#Review - Playing with Fire by April Henry #YA #Thrillers #Suspense

Series: Standalone
Format: Hardcover, 240 pages
Release Date: January 19, 2021
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Thrillers & Suspense

When a fire engulfs an Oregon forest, a group of trapped hikers must find another way out in this unrelenting teen-vs-nature thriller. Natalia is not the kind of girl who takes risks. Six years ago, she barely survived the house fire that killed her baby brother. Now she is cautious and always plays it safe. For months, her friend Wyatt has begged her to come hiking with him, and Natalia finally agrees. But when a wildfire breaks out, blocking the trail back, a perfect sunny day quickly morphs into a nightmare. With no cell service, few supplies, and no clear way out of the burning forest, a group of strangers will have to become allies if they’re going to survive.

Set against the wrenching, familiar backdrop of a devastating wildfire, Playing with Fire is a tightly paced thriller and a rousing survival story. For fans of Gary Paulsen and Karen McManus. 

Playing by Fire, by author April Henry, is a story of survival against almost impossible odds. This book is inspired by real life events. The 2017 Eagle Creek Fire Columbia Gorge which was started by a 15-year-old playing with fireworks. 17-year old Natalia avoids risks after surviving a house fire as a child, but she agrees to go on a day hike with Wyatt, a friend and outdoors enthusiast. When a forest fire erupts leaving them along with 10 others stranded in the woods trying to find their way to safety, Natalia knows first hand just how bad fire can be. 

6 years ago, she survived a house fire that killed her baby brother, but she carries the heavy burden of guilt and grief. Natalia has to confront her PTSD and fear of fire in order to make it out of the woods and help the others in her group. As Natalia faces the wildfires, she has flashbacks to six years ago and the fire that changed her life. This allows the reader to learn more about why she fears fire so much and the trauma she is facing now she is confronted with flames again.

Wyatt and Natalia make a great team. It’s easy to see their connection, though Natalia is playing it safe and keeping the walls up around her heart, knowing Wyatt may not look at her in the same way once he knows the truth about what her past holds. Wyatt (who is an Eagle scout) serves as the leader, instructing everyone to stick together and using his skills and resources to form the best plan for the group. Natalia acts as the medic since she is the one with the most training among the group. 

The book makes you aware of the importance of first aid training and always being prepared for an emergency no matter where you go. Even leaving your home for the grocery store can be met with challenges especially if you are caught in a snow storm. Been there, done that! The group suffers just about every medical emergency possible on the trek to get away from the fire and back to civilization, including (but not limited to!) burns, bee sting, asthma attack, panic attack, BEAR attack, and various scratches and damaged limbs.  

The story does a fantastic job of exploring the horrific consequences of fires and the importance of treating it responsibly, without being sanctimonious, and all within the plot of adventure and survival.  After the incident with her brother, Natalia was urged to see a psychiatrist to deal with her PTSD, panic attacks, anxiety, insomnia, and flashbacks. Here are some interesting ideas for those who have panic attacks like me:

Name 5 things you can see. 

Name 4 things you can touch. 

Name 3 things you can hear.

Name 2 things you can smell.

Name 1 thing you can taste. 

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#Review - Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire #Fantasy #Fairy Tales #Mythology

Series: Wayward Children (#5)
Format: Hardcover, 208 pages
Release Date: January 7, 2020
Publisher: Tordotcom
Source: Publisher
Genre: Fantasy / Dark Fantasy / Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology

The fifth book in Seanan McGuire's multi-award-winning Wayward Children series brings back old favorites for new adventures

Come Tumbling Down picks up the threads left dangling by Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones—it's both a standalone delight and a treat for longtime fans of the series.

When we Jack left Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children she was carrying the body of her deliciously deranged sister—whom she had recently murdered in a fit of righteous justice—back to their home on the Moors.

But death in their adopted world isn't always as permanent as it is here, and when Jack is herself carried back into the school, it becomes clear that something has happened to her. Something terrible. Something of which only the maddest of scientists could conceive. Something only her friends are equipped to help her overcome.

Eleanor West's "No Quests" rule is about to be broken.

Again.

 

Come Tumbling Down is the 5th installment in author Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series. When Jack Wolcott left Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children with her deranged twin sister Jill back to The Moors, most of us probably thought that would be the end of the twins story. Uh, nope! Apparently, they will always come back home. When lightning mysteriously appears out of nowhere, Christopher and Cora witness a door opening. What's even more shocking is that Jack is being carried by a strange woman (Alexis) and she is stuck in Jill's body! 

Alexis being alive is shocking enough to those who read Down with the Sticks and Bones. But it seems that Jill and the Master have crossed the line this time. Jill's actions have gone beyond repentance mode this time. Jill is not in the least repentant of her lethal lifestyle, and she and her adoptive vampire father have thought of an ingenious way to get around this limitation by using Jack's body. What she’s now done is not only ruining Jack’s life, but likely to lead to an imbalance of power and deadly warfare in the Moors world. 

Even though Eleanor has a no quest rule, that rule has already been broken once in an effort to safe Sumi. This quest will involve Jack, Alexis, Christopher, Kade, Cora, and Sumi, They will need to work together to save both Jack and the Moors from Jill and the Master. Of course, there are always complications along the way. To make matters interesting, Jack's mentor Dr. Bleak has been killed leaving Jack to make all the plans and alliances in order to stop the Master from using Jack's body to give Jill immortality.

