This was a mashup of many various well known troupes that promised to deliver but just ended up getting a bit muddled together.
Sadly, I was not a big fan of our heroin.
It felt like this was the second or third book in a series that I was not aware of. I felt like she had an established character/behavior that we were completely unfamiliar with.
There were certainly promising parts in the book and I would be willing to give Ritter another try.
This one just didn't quite hit for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for and honest review!

This book has a lot of potential. I liked the writing style, and the plot reminded me a little bit of the movie Erin Brockovich, but a lot darker. Unfortunately, I had to put down the book because of some small scenes within the story involving mentions of a pet dying, that were a me thing. I hope that one day I will get past those scenes in the book, and be able to finish reading, as I'm very curious to know what happened to Abby's friend turned enemy from high school, but right now I can't. Thank you for the advance copy.

As a mystery/thriller debut this had so much potential. However. This did not work for me on any level.

Note: clearing old books from before 2019

Did not have time to read this book - still on my TBR. Thank you for the opportunity and my apologies for not getting to it.

Meh; nice try for an actor-cum-writer. It felt like a less good sharp objects by Gillian Flynn. Not terrible. Not great.

I enjoy Krysten Ritter's acting and was eager to read her fiction. Unfortunately I don't think I'm best suited for thrillers, I often find them too predictable, but I would read more from her in the future.

Interesting read. A little predictable but overall enjoyable. I look forward to more works from this author.

For a book debut by an actress, this was really well done. The characters were great but I must admit that the plot got very confusing at times.

This was quite a fast paced story and I like the concept of the "returning to hometown" plot like in many other books. It gives a fresh start not only for the character, but also for the reader. I found it quite eerie to read because there were a lot of twists and turns throughout that kept me on the edge of my seat. However, it was quite slow at times. Considering that it's a debut novel, I overall enjoyed it and glad that I had the experience to read something written by Krysten Ritter.

RATING: 1 STAR
DNF @ 35%
(Review Not on Blog)

I love Krysten Ritter so was excited to be given a chance to read her debut book. Unfortunately, I just could not get into Ritter's writing or plot. I kept trying hoping that it was just not working for me at that time. After my fourth time, I had to give up at 35%.

***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY***

Small town girl Abby is now an environmental lawyer in the big city but she has to come back home for an assigned case. Despite a fairly successful career, old insecurities begin to surface as Abby meets her high school tormentors again in the course of her investigation.

I breezed past through this book. Kristen Ritter can surely write, she must have learned a thing or two from playing the character of a private investigator in Jessica Jones. A sidenote: Is it weird that as I read, I picture the main character with Krysten Ritter’s face? Anyways, the plot is a passable mystery. I did not overly like it and I did not find any glaring reasons to hate it either. The protagonist is a hot mess of a heroine beneath her big city career woman facade. I just wished that there’s something more to her character that will appeal to me, either intellectually or emotionally. There’s nothing extraordinary with the story as well. I mean, people died and/or murdered and yet I never strongly felt anything. It’s still recommendable mostly if your looking for a fairly fast mystery read.

Review: Bonfire by Krysten Ritter
I really wanted to read this book because I've become a Krysten Ritter fan as a result of watching Jessica Jones. As a result of that, as I read the book, I may have been sort of picturing Jessica Jones as the main character - which isn't fair, but isn't entirely far off. She's not a superhero, but she's kind of a badass trying to uncover some dark secrets in her hometown after being away for ten years. I liked the characters, they were believable and interesting.

It's been a while since I read the book, and I'm not sure why I never got around to writing a review, but I did enjoy the book. It's a good, engrossing suspenseful mystery. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys the Gone Girl or Girl on the Train type books. I do like books like that, so I enjoyed this.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley.

The plot reminds me of the movie Erin Brokovich because it's about a woman fighting a big company on an environmental issue in a small town, against all odds; but, this book kicks it up a notch with an unreliable narrator, mean girls, a dark vibe and thriller twists. It has a lot of character development, with flashbacks to the past so that the reader understands Abby William's turmoil about coming home. This book is about bullying, secrets, corruption, memories, and forgiveness. It reminds me that the more things change, the more they stay the same. I was surprised at the depth of this book and the thoughtful prose.

The excellent writing made me experience Abby's painful memories of Barrens, her relationship with her estranged father, and reuniting with her former bullies. Krysten Ritter does a great job of portraying the town and people of Barren. Abby gradually becomes an unreliable narrator and you start to wonder what is real and what is not. I enjoyed trying to decipher her character and motivations. This book exceeded my expectations and I am impressed with Krysten Ritter's debut novel. I hope that she writes another book soon.

