‘THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE’: A UNIQUE STORY ABOUT STRONG HEROINE
STORY: Keeping a protective shell around her at all times is the only way Cassie Hanwell lives. This all began when, on her sixteenth birthday, her mother left them, and a boy mistreated Cassie. Now, at twenty-six years old, Cassie works hard as a firefighter in Austin Texas where she is not only up for a promotion but she’s make strides as a woman at her station. things you save in a fire
‘THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE’: A UNIQUE STORY ABOUT STRONG HEROINE. Review of the Katherine Center novel. Share on XWhen her mother all but demands Cassie return East to help her heal from an unexpected medical diagnosis, she must start all over again, giving up her status, and prove her worth to a new group of firefighters who have little patience for a woman in their fire station.
THINGS YOU SAVE in a FIRE BOOK REVIEW
REVIEW: Unique and interesting, Things you Save in a Fire is a novel worth reading if you like contemporary fiction. The second I read by Katherine Center, I don’t think it’s going to rank as her best, but I do enjoy it. The novel keeps Cassie very distant, despite the first person narrative, and while I understand this strategy, especially for the reveal and ultimate character shift, I think this creates a barrier between us and the heroine.
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While written well, I don’t really like the continuous self victimizing of the female sex. I don’t dispute that there is accuracy to some or perhaps all of this (based on the authors research acknowledgments), but I think harping on and continuing to push the same things (no matter who is doing this or what their sex is) is part of why culture doesn’t, well, move on. I also think that exchanging one bad narrative norm (men being in charge results in all bad) for another (that women in charge would fix everything) isn’t the way to truly change anything. It’s not that this novel has that as its ultimate message (the end is surprisingly sweet), but it kind of leans into that mindset.
Things you Save in a Fire is still a nice read. I enjoyed it and think the characters even with the barrier, are interesting.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Author: Katherine Center
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: Bought
Publication Date: 2019
Genre: Fiction; Secular; Contemporary Adult
Rating: ★★★
Find the Review Elsewhere: Amazon ǀ Goodreads
Find the Book: Goodreads
Content: there is some profanity and maybe a few f-words, too. There’s innuendo and sexual content. A couple spends the night together (it’s more fade to black than overly graphic). There’s references to sex and having sex. A rape is recounted, but not graphic.
