I have caught myself rolling my eyes when I am in a store and see an actor's name on a novel but when I found out Kristen Ritter had written a book, I was intrigued. The plot called to me and I decided to give it a chance.
Abby Williams must face the past when she returns to her home town for her job as an environmental lawyer. Optimal Plastics, the town's most high-profile company and economic heart, has been accused of poisoning the local water and Abby and her team must find out if these accusations are true. Faced with her father with dementia, paranoid towns people, and the truth behind an old friend, Abby must find out not only what is going on in the present day, but the truth hidden in the past as well.
The book kept me on my toes. I was like Abby anxious to find out what was really going on and trying to put together past and present. Ritter weaves the story with suspense and urgency that kept me flipping pages deep into the night. I was don't disappointed with the conclusion either.
Coming from a small town myself, Abby's desires to escape and fears of ridicule were easy to empathize with. Though I don't handle such feelings how she would have, I can still understand why she does so. I also routed for Abby the entire time even when people tried to convince her she was crazy.
Bonfire is a great thriller and psychological tale that broke my stereotype that actors are bad novelist. I readily encourage anyone to read it.

Just another reason to adore Krysten Ritter. I was pleasantly surprised at how beautifully she writes. I must admit there were moments that I started to lose interest or get distracted, but I was consistently pulled back in to the plot. I enjoyed the mystery and puzzle of it all, but felt there were some extraneous plot lines that needed to go. I enjoyed the "unreliable narrator" technique that was used here. Her drinking was problematic enough that you didn't trust her, but not so problematic that you weren't hoping for her to succeed. Can't wait to read another Krysten Ritter book!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The pacing was good and I actually thought the writing was quite well done. I liked that the mystery wasn't guessable 25% of the way through the book which kept me wanting to read until the very end. I LOVED the lack of (major) romance. I know this is more standard in mystery/thriller than other genre's, but still, I liked it more for that fact. I definitely imagined Krysten Ritter playing the main character, which she definitely can do, and I would love to see it! Wish there was a little less parallelism between Bonfire and Erin Brokovitch, but you can get that from the synopsis alone. I would definitely still give it a read regardless of if you feel you know the story. There are some surprises!

BONFIRE Written by Krysten Ritter

I am in the minority having never heard of Krysten Ritter before reading this suspense filled debut novel called "BONFIRE." I think her writing style is one that flows naturally, peppered with metaphors and similes. I found her storytelling skills quite captivating and I enjoyed this mystery especially towards reaching the conclusion. As I reached near the end of the book, I found myself not wanting to say goodbye to Abby. I really liked Abby's character and how she was able to come to terms with her past.

Abby returns home to her small midwestern home with a heavy heart. She is an environmental lawyer tasked with investigating a multi-million dollar corporation that is suspected of political corruption and a multitude of violations including dumping hazardous waste materials in the town's water supply. The deeper Abby looks into this corporation the more she unravels which has wide implications leading her to have to deal with many of her former classmates who were mean spirited to her throughout her year's in high school.

Abby left her hometown ten years earlier three days after her high school graduation completely reinventing herself in Chicago. She has returned with a job to do that requires dealing again with a father she has been estranged from and many of the same classmates that bullied her relentlessly. The corporation she is investigating has poured money into her hometown and has provided the community with most of the jobs and funds a scholarship program for Abby's former high school.

Abby finds herself having to interview a woman named Misha, who was one of the girl's that was more spiteful in high school. Misha is now the vice principal at the high school who is responsible for choosing student's that will receive the scholarships. Misha is involved in a conspiracy that is connected to the powerful corporation that is allegedly dumping their hazardous waste into the drinking water.

This was a story that conveys that you cannot outrun your past. It was an enjoyable, addictive read that had me turning the pages. The more Abby discovers the deeper the secrets lie where it comes to a point when you don't know how deep the tentacle's of this corrupt corporation run. As Abby uncovers the corruption she discovers that she doesn't know who to trust. As a reader you are just as surprised as Abby is in each of her discoveries.

Thank you to Net Galley, Krysten Ritter and Random House Publishing for providing me with my digital copy in exchange for a fair and honest review

Like the majority, I was excited to learn that Krysten Ritter wrote her first novel. It being a thriller was even more interesting to me. Unfortunately, Ritter writes a story with a tired armature. The story is interesting enough but the execution, the constant breaks to recall events from a childhood, which are used to quickly explain a subject preceding it, is exhausting. Her talent is there, and her future is promising, but we may have to wait until she sharpens her craft.

