Full blog post available, 2nd September.

Content Warnings: animal attack, animal death (pet and wildlife), death, fire, wildfire.

LIES LIKE WILDFIRE is a powerful thriller with a strong narrative voice that pulls you in from the very first page. It builds fast, with a flash-forward prologue followed by our group of main characters – a group of friends that call themselves ‘the monsters’ – drinking at a lake in the forest and accidentally starting the titular wildfire. And then their lives crumble into ash as they try and keep their involvement a secret as their mistake turns into felony reckless arson – and people start to die.

I really loved the way that this showed a tight-knit friendship group crumbling under the weight of their secrets. The monsters have been best friends for a long, long time. They have complicated pacts and promises to each other and they pride themselves on their loyalty. At the very start of LIES LIKE WILDFIRE we see them make one stupid mistake that rips them all apart, testing all of their loyalties. I, personally, did not feel loyal to any of these awful people! I would have reported all of them. Immediately. Possibly framed them for further crimes, to make them stop doing stupid things in front of my eyeballs.

That isn’t remotely a comment on the writing of the characters. They were raw and messy and real, they felt like authentic teenagers faced with the prospect of their lives being ruined. I just also wanted to smack all of them a little bit. Their friendships and relationships are the heart of the book, even as they are rather brutally tested, and I loved that you could feel the history behind their every interaction. Their panic was so real and well characterised, and I could feel the desperation in their every conversation as the wildfire, and their lies, spiralled further and further out of their control. That desperation and fear absolutely bled through to me, as the reader, and I stayed up until one in the morning so that I could finish this book in one sitting because I just had to know what was going to happen next.

I was a little bit frustrated to have a moment of sudden shift from ‘unreliable narrator doesn’t know what’s happening’ to ‘narrator intentionally hiding things from the reader’ because it happened quite late and didn’t fit the voice of the rest of the novel, but overall Hannah’s narrative voice was excellent and I loved trying to piece together what happened from everyone’s panicked texts and mysterious reveals. This book is a complete page-turner, and I think everyone’s going to struggle to put it down once they start. It’s a fantastic YA thriller and I can’t wait to read more from this author, because there’s nothing I love more than messy characters doing awful things and trying to dig themselves out of it again.

I have such mixed feelings about this book! Let me try and break it down. Apologies for any incoherence, that's just how strongly I feel!
Characters. When I started, I was afraid they'd form a homogeneous lump of 'friends' but they actually separated out very quickly. They were mostly not very likeable, but they were never less than compelling, and I almost didn't put the book down at all while reading. (Only when my safety demanded it.) The longer it went on, the more unlikeable two in particular became, but I was never even close to stopping reading ... I wanted to know what happened to them!

The fire itself was so well described. I'm lucky that I don't live in an area prone to wildfires, and I've never really thought about the cost of rebuilding burned out areas afterwards. I did well up over (spoiler) as I kind of expected to once I knew it was coming!


I found the second half less compelling, but still very compelling, if that makes sense. Things got very tangled for a while and I was trying to guess what would happen, and mostly failing! I really enjoyed the read and I'd love to read other novels by this author ... I think she has a great talent for the genre and I'll be watching out for her in future.

A great read for anyone who likes tension, dubious characters and fast paced story telling!

(I also clapped on one character near the end, during a phone call...if you've read it you'll know!)

I could not put this book down. I was exhausted, sleep deprived and wanting nothing more than my bed when I picked up this book. I thought I would read a couple of pages and drift off, hours later I was completely absorbed and no longer tired. I was enthralled by the story and needed to know what would happen next.

The pace is ferocious in the beginning of this book and it just sweeps you up into the sheer panic and pandemonium of a wildfire, I could feel my heart racing as the fire grew. The way that this was written and paced perfectly to just hook the reader and lead them not only through the terrifyingly quick raging pace of a wildfire building, then holds you ransom as you wander if the truth is going to be ousted, before plunging you into another mystery that tangles it up even more. The plot is just fantastic.

