An Honest Book Review (Positives and Negatives) of a Currently Popular Book

Book Bloggers everywhere are loving this book and it’s been on my radar for months to read! My review of this one is a bit complicated…there were parts of it that I loved and parts of it that I did not. This book was recently released in mid August and I was fortunate to receive an Advance Reader’s Copy.  It’s currently such a popular book…I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and to start reading!

Before I go into my review, just a few random shapshots of my life:

I dropped off my son at preschool this morning and when I got back to my car, I realized that I had left my coffee in his classroom.  Oh HELL no!  I couldn’t get back into that building fast enough!  As I was frantically running to get back inside, I passed another mom who pointed out the irony of the shirt that I just so happen to be wearing today:

Truth.

My kids attended a birthday party yesterday and after we left my daughter turned the crayon box party favor into a tiny book!  Love her creativity!

And now, a book review.  Have you read this?  I’m truly not sure how I feel about it.

Things You Save in a Fire By Katherine Center (affiliate)

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she’s seen her fair share of them, and she’s excellent at dealing with other people’s tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to uproot her life and move to Boston, it’s an emergency of a kind Cassie never anticipated.

The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie’s old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of funding, and poor facilities mean that the firemen aren’t exactly thrilled to have a “lady” on the crew, even one as competent and smart as Cassie. Except for the handsome rookie, who doesn’t seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can’t think about that. Because she doesn’t fall in love. And because of the advice her old captain gave her: don’t date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping…but will she jeopardize her place in a career where she’s worked so hard to be taken seriously?

My Thoughts:

(Disclaimer: I will never post spoilers in my reviews HOWEVER the comment section is completely fair game to discuss any and all specifics including spoilers)

3.5 Stars

Man is this a tough review to write as my thoughts on this book are so scattered.

First and foremost, it’s a beautiful book with so many beautiful messages.  It’s a very easy read.  I found myself fascinated in learning about firefighters and about the aspects of their jobs in which I really had no idea.

That being said, I do feel this book lacks some pretty major character and storyline development.  I just wanted MORE of everything!

There was one major storyline that I really disagreed with and it bothered me throughout the entire story.

I felt that this book was a bit cheesy, predictable, and unrealistic at times…

HOWEVER, I honestly did enjoy it.  I found myself smiling more than once as I was reading.  I even posted on Instagram how much I was loving it! That’s the problem…just when I would start to really love it, I would become bored by it.  My feelings were completely inconsistent the deeper into the book I got.

I wouldn’t say that this was a book I couldn’t wait to pick up each day (except for those few intense chapters toward the end…those chapters were GREAT!  I wish the rest of the book would have held my interest as those few chapters did).

I laughed, I cried (tears down face), I smiled, and…I was bored.  All while reading the same book.

Have any of you read this???  Please comment below…I’d so love to hear your thoughts.

I told you my review of this one is a bit complicated and all over the place 😉

Bottom Line:

Would I recommend this book?  Yes!  Would it be high on my list of recommendations?  No.

Xo,

Jenny

Did you read this book?  What did you think?  I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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