of being a teenager. I saw glimpses of my teen self in all of the characters. The ending (without giving much away) was rewarding without being too pat.
Highly recommend.

Julie Buxbaum is one of the most empathetic and insightful YA writers out there. I wish I'd had her books to read when I was a teenager myself! She really gets into the minds and hearts of her characters and the challenges they face in high school and at home.

While this particular novel fell short of her earlier YA books, in my opinion, I do believe it will find an audience among readers looking for depth and complexity in their YA reading. I wish this book would have focused on one or maybe two POVs instead of 4. I prefer a deeper dive into fewer perspectives, but that shouldn't stop any interested readers from giving this book a try.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Delacorte for the gifted eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

The characters in Year on Fire draw you in to their stories and keep you there! In fact, I’d be happy to have more books about these characters, as I’ve grown to know and love them. I want to know more about where they are going. The story on its own is complete and interesting, whether we get more of them of not. Each of the their stories and personal struggles interweave meaningfully.

Twins, Arch and Immie, along with their best friend Paige, are more than ready to start their junior year at Wood Valley High, a private school in Los Angeles. But their friendship is currently under strain because of a kiss between Immie and Paige's now ex-boyfriend Jackson. Rohan, a new student to Wood Valley, is having troubles of his own as he deals with his father's infidelity and the sudden move from London to Los Angeles with him. Paige calls dibs on him and the twins agree to try to mend their relationship. Paige gets her chance to start a conversation with Ro during an evacuation when a fire breaks out on campus. What at first appears to be an isolated incident turns into a recurring one as several more fires start as the school year progresses. The twins and Paige, start to build a friendship with Ro all the while keeping many secrets from one another. As the school year continues forward, these secrets and lies start to wear away at each of them until all the secrets and lies start to act like a fire, destroying everything in its path. An engaging tale of the power of secrets, the lies we tell others, and the lies we tell ourselves.

I love Julie Buxbaum's books and I was so excited to read her newest release Year of Fire. This book follows four characters through their junior year of high school.

First there is Immie, then her twin brother Arch. They have a best friend named Paige, and there is a new international student named Rohan. The book starts with a lie and a secret and at the same time there is a bit of a mysterious aspect regarding multiple fires at their school.

What I liked about this one- I loved the twins. Immie and Arch were my favorite part about this story. I always love a good coming of age story and I enjoyed a lot of the scenes with Ro and Immie. Also, Jackson was wonderful. I wish we would have gotten his perspective.

What didn't quite work for me. This was written in third person and followed four people. It honestly just felt like a lot. I also wasn't a fan of Paige and didn't like her chapters at all. This one was a bit of a mixed bag for me but more enjoyable than not!

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Four points of view for this coming of age story. Boy, girl twins, their best friend, and the new boy. Secrets, family drama, friend drama, a mystery about the fires at school, this story has a little bit of everything and does a good job of developing all the characters and the pressure on kids their junior year of high school.

I have been a fan of Julie Buxbaum since I read her first adult novel, but admire (and secretly envy) the way she can master young adult fiction. Buxbaum is awesome at capturing the angst and wonder of being a teen in the twenty-first century without coming across as patronizing or preachy. In “Year in Fire,” we meet four juniors at a California private high school —twins, Immie and Arch, their close friend, Paige, and transfer student from the U.K., Rohan. One of the twins kissed Paige’s former boyfriend, Jackson, but the wrong one confesses, and while Immie finds herself crushing Rohan, Paige claimed “dibs” first. Told in the point of view of each of the foursome, Buxbaum lets us into each teen’s secrets and struggles. The author treats these issues with plenty of heart and humor. While it takes a few chapters to get into the story, if you’re willing to keep reading, you will enjoy this novel whether or not you’re a fan of Y.A. fiction.

Thank you to Delacorte, Netgalley, and Julie Buxbaum for the eARC in exchange for my review

Buxbaum's YA novels have been hit-or-miss for me. I think this book was trying to juggle a little too much with its four teenage narrators. Immie and Arch are twins, and their close relationship was my favorite part of the book. Their mutual best friend, Paige, and a new British student, Rohan, round out the cast. The conflict and drama mostly stem from Arch kissing Paige's boyfriend, then Immie lying and saying she kissed him to protect Arch, who is not yet ready to come out as gay. When Paige calls "dibs" on Rohan (ugh!), Immie has to deny her own burgeoning feelings for him. Meanwhile, each teen has a uniquely dysfunctional family situation and Paige is struggling with mental health issues. I struggled to really like or connect to any of the main characters, and I think this would have been a stronger book if Buxbaum had stuck to no more than two viewpoints. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Delacorte Press for a digital review copy.

I really, really liked this. I’ve read all of Julie Buxbaum’s YA novels and her writing just works so well for me. Tell Me Three Things is my absolute favourite book of hers (honestly it’s one of my all time favourite books), but Year On Fire is a pretty close second.

I was worried at first that the 4 POVs would be too much, or get confusing, and that wasn’t the case at all. Each character was really well defined, and their storylines (individually, and how they tied into each other) were all really interesting to me. This book had a lot going on, but I thought that it was handled really well.

As someone who has read this author's previous novels, I did appreciate the couple little nods to characters from past books. I don’t think a reader who hadn’t read the previous books would feel like they were missing anything, but as someone who recognizes Hope and Chloe, I thought it was cute.