The relationships, friendships and mismanaged romances in this book were also really realistic. It was teenagers making stupid choices, the emotional, mental and even physical games and torment of teenage life are recognisable. The petty jealousy, unrequited love, self confidence issues and rushing into damaging and unhealthy situations were just such natural responses and worked so seamlessly with the mystery plotline. I really enjoyed how this built all the emotional facets of the characters and how it twisted and changed as the pressure built. The character's themselves were all morally grey in the best possible way. They are not likable people, they all have their own agendas and that makes them unpredictable which made me really enjoy reading about them.

This was just a fantastically well paced, well structured YA thriller. I can see why it has already been optioned as I can see it really working as a TV show with the descriptive imagery and the tension/drama of the plot. I really enjoyed reading it.

The book starts on a very mysterious note and then goes back 5 weeks. The five friends, the Monsters as they call themselves, inadvertently start a forest fire on a day out at Gap Lake and this very quickly spirals out of control. They know how much trouble they will be in if anyone finds out it was them so once they make sure the fire department know about it, they decide to pretend they were never there.

Throughout the book we are waiting to find out if the truth about the fire will come out, but I think the real mystery is what has happened to Violet. It seems that even though Hannah doesn’t know what happened to one of her 4 best friends, she clearly does have some suspicions!

The book definitely kept me guessing throughout, I had no idea what the outcome would be even when the main character expressed her feelings and speculations. It was quite a page turner and I read it all in 2 days. Hannah is a very interesting main character. She’s fiercely protective of her friends and I really do feel she does what she does to protect them as much as herself. She also has a huge crush on Drummer which doesn't help matters at all, particularly her objectivity.

I read this in Greece where the news was full of wild fires, both there and in so many other countries at that time. Add to that everyone having to wear masks due to the smoke, and all the talk of 'new normal' so it felt a bit too close to home for me!

Thank you to the author, publishers Penguin Random House and NetGalley UK for access to this as an advance reader’s ebook. This is an honest and voluntary review.

Living in Scotland flooding is a far more likely natural disaster than a wildfire. But, the power of the writing in this book gave me an amazing insight into the dangers of wildfires and the fear of living in areas vulnerable to them.

The detail of those chapters is essential to helping the reader understand why five best friends swear each other to secrecy after accidentally starting a massive wildfire which devastates their local community. The ‘monsters’ as they’re known, have lived with the fear of wildfire all their lives, and know that even though the first embers were an accident, being held responsible would change all their plans for college and life after graduation.

The monsters are not only responsible for the fore, but are also the main suspects when one of their number goes missing the night she threatens to confess all to the police. All of the characters are well developed and it’s easy to understand if not condone the decisions they make. While the story is wholly told from the perspective of Hannah, daughter of the town Sheriff, it doesn’t stop the reader from building an understanding of the rest of the characters.

A gripping, thrilling read about the impact of lies and fear of what the truth will bring.

I have been really enjoying YA thrillers recently, so I jumped at the chance to be on the tour for Lies Like Wildfire. The book blurb sounded exactly like the sort of book I would enjoy, but after finishing the book, I can honestly say that the blurb doesn’t even do this book justice. This was everything I had hoped for, and so much more!

The story immediately gets off to an exciting start. The opening chapter hints at what is to follow in the story, before jumping back to five weeks earlier when the story really began, and more importantly, to how the wildfire really began! It instantly has you hooked, and once this book sinks it’s claws in to you, it certainly does not let you go.

The Monsters are a very interesting group of friends. They almost seem like they are each too different to even be friends! However, each Monster seems to take on their own role in the group, and they certainly all have their individual positive qualities that they bring to the table. They also each have their own negative qualities too though, and because of these, I’m not sure how I felt about any of them really. Did I actually like any of them? I don’t know, but what I do know is that Jennifer Lynn Alvarez did a brilliant job of creating each and every one of them, and in a way, I kind of feel like they were written in a way that we’re not supposed to be sure on whether we like them or not! Hannah was clearly trying her best to keep the group together, but I don’t necessarily think that was a good thing, because it seemed to cause more harm than good, and she made a lot of extremely questionable decisions along the way.

