nerdyrev's review against another edition
4.0
Many people will know Krysten Ritter as an actress in several TV shows, especially Jessica Jones. She has been incredibly successful in the work she has done. Now she is entering the world of writing with her first book Bonfire. Will Bonfire hold up?
This is the story of Abby who returns home to investigate the local company who have been accused of poisoning members of the community. As Abby returns home, she falls into old HS patterns of popular and unpopular kids, who are now adults and sees the newest generation repeating the patterns of her generation. As she investigates, she realizes things from her past especially her missing friend, might all be tied together with certain people in the community. As she also investigates, she meets resistance from town members, as the company is the main industry that supports the town. Can the town turn a blind eye to what is happening to their children? What about the harmful patterns that are happening within the HS?
Let me first state, this is an incredible book. Ritter knows how to write and it shows. The story moves along pretty quickly and the cast of characters are well developed. This is a great story too.
Where I found a bit of difficulty is I think she tries to tackle a lot of subjects within the story. She focuses on environmental issues as the main part, but there is also sexual assault, bullying, the story of coming back, and a few other issues. With all the topics, some get shortchanged a bit within a great story.
I think readers will really enjoy this one. It is a fantastic book that many will enjoy. I gave this one 4 stars.
I want to thank NetGalley for the early copy. I received it in exchange for an honest review.
This is the story of Abby who returns home to investigate the local company who have been accused of poisoning members of the community. As Abby returns home, she falls into old HS patterns of popular and unpopular kids, who are now adults and sees the newest generation repeating the patterns of her generation. As she investigates, she realizes things from her past especially her missing friend, might all be tied together with certain people in the community. As she also investigates, she meets resistance from town members, as the company is the main industry that supports the town. Can the town turn a blind eye to what is happening to their children? What about the harmful patterns that are happening within the HS?
Let me first state, this is an incredible book. Ritter knows how to write and it shows. The story moves along pretty quickly and the cast of characters are well developed. This is a great story too.
Where I found a bit of difficulty is I think she tries to tackle a lot of subjects within the story. She focuses on environmental issues as the main part, but there is also sexual assault, bullying, the story of coming back, and a few other issues. With all the topics, some get shortchanged a bit within a great story.
I think readers will really enjoy this one. It is a fantastic book that many will enjoy. I gave this one 4 stars.
I want to thank NetGalley for the early copy. I received it in exchange for an honest review.
jpraska006's review against another edition
Krysten Ritter crafts a solidly impressive debut novel with Bonfire, a mystery centering around an environmental lawyer returning to her home town of Barrens, Indiana to investigate corporate misdeeds while inadvertently digging up the ghosts of her past along the way.
Evident through her writing style, Ritter definitely has a knack for unique metaphorical language, and her plotting is tight while still twisting the reader along different paths and dead ends along the way. I can’t say that I’m the most well-versed in the mystery genre, but the story felt unique to me and the overall mystery kept me guessing up until the end. The final showdown/climax of the book did feel as if it fell into a few tropes of the genre (such as the villainous monologue explaining motivations) however I will say that it never felt forced or took me out of the story. Being her debut book, this is definitely a success!
Evident through her writing style, Ritter definitely has a knack for unique metaphorical language, and her plotting is tight while still twisting the reader along different paths and dead ends along the way. I can’t say that I’m the most well-versed in the mystery genre, but the story felt unique to me and the overall mystery kept me guessing up until the end. The final showdown/climax of the book did feel as if it fell into a few tropes of the genre (such as the villainous monologue explaining motivations) however I will say that it never felt forced or took me out of the story. Being her debut book, this is definitely a success!
pajge's review against another edition
3.0
I really, really wanted to give this five stars. Mostly just because I love Jessica Jones. But, no. This isn't worthy of five stars.
I swear, there were so many useless characters popped in. Like this one lady with a disfigured kid, and we went nowhere with that bit of knowledge. This book could have saved us a lot of useless paragraphs by cutting out one or two characters.
The ending was a mess...Kind of. It worked out in the last chapter, but as I was reading the last ten I was so lost.
Still, I liked how it ended. It was an action scene, and although I think there could have been so many better ways to end the book, I'm kind of glad it ended that way. It made me slightly more into the story.
Abby, our main character, is barely ever referenced by her name. I forgot her name so many times before, but in the middle Krysten Ritter suddenly starts addressing her by 'Abby' or 'Abigail' a whole lot more. The character wasn't my favorite.
I really loved Kaycee though, and the prologue was perfection. Certainty my favorite part of the book. It interested me. The plot didn't sound that good, but I ended up enjoying it.
This is labeled as a thriller, yet I wasn't really scared until the ending. Remember how I said it was an action scene? Yeah, well, one of the characters really got me scared during that part.