It might be a good idea for Krysten to stick to acting.

As a fan of Jessica Jones, Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23, and Breaking Bad, I was curious about Krysten Ritter's debut novel. Basically all I knew was the title and that it was a thriller. I could see a lot of her character work in the main character Abby: brassy, pugnacious, determined, a bit troubled when it comes to booze and men. Her worlds collide when she is investigating possible polluting by a major corporation in her hometown.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. She built up the suspense well and used some interesting metaphors that reminded me of Raymond Chandler's hardboiled detective style. If you've ever left a small town for a bigger city and like mysteries/thrillers, give this a shot.

It's different, gritty and exciting.

The writing style sucked me in and I needed answers. Krysten does a good job with emotions throughout the book and in the beginning captures the feelings of returning to a town that you love/hate. What I loved most about Bonfire is how unpredictable it is. The ending was so different, I appreciated that.

Overall a great read and something I will recommend to friends and other readers. Krysten Ritter should keep writing books.

Psychological thrillers are not usually my thing, but I couldn't pass up the chance to read Krysten Ritter's debut. Though there are certainly parallels to be drawn to a number of other stories (including The Crucible, Erin Brockovich, even Veronica Mars), Ritter puts a fresh spin on the themes and keeps you guessing until the end. This was definitely addictive and disturbing (in a good way) -- I didn't want to put it down, especially in the last quarter. I particularly liked how, as Abby gets drawn deeper back into Barrens and becomes mired in all of the town's truly dirty secrets, the neat and organized structure of the prose from the beginning changes to reflect her increasingly paranoid mental state, becoming more choppy, skittering back and forth between present and past, reality and fantasy, until you're not sure what's real anymore. The reader can't help but question whether Abby is a reliable narrator or if this is all just a delusional conspiracy invented by a troubled woman. That seed of doubt heightens the tension in the plot even further as the story reaches its climax.

I'm looking forward to reading more from Ritter in the future. She has a distinct writing voice and a talent for atmospheric storytelling.

Thank you to Crown/Penguin Random House and a Netgalley for providing an ARC for review!

Great read! Looking forward to reading more by this author!

I would rate this title between 3 & 3.5 stars.
I requested this title from netgalley because I really like Ritter as an actor. I admt a little sheepishly that I was surprised by the quality and depth of writing. There are multiple plot lines and themes throughout this novel that Ritter does a good job conveying to the reader. My man critique s the MC wasn't very likeable and the story seemed a little repetitive with the chronological just!ps via flashback from past to present.

Absolutely loved this debut novel! Hope to read more from her! Attached review!

Bonfire was addicting. Though not necessarily something new (it reminded me a lot Megan Abbott's work and Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects), I was still entirely engaged and hooked.

The novel read a lot like a script -- very dialogue heavy and quick with setting descriptions (I'm sure that shouldn't come as a surprise?) and once I got into that rhythm it flowed very well. It was like watching a Lifetime movie but instead of watching until the end to see what ridiculous thing would happen next, I wanted a bucket of popcorn (or, is it was in actuality for me while reading, a glass of wine) that would last me as long as possible so I could finish it until the end. I was that engaged.

Some details did feel like a stretch and I suspended disbelief probably more than I would normally like to in a thriller. That didn't distract from the story, though, and still made Bonfire a very fun read.

The more I read, the more I didn't want to put it down. Abby has become an environmental lawyer, and is on a case back in her small hometown. She is haunted by the death of her childhood friend 10 years ago, and she starts to uncover corruption that is ties to people all over town. She doesn't know who to trust, and the suspense builds consistently throughout the story. Even though there were some loose ends left unexplained, I would still recommend it.

GUYS. KRYSTEN RITTER WROTE A BOOK.

I have been a huge fan of hers since Veronica Mars days. I will watch anything she is in. So when I found out she was crossing into my favorite world, the book world, I was SO FREAKING EXCITED. I rushed to see if it was available on Netgalley. Then worried I wouldn't get approved. BUT THEN I DID. So of course I started it immediately. Im so excited to say that it sucked me in so quickly, I had a hard time putting it down!