The wildfire itself was completely devastating, and completely out of control. It is crazy to think that such a small action/accident can lead to something so destructive and catastrophic, but that really is all it takes. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to live somewhere where this is a real possibility, and I can’t imagine the amount of pain and heartbreak that people who do experience this sort of thing must have to go through. The thought of losing your home, and everything you own, is something that I can’t even begin to understand. It’s completely life changing, and horrific. Plus, on top of that, the possibility of losing people that you love as well, it’s incomprehensible, and I think the author did a fantastic job of portraying that in this story.

This book is such a wild ride, and you’ll experience a rollercoaster of emotions along the way. By 50 pages in, I was in tears! There is so much action, and so many different things happening in the story, you really have no idea what is coming next. It’s exciting, thrilling, and total edge of the seat reading. From the moment I started reading, I just couldn’t stop, it was impossible to put this book down! The ending was completely unexpected, and also extremely satisfying. It seemed like the perfect way to wrap up an incredible story.

Lies Like Wildfire is one of my favourite books of 2021, and definitely one of my favourite YA thrillers that I have ever read. I loved this book so much, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. EVERYONE NEEDS TO PICK UP THIS BOOK! This was my first time reading anything by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez, but it certainly won’t be my last!

I give Lies Like Wildfire a very easy 5 star rating!

A fast paced ya thriller, perfect for Karen McManus fans. Lies Like Wildfire is the story of 5 friends who accidentally start a disastrous forest fire and the fallout from the lies they tell to the authorities and each other. None of the characters were very likeable but Alvarez keeps the tension throughout and I had many theories about what was going on. An enjoyable, easy read.

t’s the final summer before college for the monsters, Hannah, Mo, Drummer, Luke and Violet – a group of friends who have known each other their whole lives. It’s a time to relax, fall in love and prepare for their futures. That is until they accidentally start a forest fire, which ends up destroying their hometown and leaving several people dead. Eager to keep the truth hidden, the entire group swears to a pact of silence. However, when the secret starts to veer out of control, resulting in one of them disappearing, they all become suspects.

YA thrillers are becoming my go-to reads at the moment, and Lies Like Wildfire is no exception! This book had me pulled in from the get-go, so much so that I read it in one afternoon. This is the kind of book that you will not want to put down, and you will feel compelled to carrying on reading no matter what you have going on. Everything about it will have you gripped, and you could say this book is the literal definition of a page-turner.

My first thoughts when reading Lies Like Wildfire were WOW! and how incredible is this writing style? Alvarez writes with such an intensity that keeps you hooked and longing to keep going on this journey. Everything about the way this story is told will draw you in and if you weren’t into YA thrillers before, you certainly will be now. Lies Like Wildfire has everything you could want from a book of this genre, and I for one am glad to have discovered it.

The story itself is split into two parts, during the wildfire and just after and several months later. This wasn’t what I was expecting at all, and it came as a complete surprise to me, but I welcomed it and soon realised that both parts join together perfectly, and this does end up tying up a few loose ends that you get at the end of the first part. I personally found myself more drawn to the second part, as this is where a huge chunk of the mystery happens, but as a whole, the whole story gels together nicely. Also, the wildfire element, to me was fascinating! As I’m from a country that doesn’t get many wildfires, I found the whole concept gripping. It does make you think about how one little thing can grow and leave devastation in its wake. The way this topic was written was both mortifying and insightful, and you do get a sense of how it is for people who experience this type of thing regularly. The environmental message that it also brings is strong and shows us how we need to look after our natural environments, otherwise, destruction will happen imminently.

The monsters are, quite frankly some of the most unlikeable characters I’ve read about in a while, but that is one of the reasons why I found each of them so compelling. They were each written in such a way, that made you dislike them and this can be a hard thing to do so I commend Alvarez for this. I also think that despite the group being so incompatible, they seemed to look past that and try to work together. Hannah, as the narrator helped us get deep inside the group and how they tried to come up with a plan to hide their secret. Speaking of Hannah, I found her narrative voice to be honest and fearful. You could tell how much she just wanted things to go back to normal for her and the rest of the monsters, but also knowing that things would never be the same again. Her journey took us on an emotional journey, and we saw her make many mistakes during this. I do wonder though, how the story may have gone if we had seen the story through the eyes of each of the monsters. Would that perspective have changed the story and overall plot and character arcs in any way? It’s something that I did ponder over once I’d finished the book.