Her writing is good. It's nothing great, nothing that I'd call five stars, maybe 3.5? For a debut author, I think it was alright. It wasn't like her style was different from most of the others I've read, just average.
One of the main reasons this book got the 4 stars I gave it I because of Kaycee, the girl I referenced before. She was so interesting and her whole case was way more interesting than the main character. If we could've gotten this book taking place a few years earlier, with Kaycee's point of view, I would have liked it way more than I did.
All in all this is a good read. Nothing ground breaking, but a nice little book.
I swear, there were so many useless characters popped in. Like this one lady with a disfigured kid, and we went nowhere with that bit of knowledge. This book could have saved us a lot of useless paragraphs by cutting out one or two characters.
The ending was a mess...Kind of. It worked out in the last chapter, but as I was reading the last ten I was so lost.
Still, I liked how it ended. It was an action scene, and although I think there could have been so many better ways to end the book, I'm kind of glad it ended that way. It made me slightly more into the story.
Abby, our main character, is barely ever referenced by her name. I forgot her name so many times before, but in the middle Krysten Ritter suddenly starts addressing her by 'Abby' or 'Abigail' a whole lot more. The character wasn't my favorite.
I really loved Kaycee though, and the prologue was perfection. Certainty my favorite part of the book. It interested me. The plot didn't sound that good, but I ended up enjoying it.
This is labeled as a thriller, yet I wasn't really scared until the ending. Remember how I said it was an action scene? Yeah, well, one of the characters really got me scared during that part.
Her writing is good. It's nothing great, nothing that I'd call five stars, maybe 3.5? For a debut author, I think it was alright. It wasn't like her style was different from most of the others I've read, just average.
One of the main reasons this book got the 4 stars I gave it I because of Kaycee, the girl I referenced before. She was so interesting and her whole case was way more interesting than the main character. If we could've gotten this book taking place a few years earlier, with Kaycee's point of view, I would have liked it way more than I did.
All in all this is a good read. Nothing ground breaking, but a nice little book.
denaiir's review against another edition
4.0
I thouroughly enjoyed this book, it was a good thriller with a complex and compelling subjet (environmental pollution and cover-ups by big companies) that gave an Erin Brockovich kind of vibe. The characters reminded me of [b: All the Missing Girls|23212667|All the Missing Girls|Megan Miranda|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1452098621s/23212667.jpg|42755300], and the ensemble cast was likeable (for the "nice" characters) and fit well together.
I think the final twist was quit easy to guess but I still enjoyed the path the story took to get to that point. Some of the characters were twisted but not so much that they would be too unrealistic (Kaycee for example was a horrible teenager, but we know people like that do exist).
At was point I was a bit annoyed at the main character for pushing herself to the limit and acting a bit crazy, but not so much that I would want to put the book down. So if you feel like that, keep reading, it won't last long!
Overall I had a really good time and read it in 2 sittings, even if there were some parts where some actions seemed a bit too convenient to be realistic (clues appearing out of nowhere, people having really good hunches); it was captivating and gripping.
I really hope Krysten Ritter writes more books in the future, I will definitely check them out!
I think the final twist was quit easy to guess but I still enjoyed the path the story took to get to that point. Some of the characters were twisted but not so much that they would be too unrealistic (Kaycee for example was a horrible teenager, but we know people like that do exist).
At was point I was a bit annoyed at the main character for pushing herself to the limit and acting a bit crazy, but not so much that I would want to put the book down. So if you feel like that, keep reading, it won't last long!
Overall I had a really good time and read it in 2 sittings, even if there were some parts where some actions seemed a bit too convenient to be realistic (clues appearing out of nowhere, people having really good hunches); it was captivating and gripping.
I really hope Krysten Ritter writes more books in the future, I will definitely check them out!
orygunn's review
3.0
An interesting tale of a small town. Ritter must come from a small town because unless you’re from one, you don’t get all that detail and feel right.
erin_oriordan_is_reading_again's review against another edition
4.0
Krysten Ritter's first novel is solid effort, a suspenseful tale involving environmental justice and the company that may or may not be poisoning the small Indiana town of Barrens, a town that loves the company slightly less than it loves Jesus but slightly more than it loves football. Our heroine is Abigail "Abby" Williams, part of a team of Chicago lawyers sent in to investigate the possibly pollution, but also a former Barrens resident herself. Abby's life has not been easy. She lost her mom to cancer and her father was abusive. The other girls at school bullied and tortured her, so Abby has worked hard to leave Barrens in her past.