Thank you to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for providing my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Highly Caffeinated Thought: A debut novel filled with heart, grit, and slow-burning suspense.

I will be honest with you all. BONFIRE was a must read for me because I love Krysten Ritter. I have enjoyed seeing the actress on the big and small screen for years, so adding this book to my to read pile was a no-brainer. However, I was nervous about if the hype behind the book was worth it. Well?

Even though the book was a bit slow to start, I believe that reading about Abby's homecoming and her backstory is needed to appreciate what is to come. As the mystery of Optimal Plastics and this small town began to reveal itself, this is where the book took off and really pulled me in. The suspense comes from the building tensions as well as the interlacing of the environmental investigation, the disappearance of Kaycee Mitchell all those years ago, and the reemergence of a cruel "game" that targets young girls reputations.

What made this book even better for me as a reader was the character of Abby. There is an honesty and realness to her that is brought out through her insecurities, emotions, and reactions to her past being thrust back into her present. Ritter manages create something fresh with a narrative that could have taken a much more mundane turn.

All in all, I loved the book. It gave me a character driven mystery with a few surprises along the way.

This was a blast to read! Fast paced--I couldn't put it down. A great thriller sure to entertain a wide range of readers.

I expected this to be another environmental thriller with a predictable plot - but I was surprised by the sharp writing and intriguing subplots. I found this novel completely entertaining and I would be happy to read more by actress-turned-writer Krysten Ritter.

In her debut novel, Kristin Ritter takes the readers to a small town that has it's fair share of town secrets:

Abby Williams could not wait to get out of Barrens, Indiana after she graduated high school. Now 10 years later she is back to investigate Optimal Plastics, the town's most high-profile company and economic heart, for environmental reasons but Abby believes that Optimal Plastics holds the information that would also solve an age old disappearance of Kaycee Mitchell, Abby's best friend in high school. Abby knows that the she is there to investigate the environmental transgressions of the company but she cannot put Kaycee's disappearance behind her. What Abby will find that is that all towns have secrets, some more diabolical than other.

This book was pretty good for a debut novel, I found the plot was well laid out and I'm a sucker for a small town read, I love that everyone knows each other and that there is always at least one town dirty secret that they do not want outsiders to know about. When it comes to secrets Ally's hometown of Barrens has them in spades.

Although the premise of this book is very interesting, the main character was such a let down. She doesn't really do any investigating in the book, just kind of goes from rumour to rumour (albeit between drinks) and from two different men that seem to have nothing to do with or affect the plot at all. I'm all for flawed characters, I mean this is what makes them more real, but they need to have some sort or redeeming quality or intelligence to get the job done. I kept trying to find this with Ally and it never materialized.

Overall, I found the book was somewhat predictable and not the thriller that it was pegged to be. Yes, I will agree with the tag line that it is a slow burner, yep slow is true as the first half of the book is not about Abby investigating Optimal Plastics (though Abby investigating anything is hard to come by in this book) but more about getting to know Abby as a character and her relationship with Barrens and it's residences. I just wish this book was more investigative than a returning home type book.

If you like small town based books then I think you will enjoy this book. I think that Ritter does have the ability to tell a story, and I think executed a bit differently I would have loved this book, but this was just an okay read, with me continually wanting to strangle the main character hindered my enjoyment of this book. It will be interesting to see what Ritter comes up with next and I would pick it up.

Enjoy!!!

Enjoyed this book and already recommended it to a student who loves thrillers!

I received an ARC from NetGalley.

I am not a mystery person, but I was intrigued enough by Krysten Ritter to give this book a shot. I’ve read several comparisons to Erin Brockovich which I can see, but it becomes more sinister fairly quickly. I was hooked from the beginning. Although the villain was fairly obvious, I read it in a day.

This is a really richly evoked and tightly plotted novel with some very dark corners and hidden secrets. A women returns home, reluctantly, in her official role as investigator. When she looks into the very company credited with saving the town from extinction, people start to turn on her, yet the same company are suspected of poisoning the water supply.

This is a town with secrets and secrets from the past, things which haunt the present and hidden anger too. There is an interesting cast of characters in this town, a black gay lawyer, the head of the local school who was a very different character in the past, etc.

Past and present blend seamlessly – you can smell the bonfire throughout. The flames consume everything in its path but you can’t take your eyes of the destruction.