First let me address any possible hesitation you may have about reading this book. You know how when a singer is so famous they get full of themselves and think they can act too? Or just because you can act means you can also sing? Well what if just because she is a talented actress/ producer that means she can write a book without it sucking? I have faith in her, but the question still lingered. But all of that was pretty quickly put to silence the farther into the book I got.

I'm not going to recap the entire synopsis for you, because ideally you read that on your way to seeing this review. So I will just jump in. Our protagonist, Abby, has headed back home after many years for work - and by work, I obviously mean facing people and uncovering secrets from her past. Okay, so there is some actual work involved too. She is an environmental lawyer, and the only real experience I have with what they do comes from Erin Brockovich. But it felt well researched, which always makes me happy. So she goes in headstrong, in attempt to not let everyone in town turn her back into the weak person she once was. She is pretty likable, until she hits the point where she is on the verge of being an unreliable narrator - which I love! Like, is she crazy? Is she onto something? She is clearly drinking to much and this might just be spiraling out of control! Who knows?! Not her. Not me. Lol....

There are quite a few aspects of evil going on here. You have the case of the missing girl from high school, the case of the plastic company infecting the town water supply, "THE GAME", and how, if at all, they tie together. Old classmates come into play, one particular boy she used to swoon over who basically runs things at the plastic company. The leftover "mean girl" who pretends to play nice, the boy that grew up to be a better man than anyone expected.... and of course, her personal troubles with her dad. Like, she has a lot of shit going on. Ritter makes it so that even the reader isn't sure who trust, and there is a tug back and forth on all the characters and your level of trust in them. Everyone is so sketchy in some way, aside from her coworkers. Her best friend and the two interns are pretty great, and maybe could've used more time on the pages.

Everything doesn't start coming all together until the last like, 25% of the book. Then it's crunch time. Then shit gets crazy. I love every second of it. I love her unraveling, and then things becoming clear suddenly. The whole book just kept me glued to the pages.

So the only thing about this book that may make it more of a 4.5 for me as opposed to the full 5 stars is that I kind of question how all the pieces story fit together. Like, my brain keeps second guessing whether or not they makes sense as a whole puzzle, with each piece fit into place. But maybe I need to allow them to be slightly separate entities. But I love how it ended for Abby, on a very independent note.

I definitely recommend this book. I really hope it gets the audio book treatment, and that Krysten Ritter will voice it. I read it with her Jessica Jones voice in my head, I couldn't help myself. I would be happy to read this again via audio if she does that!

Krysten Ritter wrote a novel and the whole world just stopped in awe.

I may be a bit biased because I think she’s amazing; she is the epitome of a Renaissance Woman. Admittedly when I first found out she wrote a book I was a bit nervous to read it because it’s so easy for established celebrities to get stuff published since the industry knows people in general will buy it based on the name and not whether it’s actually any good. Of course there are those who actually turn out to be good writers but then there are those who should have stuck to acting.

I’m completely in love with Jessica Jones, what if this sucked? Could I ever watch her the same way again?

I owe her a debt of gratitude though for not sucking as a writer so I can happily watch her in The Defenders this August. Ritter has shown she’s capable of creating her own dialogue instead of just voicing someone else’s. Her novel starts off strong and at first it reminded me a lot of the Erin Brockovich movie where you have this strong female lead hell bent on discovering what a powerful corporation is hiding and if there’s a connection between their alleged misdeeds and the community issues. Honestly as good as her writing was I was feeling a little disappointed that we were just getting recycled material under a different company name, different job for the female lead and different community issues but I quickly regathered my faith in her as I realized Ritter is definitely above using old material and threw some major curves into her story and characters.

When you realize what’s happening it is so far worse and deeply entrenched than what others have done before her. She is a very descriptive writer as you’re able to not only picture the settings but you can see how these people would react, what they’d feel and how it would look as they see their misdeeds get dragged into the light. I liked how she wrote Abby because at times, like when you can feel how uncomfortable she is returning home to a place she never felt like she belonged, you can almost see Ritter’s character of Jones come through with her tough girl / I don’t want to be here persona.

I actually wondered more than once if Ritter pulled on her past characters from Jones, Apartment, Veronica Mars, etc to create the people for her story because at times it felt like whether it was Abby or the bitches from high school they all had aspects of the people she’s played.

