Lies Like Wildfire

Was a recommended YA book from school list but tween daughter didn’t rate it - wasn’t exciting enough for her.

My 16 year old daughter was so excited to receive this new book by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez. She has read every one of the Guardian Herd books and is quite a fan of this author. It was immediately apparent to her that this book was targeted toward a much older audience (the book did say ages 14-17), as there was quite a bit of foul language right away. She devoured the book in one day, and while she said the plot and character development were outstanding, the use of strong language and sexual content (that she described as pornography) were quite disturbing to her. She thought that it was important for parents of younger kids/teens that love the Guardian Herd series to know that this most recent book has much more mature content, and would likely not be appropriate for many in that audience. Parents beware.

This is absolutely one of those fast-paced, un-put-downable books that I gobbled in a few sittings because I HAD to know how it ends! Jennifer Lynn Alvarez ratchets up the tension at every turn and keeps you guessing and wondering how on earth this could come to a satisfying ending with everything that's gone wrong -- and she whams you with an ending you'll be thinking about for days after. The well-fleshed out characters of the five "Monsters" and their friendships feel real and relatable and the setting of Gap Mountain and the fire that rages through almost become a characters themselves. This book would be great for class discussion/book clubs on choices and loyalties, accidents and faults. Absolutely recommend. I was provided an advanced reader copy for my honest review.

LIES LIKE WILDFIRE is an excellent thriller that I couldn't put down until I got to the end. The details about the California wildfires seem authentic, and I liked guessing at all the twists and turns with the cast of characters. Highly recommend for anyone who loves a good mystery or thriller.

This book was hard to put down. It is a very fast paced and intense story line that kept me reading long into the night. I won't go into the story as others have already done so. The Gap is a fictional area north of Bishop, California. Having spent a great deal of time in Bishop, I know the area quite well which made it an even better read. This was recommended for Young Adult readers, but I actually thought the story was geared more towards adult readers. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope to read more from this author.