Lies Like Wildfire was an intense, riveting read that had me utterly absorbed. It takes its place as one of my favourite YA thrillers of the year, and I can honestly say it will have you completely obsessed with wanting to find out the mysteries surrounding the Monsters. Jennifer Lynn Alvarez is an author I will be looking out for in the future, that is for certain.

It’s been a while since I’ve sat down and read an entire book in a day and that is exactly what I did with this. It probably helped that the main character was called Hannah and her close friends call her Hannah Banana so it really had a personal touch. I really enjoyed the pace of the book and the storyline. I was racing through these pages probably as quickly as the fire was racing through the woods. It was definitely a tricky topic to read especially with the wildfires in Greece being in the news but I highly recommend you all to read this book, you will not believe the ending!

Hannah and her friends, the Monsters as they are affectionately called, are due to have a summer they will never forget as they all head off to college in the Fall. Hannah's dad is the town sheriff and she is set to follow in his path as a criminology major. However, what they don't predict is it all going up in flames. Literally. The issue with California is that it is prone to wildfire, and it is a felony. When her friend Luke drops his matches and a fire rages out of control, consuming trees, building, animals, people, the Monsters make a pact not to tell anyone what they did. They could never be found...could they? When the police start to close in, their friendship becomes tighter and tighter with lifelong bonds being challenged by not only the fire but also the secrets they have withheld from one another. Hannah is in love with Drummer, but Monsters don't date Monsters so why is he sleeping with Violet? Luke, the only kid in the group with a record, is freaking out. And things only get worse when Violet threatens to go to the police. When Violet goes missing and Hannah wakes up in the hospital with trauma-related amnesia, can she figure out what happened to her best friend the night of her accident? Or are some things better left for the flames?

This book held so much promise. SO MUCH PROMISE. This author is clearly incredibly talented, they were able to paint a picture of chaos and anger and mystery. But, and there is a big but here, the characters are the most unlikable group of people I have ever come across. These kids are honestly some of the worst characters I have ever come across and I suppose in some ways that may have been a deliberate device employed by the author but I'm a person who wants to root for the main character. Hannah was intolerable. I can't think of another word to describe her. She was selfish, annoying, and downright just an idiot. I couldn't have cared less if she was arrested or not for her part in all of this. Ultimately, my dislike for Hannah made me grow to be a little bored by this book and that really upsets me.

All it takes is one spark to ruin everything!

The monsters - a group of teenage friends - come to this realisation very quickly when they accidentally cause a fire to break. A mishap that leads to utter disaster as a wildfire begins to rapidly spread throughout Gap Mountain.

A mistake, that's all it was.

Unfortunately for them, that accident could also lead them straight to jail, I mean it's arson whether accidental or not.

What follows builds into an intricate web of lies and deceit causing more hurt and destruction.

This groups friendship will never be the same again.



So who are 'The Monsters'?

We have Hannah, who is the sheriff’s daughter, a girl whose is life dictated by laws.

Then there's Drummer, the boy who Hannah is madly in love with but unfortunately is dating Violet - in secret - forgetting the rule monsters don't date monsters.

Which leads us to Violet, Hannah's best friend, she doesn't live in Gap Mountan but joins the group every summer. She has it all money, looks and brains.

Our last two members are Luke, a trouble teen who has already been in trouble with the law and Mo, the caring one, who dreams of being a nurse.

Before we even get a hint of what was to come, the story begins with one of the five teenagers (Violet) being missing. The big question is, has she run away, been kidnapped or has the worst occurred, murder?

Their last summer together, it was meant to be fun, full of memories being made but reckless behaviour went and ruined that.

Now thoughts of college and work instead turn to the idea of simply staying out of jail.