Ro was probably my favourite character. I feel like I was able to get a really clear view of who he was, and loved reading his chapters. I also really liked Immie, so my favourite moments were when they were together, their conversations were so well rounded, it just worked so well for me. Arch was fine, I did like his storyline but he didn’t stand out to me as much. I personally didn’t love Paige, but I can acknowledge how important of a character she is & appreciate that a storyline like hers is in a book like this because I do think she will be relatable to others. I also really liked Jackson! He just seemed like a likeable guy, and a nice addition to the main characters.

Some random thoughts I jotted down while reading - in the first 15% or so, it seemed like the author googled ‘British slang’ and tried to use every suggestion that came up. It seemed a bit excessive, but calmed down pretty quickly. Around 30% in, Ro mentions wearing a mask at an airport, and while I have no desire to read about covid, a small comment like that actually was a nice reference to these past couple years without it being a focus at all. Lastly, the ‘Fleabag jumpsuit’ is mentioned and now I feel like I need to rewatch Fleabag this weekend and admire her jumpsuit once again.

I wish there had been a chapter or two in between the last and second to last chapter. While I do like the way the book ended, the ending got a little bit rushed for me. Or I’m just being a bit selfish and didn’t want the book to end since I adored it and these characters so much. That’s possible too.

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book!

𝘠𝘌𝘈𝘙 𝘖𝘕 𝘍𝘐𝘙𝘌 centers around four teenagers -   Immie, Arch, Paige and Rohan. They are all juniors in an elite private school in LA, and the day Ro attends his new school after crossing the Atlantic from his home in London, there's a fire in the girls' restroom and not the usual Californian kind, it's 𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯.
As the lives of the four teens intertwine, what unravels is an intricate web of lies concerning dysfunctional families, hidden sexualities and mental complexes.

- ~ -

"𝙀𝙭𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙚?" 𝙍𝙤 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙙, 𝙖𝙩 𝙖 𝙩𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜. 𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙪𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣. 𝙃𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙.

Unfortunately, for me, the whole story could be summed up with the aforementioned passage.
For I too, like Ro was utterly confused throughout the story, as to how everyone's lives could be simultaneously so messed up and yet seem so ordinary but again that's life and how a kiss could quite literally change lives and the decisions that come with. I'd also like to applaud it's sensitivity towards the reality of today's generation.

- ~ -

Immie: wants to run away from the shambles of her home, away from her father, to a place where she lives in solidarity.

Arch: feels burdened under the shame his father brings upon his family and grateful for the unconditional support from his twin - Immie, his mum and friends.

Paige: is barely holding to the chaos of her life which seem so perfect and glossy but are hardly the truth.

Lastly, Rohan: is enraged at his father for ruining his perfect life back in London with his mates and mum and his sister.

For a book whose entire plot unfolds because of a singular kiss, there's not much romance as I was anticipating, however. I assumed the book to be filled with jealousy and deep rooted friendship tethers coming undone but no... it revolves more around the complexity of the teenage generation and broken families and the consequences of a domino effect of lies.

- ~ -

Overall: A recommended read for young adults (or adults) as it explores certain well expressed topics many might resonate with.

3.76 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘴 & 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 & 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

I am a big fan of Julie Buxbaum and I really enjoyed her latest, Year on Fire! I loved the 4 POVs and found myself really drawn into the drama, secrets and complexity of teenage life. It was very well written. The issues she touched upon are so important and I was glad to see them represented. I also found the ending to be really satisfying. Buxbaum's novels are always compulsively readable and this one was no exception!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sorry--I couldn't get "into" the book. The writing was stilted and the characters not well developed. And, suggesting that a couple of teenagers could successfully deal with a person inclined to arson not realistic. Teens with that sort of a problem need professional help

Julie writes such great coming of age YA novels. This one is told from the alternating perspectives of 4 teens who attend a private high school in LA, 2 of which are twins. I liked getting all the different perspectives as each character's story was different, but they all intertwined together. It's always interesting to reach the different dynamics between teenagers coming of age and trying to figure themselves out and I really enjoyed this story and the growth everyone went through. Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for the ARC.

This young adult novel alternates between four different perspectives, all juniors at a private high school in California: twins Immie and Arch, their best friend since middle school Paige, and newly arrived from London Rohan. Each are dealing with their own issues of family, relationship, and just the general issues accompanying being a teenager - plus the fires happening at their high school.

I am an OG Julie Buxbaum fan, dating all the way back to when I read her debut novel in 2009. She is one of my favorite writers of both YA and contemporary fiction, and a new book from her is a can’t miss occasion for me. This, her latest book, comes out on April 12th, and I wanted to read it so badly that I did something I’ve almost never done - sent an email to the publisher begging them to grant my Netgalley request and gushing about how much I love her. So a huge thank you to Random House Children’s/Delacorte for granting my request!

If you like realistic YA fiction, do yourself a favor and read this and her other 4 YA books if you haven’t already!

Even though I'm not the target audience for the book as I'm not a teen I thought the premise was a good one and wanted to give it a try. And every single character in the book got on my nerves. Which reminds me why I only tend to read historical fiction in YA instead of the category as a whole.

I really, really wanted to love this more. But in the end, I never felt the character pull I wanted, and it felt a bit rushed at the end. Still a cute read though.

I love Julie Buxbaum. Period. That's the review.

But seriously, she creates such vivid, realistic characters and this book was totally unputdownable. Each of the four main character's struggles were unique and their voices stood out, despite the story being written from 4 POVs. I just found it to be engaging as a whole and I still would have enjoyed it if it was twice as long.

5 stars, definitely recommend. She is a real YA author hero of mine.

Thank you to Delacorte, Netgalley, and the author for the eARC in exchange for my review.