Abby's childhood best frenemy Kaycee Mitchell hasn't been seen in Barrens since shortly after they graduated from high school. Although local legend holds that she escaped the small town for a more glamorous life, Abby suspects Kaycee's disappearance may be related to a rash of illnesses associated with the town's drinking water. To investigate, she much navigate reluctant small towners who are worried about their meager livelihoods, an estranged father who now seems more frail than frightening, and both locals and colleagues whose good faith can only be trusted so far.
In her quest to investigate the town's mysteries, in her traumatic past, and in her capacity to consume alcoholic beverages, Abby Williams may remind some of Ritter's fans of her Marvel/Netflix character Jessica Jones. Abby Williams may not have Jones' superhuman strength, but she is just Jessica Jones-like enough that Marvel fangirls will enjoy the read.
Ritter is a talented writer. Her debut shows psychological insight, the ability to paint a picture in the reader's mind, and characters well-rounded enough that they don't devolve into Midwestern stereotypes (and as a Midwesterner living in Indianapolis, I appreciate this). The ending doesn't seem completely fresh and original compared to other stories in this suspense genre, but I was willing to forgive this because I genuinely cared about Abby and was wrapped up in what was going to happen to her. But I imagine if she decides to write another novel, the plot will unfold a little more smoothly.
One of the three blurbs on the back is by Ruth Ware, the English suspense fiction author whose novel [b:In a Dark, Dark Wood|23346377|In a Dark, Dark Wood|Ruth Ware|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1429521615s/23346377.jpg|42905101] I enjoyed so well. This book reminded less of that novel, though, and more of [b:Luckiest Girl Alive|22609317|Luckiest Girl Alive|Jessica Knoll|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1425975301s/22609317.jpg|42099141] by Jessica Knoll. Knoll's protagonist was also desperately trying to escape a nightmarish high school experience.
I first became aware of Krysten Ritter as an actress on one of my all-time favorite TV series, 'Veronica Mars.' In my head I imagine her as the black-haired but cold-hearted beauty Charlotte Campbell in Robert Galbraith's Cormoran Strike novels. And yes, I love her in 'Jessica Jones' and am eagerly awaiting its second season to appear on Netflix this March. So I read this while I'm waiting.
I purchased this book with my own funds from my local brick and mortar Barnes and Noble and was not obligated in any way to review it. My copy is signed by Ritter, but not personally. I just bought it off the shelf that way. It's pretty cool.
Abby's childhood best frenemy Kaycee Mitchell hasn't been seen in Barrens since shortly after they graduated from high school. Although local legend holds that she escaped the small town for a more glamorous life, Abby suspects Kaycee's disappearance may be related to a rash of illnesses associated with the town's drinking water. To investigate, she much navigate reluctant small towners who are worried about their meager livelihoods, an estranged father who now seems more frail than frightening, and both locals and colleagues whose good faith can only be trusted so far.
In her quest to investigate the town's mysteries, in her traumatic past, and in her capacity to consume alcoholic beverages, Abby Williams may remind some of Ritter's fans of her Marvel/Netflix character Jessica Jones. Abby Williams may not have Jones' superhuman strength, but she is just Jessica Jones-like enough that Marvel fangirls will enjoy the read.
Ritter is a talented writer. Her debut shows psychological insight, the ability to paint a picture in the reader's mind, and characters well-rounded enough that they don't devolve into Midwestern stereotypes (and as a Midwesterner living in Indianapolis, I appreciate this). The ending doesn't seem completely fresh and original compared to other stories in this suspense genre, but I was willing to forgive this because I genuinely cared about Abby and was wrapped up in what was going to happen to her. But I imagine if she decides to write another novel, the plot will unfold a little more smoothly.
One of the three blurbs on the back is by Ruth Ware, the English suspense fiction author whose novel [b:In a Dark, Dark Wood|23346377|In a Dark, Dark Wood|Ruth Ware|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1429521615s/23346377.jpg|42905101] I enjoyed so well. This book reminded less of that novel, though, and more of [b:Luckiest Girl Alive|22609317|Luckiest Girl Alive|Jessica Knoll|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1425975301s/22609317.jpg|42099141] by Jessica Knoll. Knoll's protagonist was also desperately trying to escape a nightmarish high school experience.
I first became aware of Krysten Ritter as an actress on one of my all-time favorite TV series, 'Veronica Mars.' In my head I imagine her as the black-haired but cold-hearted beauty Charlotte Campbell in Robert Galbraith's Cormoran Strike novels. And yes, I love her in 'Jessica Jones' and am eagerly awaiting its second season to appear on Netflix this March. So I read this while I'm waiting.
I purchased this book with my own funds from my local brick and mortar Barnes and Noble and was not obligated in any way to review it. My copy is signed by Ritter, but not personally. I just bought it off the shelf that way. It's pretty cool.