Intense, extremely fast-paced and brilliantly unexpected.

I'd compare it to books like One of us is Lying and We Were Liars, both just as brilliant as this.

This is a YA thriller that does not disappoint. I especially liked the fact that there was two storylines running in tandem.

The first being the fire. The author did a good job with this, the descriptions of the fire itself, how it was changing the surroundings and just who it was affecting.

Fractures between the town folk, the divide of classes showing.

The second focus was on Violet's disappearance and the drama that led up to it.

Traditional teen angst flowed throughout the story and it was refreshing to have an unlikeable main character. Danger and betrayal seemed to lurk round every corner. The list of suspects was long, was there anyone who could be trusted?

Lies Like Wildfire had me hooked from start to finish.

An absolute scorcher of a novel!

The opening page to Lies Like Wildfire is a gunshot. A call to attention that immediately grabs any curious reader's interest.
I settled in for a long session, already I wanted to know the answers.

Only a few pages later I'd forgotten all about my initial questions. The erupting wildfire was truly terrifying, I'm not sure I drew a breath the entire time I was reading it. Knowing that this scenario is playing out all over the world more and more frequently gives so much weight to this story.
Alvarez packed so much emotion into the writing she almost wrenched a few tears from my own cold heart! One of the most powerful chapters I've read in a long time.

Lies Like Wildfire is told in first person, present tense from main character Hannah's point of view. She is very well written and I found myself responding to the characters around her as she would, or feeling defensive of Hannah if one of the 'monsters' was negative toward her. A few times I had to remind myself -wait a minute, there are other opinions to consider here- because I was championing Hannah too hard!

So clearly I connected with the main character, I was also already heavily invested in the plot by 25% in.
What's fantastic about this book is that the story is so engaging, I repeatedly forgot it was all leading to a big reveal. The prologue opens up asking questions about Violet's whereabouts but I was enjoying the wildfire plot, the friend group dynamics and Hannah's development so much I'd forgotten where it was all heading.
Rarely have I read a thriller with such well written subplots, they intertwined perfectly and each held my attention without feeling like a side show to the main event- What happened to Violet?

The group of friends selftitled 'the monsters' are made up of the usual YA stereotypes, pretty, player, intelligent, bad boy etc but I didnt find this detrimental to the story, if anything it felt reflective of any teenage clic.

After a particularly slow reading year for me I raced through Lies Like Wildfire and can't fault it in anyway. Full stars from me.

Lies Like Wildfire is a brilliant read.

The plot catches you and takes you running and tumbling with each twist and turn, just when you think things are as bad as they could get something else springs out at you. The interplay between the characters is excellent, they are all deep and layered with their backgrounds and positions in life. Whilst entangled with one another they are also vastly individual, making their thoughts, decisions, and actions disparate from one another, causing friction and alliances within the group to change.

In all honesty, the characters aren't exactly likeable, but that I feel is almost entirely due to the predicaments they find themselves in and so is completely understandable. I don't think you need to like the characters particularly to enjoy this book, it is the events, lies, secrets, and tragedy that draws you in and compels you to read on. I did find the main protagonist, Hannah, to be very interesting to read, she is incredibly intelligent and quickly becomes the leader making decisions and guiding the others in what to do and say as her father is the Sheriff. She can second guess people's intentions and use it to her advantage.

My only drawback (and it is only a slight one), is that it did feel quite long at times, I felt like I was reading and reading and not getting anywhere while desperate to understand/uncover the next reveal.

The ending is satisfactory, although a little ambiguous, it needs to be for how everything plays out within the story. I would love to see a follow-up a few years down the line when Hannah is working for the FBI, would her secrets/friends catch up with her?! How would her experiences affect her professionally? I reckon she'd make a badass FBI agent!

Thank you to Penguin Random House Children’s UK for the e-arc, and to TheWriteReads for inviting me to take part in the tour.

Lies Like Wildfire is a captivating, fast-paced, twisty and shocking YA thriller! I started this book one evening expecting to read a couple of chapters but several chapters later I could not put the book down because of how much it had already gripped me. A couple of days later and I had finished the entire book!