 

Problems appear almost immediately when Cora is called to the sea and the Drowned Gods. If you remember, Cora went to a world where she was a mermaid, Christopher went to Mariposa where he fell in love with a skeleton girl, Kade is a Goblin prince in waiting, and Sumi went to a land similar to Candyland.  Whenever I read about Jack, I get eerie feeling that she's Dr. Frankenstein's apprentice. Jack, brilliant but burdened with OCD, has found joy in the mad scientist lifestyle, at least until the most recent troubles. She calls herself a monster, and in some ways that’s true, but she’s totally in love with Alexis who holds her heart.

 

I don't think we will see Jack again in this series, but I pretty much said that after she took Jill back to the Moors. 

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#Review - Blood Heir by Ilona Andrews #Fantasy #Urban

Series: Aurelia Ryder # 1
Format: EBook, 359 pages
Release Date: January 12, 2021
Publisher: NYLA
Source: Publisher
Genre: Urban Fantasy

From award-winning author, Ilona Andrews, an all-new novel set in the New York Times #1 bestselling Kate Daniels World and featuring Julie Lennart-Olsen, Kate and Curran's ward.

Atlanta was always a dangerous city. Now, as waves of magic and technology compete for supremacy, it’s a place caught in a slow apocalypse, where monsters spawn among the crumbling skyscrapers and supernatural factions struggle for power and survival.

Eight years ago, Julie Lennart left Atlanta to find out who she was. Now she’s back with a new face, a new magic, and a new name—Aurelia Ryder—drawn by the urgent need to protect the family she left behind. An ancient power is stalking her adopted mother, Kate Daniels, an enemy unlike any other, and a string of horrifying murders is its opening gambit.

If Aurelia’s true identity is discovered, those closest to her will die. So her plan is simple: get in, solve the murders, prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled, and get out without being recognized. She expected danger, but she never anticipated that the only man she'd ever loved could threaten everything.

One small misstep could lead to disaster. But for Aurelia, facing disaster is easy; it’s relationships that are hard. 

Blood Heir is the first installment in authors Ilona Andrews Aurelia Ryder series. This is obviously a spin-off of the Kate Daniels series which ended with Magic Triumphs. This story takes place 8 years after Julie Olsen-Lennart left Atlanta to make her own way in the world and to gain insight into her sensate magic. For years, she's been training with Roland, who she calls her grandfather, and Erra, her great-aunt who named her heir of Shinar. With two powerful entities like Roland and Erra to guide her, Julie has become a powerful force to be reckoned with.

    "When magic crests at its peak, the King of Fire will leave his citadel of misery in the Western Desert and travel east to devour the queen who doesn't rule and sever bloodline reborn. Only the one who shares his power may oppose him." 

4 years ago, Julie, was told of a prophecy from the oracle Sienna. After battling the God called Moloch, the Child Eater, and taking his eye, Julie returns to Atlanta with a new face, a new magic, and a new name—Aurelia Ryder—drawn by the urgent need to protect the family she left behind. Sienna advised Aurelia that if Aurelia’s true identity is discovered, those closest to her will die. She also can’t have any contact with Kate or Curran. Aurelia’s plan is supposed to be simple; get in, solve the murders, prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled, and get out without being recognized.

Her mission is to investigate Pastor Haywood's murder who she believes was killed on Moloch's orders and stop them. Her first stop is the Order of Mercurial Aid under Knight Protector Nikolas Feldman who has a complicated relationship with her adopted family. Aurelia holds the Tower card one of 5 in existence. It was given to her by a Order Master which grants her the right to call on the Order for aid and gives her the authority of a Knight-Captain outranking everyone except for Nick. Aurelia is granted status as Knight-Defender with her own badge to keep her identity and mission a secret from the rank and file. One could call Aurelia a mercenary with a military mindset.

Aurelia is a much, much different character than the former Julie Olsen-Lennart. She belongs to New Shinar and to Erra, the Plaguebringer, the City Eater, Rigmur Pana-Shinar-the Voice of the Old Kingdom who she calls Grandmother. She's also called Dananu Edes-Shinar, the strength of New Shinar, and a Princess as well. Atlanta isn't the same place she left behind. She’s found time to be with Conlan when he visits with Roland. If you are wondering about Kate and Curran, Kate has moved on, Curran shows up once, but neither is a major part of this story. Conlan who is now 9 years old, does.

Aurelia has a horse named Tulip that is bloodthirsty. She has a hawk named Turgan that sees and hears what she can’t. She has a sword similar to Kate’s and a Spear named Dakkan. She’s accepted her magic and is no longer scared of using it to save herself or others. She’s got a heart of gold when it comes to orphaned street kids. In fact, it is her mission to protect the children from Moloch who loves to feed on them. She expected danger, but she never anticipated that she would be recognized by the one person she lost her heart to: Derek.

I think there’s a lot to discuss about Aurelia and Derek’s possible future now that he knows about her. Julie was in love with him for 5 years, but he never made any effort to take the relationship to the next level like Curran and Kate when Kate used to bring him food or make him meals. Derek has a whole lot of issues of his own and I don’t mean with Aurelia. After all, he could easily be Pack Alpha any time he wants to be, and he proves that by getting revenge on the thing that killed his friend the Pastor. There are others from the Kate Daniels who show up in this series like Luther, DeSandra, Andrea’s son Ascanio Ferara who is a piece of work now, along with Christopher and Ghastek.

I think this is a good start to a hopefully new series. There is just enough action and suspense to keep the faithful Ilona Andrews lovers happy. There are a few surprises along the way as well.

 

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

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