Hannah, Drummer, Violet, Mo and Luke call themselves the ‘monsters’ and the name certainly fits them with all the awful things that happens thanks to them, such as starting a wildfire by ‘accident’ or having your best friend go missing. As the world tries to figure out who started the Gap Mountain wildfire and if Violet is dead or alive, the monsters have a lot of secrets to keep and lies to tell.

The characters in this book are unlikable and are meant to be just that. Their personalities are those of people you tend to dislike and on top of that they conduct a number of questionable things. Yet, I still found myself completely invested in their story. Hannah’s narration of the story in particular is captivating and chilling. She is unpredictable, heavily friend-orientated and can tell lies as if it is her job. Figuring out what was actually happening and what is a lie was a lot of fun because you really do not know what or who to believe. The other monsters are all well-rounded and unique. I found it very easy to distinguish between them all and found no issues thinking one character was another. I was really invested in their friendship and felt as though I was also a part of the monsters myself.

The way in which the author depicts sections of the book made me feel as though I was there in Gap Mountain myself. The descriptions of how the wildfire spread through towns and towards Yosemite National Park felt as though they were actually happening before my own eyes. You can tell that the author has researched heavily on how fire spreads during a wildfire, the fire investigation process, police interrogation processes and a whole lot more. This helped make the book feel so real that if you were to tell me that it had been based on a true story (which it has not) I would believe you.

I would love to read more thrillers from this author in the future and her books will be ones I keep my eyes out for. Her writing kept be guessing right the way through the book and the gasps I let out at parts were very necessary.

Overall, I would highly recommend this exciting, mysterious and shocking thriller YA book. It kept me on the edge of my seat, shocked me at every turn and I enjoyed reading it a lot!

The monsters are five best friends who spend all their lazy summer days together. These times are soon to be ending though, as college and full-time work is pulling them in different directions. They decide to make the most of their last moments together but these plans also go awry when they accidentally start a wildfire in the forest.

The relentless summer sunshine has scorched the earth and pretty soon the fire is raging wildly out of control, putting their lives, their futures, and their friendship at risk. Can they keep the secret of what they have done between the five of them? Or will their lies spread as wildly as the fire that has decimated their community?

Hannah was one of the five monsters and it was through her perspective that the reader learned of their shared story. I liked her as an individual although both she and every other individual who featured throughout her was tainted with a flaw or vulnerability that ensured suspicions were placed on them all, equally. It enhanced the tension of the piece and also added to the drama that was occurring between them all concurrently.

This novel begun with a fire and was closely followed with an evacuation. This relentlessly fast-pace did not let up until its conclusion, with lies and mysteries piling on top of each other to make it a read as fast in pace as it was twisted in design. I tore through it in a day and remained intrigued and invested throughout.

I'd definitely love to read more from this author as this was as engaging a YA thriller as any of those penned by Maureen Johnson, E. Lockhart, Courtney Summers, or Karen M. McManus.

Lies Like Wildfire was an interesting concept, and I’m grateful to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this in advance of publication.
The story focuses, initially, on a horrendous wildfire that is started by the reckless behaviour of sheriff’s daughter, Hannah, and her close group of friends. Not being familiar with such an experience, I was surprised by the punishments meted out to anyone causing a fire though given how potentially damaging it is this makes sense. Given such a penalty hanging over them, perhaps it’s more understandable why they do all they can to cover up their involvement.
The ‘monsters’ as her group of friends are affectionately known are not going to come out of this experience unscathed. Part one of the book focuses on the fire and its immediate aftermath. The police - including Hannah’s father - are drawing closer so it’s understandable that it appears someone is going to crack. However, part two focuses on the disappearance and subsequent search for Violet.
We know these kids are prepared to lie to protect one another. Their relationships are founded on bonds formed years earlier, but they have secrets and are not all keen on protecting themselves. The question becomes who is more desperate to preserve the status quo?
The initial fire story really hooked me. However, it quickly blew up into a more melodramatic story. Hannah - for no obvious reason - got herself into a weird situation with a man who should have known better. Her father was clearly prepared to uphold the law, whatever the personal cost, but we never really saw beyond the surface so don’t know what he suspected. The group were fractured from the off, and their selfishness irritated me. These elements made it hard to sustain the engagement of the beginning, and the open-ended moral ambiguity was frustrating.

Well that was a ride and a half.
Hannah and her friends are at the last summer before they all move on to College and their future and they intend on enjoying it.
But when a thoughtless actions starts a blaze that quickly spirals out of control the gang have to try to cover their actions.
But lie begets lie and soon things are spinning as out of control as the wildfire that is destroying the area.
The descriptions of the wildfire and the effect that it has on the population are so realistic that I was on the edge of my seat with anticipation. The 'countdown' at the start of each chapter just made it feel like I was watching 24.

I think that if the characters had been more likable then it would have been a five star but, as it was every one of them was selfish, mean and petty. From cowardly Drummer with his secrets and abusive ways, to Violet's pious attitude and Hannah... well.
As much as I didn't like Hannah, I thought the way her character was revealed as the book went along was genius.
To any fans of Karen McManus or Patrick Ness I would definitely recommend this book.

A terrifying and unique YA title, with two big main plots, and twisty, claustrophobic turns. I read this in a weekend, as I was truly gripped - the characters were unlikable, which felt very modern. I was anxious the whole time I was reading this, as the lies unraveled (or got tighter...). For those age 14+.

What a thriller! The pages literally smoulder with secrets, lies, danger and betrayal throughout this compulsive and unputdownable read – an absolute scorcher of a book!

18 year old Hannah has lived in Gap Mountain all her life. It’s her final summer before college and she divides her time between wrangling horses, working in the video store and hanging out with her childhood group of friends known as ‘The Monsters.’

The long summer days sprawl out in front of them and Hannah, Mo, Violet, Drummer and Luke are living their best lives. Until one day, when swimming and fooling around at local beauty spot known as ‘The Gap’ they accidentally start a forest fire.

As daughter of the town’s Sherrif, Hannah knows all too well the penalties for starting wildfires, even accidentally and thinks she’s got the situation under control; quickly remove any evidence from the scene, disperse and it’s as if the group were never there. But the fire quickly burns out of control, destroys their hometown and leaves death in its wake.

Desperate for the truth to remain hidden, the group make a pact of silence. The lies spiral out of control like the very fire that sparked them. Social media posts are deleted, phones destroyed. One lie leads to another, then another and the lie that started so small is now blazing through their lives like the wildfires that roared through the town.

The group out-ran the fire but they can’t outrun the police and Fire Investigators locate the origin of the fire and find damming evidence – will it link one or more of them to the scene?

As the police ramp up their questioning, who will be able to stand the heat? The net closes in and as holes start to appear in their stories, so do cracks in their friendship.

Fire crews grapple with the blaze for weeks afterwards as it changes course and heads for Yosemite National Park. The town of Gap Mountain begins to rebuild itself whilst the fire rages on but the threat of being caught hangs over the group like the smoke that still hangs in the air.

Hannah’s desire for best friend Drummer smoulders throughout the story. Drummer is hot and he knows it and his teasing ignites pure passion in Hannah as she fantasises about them being together. It’s not just the wildfire that sends temperatures soaring and there’s a couple of steamy scenes in the book that will leave teen readers hot under the collar. But cold water is about to be poured on Hannah’s heart when she discovers that Drummer is harbouring a huge secret.

The sweltering heat builds until tensions reach fever pitch in Part 2 of the book. When one member of the group mysteriously disappears, the remaining ‘Monsters’ are prime suspects and the sleepy town turns on them – as the saying goes, there’s no smoke without fire. A text sent just before the disappearance proves the group are responsible for the fire – could this now have become a motive for murder?

The evacuation of the town so well written – the sheer terror and panic is palpable. Families scramble to save what few belongings they can carry, loved ones are separated and beloved pets missing. In the author’s note we learn of Alvarez’s personal experience of wildfire and the destruction and devastation left behind.

With thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for an advance copy of the book.