Her debut isn’t flawless as sometimes it seems like Abby’s drinking gets in the way of the story, the villain is given the cliché rambling speech and I felt like there were still a few loose ends that didn’t quite tie together but overall the positives outweighed the negatives so I would definitely put this in the win column.

If she writes again I’ll check that book out without reservation, not because she’s Krysten Ritter, but because she’s proved she deserves it.

Krysten Ritter rocks. Not only is she a total badass on Jessica Jones, and she rocked my world (and made me laugh out loud constantly) on her old television series Don't Trust the B— in Apartment 23 (still bitter it was canceled), but now her debut novel, Bonfire, is a really good read. I hate overachievers...

Abby Williams couldn't get out of her Indiana hometown, Barrens, fast enough. Tormented by her childhood best friend Kaycee and her band of mean-girl minions, mistreated by her father, she fled the first chance she got, changed her accident and landed a job as an environmental lawyer in Chicago.

"I couldn't even explain it to myself. All I knew is that Barrens broke something inside of me. It warped the needles on my compass and turned the south to north and lies to truth and vice versa."

Ten years later, Abby's firm is investigating Optimal Plastics, the most high-profile company in Barrens, and the one that single-handedly rescued the town from all but certain elimination. The thought of going home again and facing her nemeses, including her father, is almost too much to bear, but she'll admit that the opportunity to enact a little revenge isn't totally unappealing. But it's not too long after she arrives back in Barrens that she realizes that the more things change the more they stay the same—or people want to pretend things have changed, even when they haven't.

As Abby and her colleagues try to make sense of whether Optimal is truly the town's savior or more of a danger, she finds herself unable to shake her memories of a scandal that Kaycee and her three friends were involved in all those years ago, a scandal which could possibly have ties to the problems with Optimal occurring today. She's desperate to find out what really happened to Kaycee, who allegedly disappeared all those years ago, and she is trying to decide whom she should trust—if anyone.

To uncover the truth, Abby must reopen doors that people want to remain closed, and that includes coming to terms with her father as well. She finds a web of blackmail, corruption, trading sexual favors, and lie upon lie. Her job and her mental state, perhaps even her life, are at stake.

I'm always a little bit dubious when a celebrity writes a novel. Sure, there are talented writers among them, but for every Carrie Fisher and Ethan Hawke comes a James Franco or Joan Collins. Ritter has a natural voice as a storyteller, and the book quickly hooks you and doesn't let you go, even as you may see how things will play themselves out. She is particularly impressive with her imagery as well as her descriptions of emotions, and what it's like to return home to a place where you never felt comfortable anyway.

It's not a perfect debut—she falls into the trap that so many action and crime movies do, where the villain gives a long, dramatic speech justifying why they were so hell-bent on destroying everything. (See Michael Shannon in Man of Steel for one.) But while that is a little annoying, I found Bonfire a really compelling read, one I devoured pretty quickly and enjoyed quite a bit. I'll definitely be looking out for Ritter's next book at some point.

Okay, Krysten...now how about a Don't Trust the... reunion?

NetGalley and Crown Publishing provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

So I read the blurb on this book and thought, sounds interesting. Then I really noticed the author's name and thought, "wait, THAT Krysten Ritter??!?!!!!" Yeah, I'm a big fan of hers. I went into this book hopeful and excited because I think she's wonderful, so I started it in a good mood....and then things got even better because the book was excellent! Another level of talent for Krysten and thanks for writing a twisty, fun story that kept me hooked to the end. Five star read!

3 stars

Can we go home again, or maybe the question should be should we go home again? Abby Williams does just that, she goes home, but returns as an environmental lawyer digging into a possible case against a corporate giant company Optimal Plastics. She has been gone for ten years but remembers all the horrible things that had happened to her while growing up Barrens Indiana. She remembers the cruelty of her fellow students especially her former best friend Kaycee Williams. Kaycee had disappeared but the memories of all that had happened, the supposed feigned illnesses, the shaming of girls targeted as weak, the playing of The Game comes rushing back in foggy memories.

Abby, tries to unravel the connection between what happened ten years ago and now. How is Optimal, the savior of the town involved, and how will she get people to believe her now that she dredges up one conspiracy theory after another. Compounding all of this is the extremely tenuous relationship she has with her father. Abby's world seems to be crashing as she descends further and further into wanting to believe and trying to prove that what she feels is right. The two worlds that Abby experiences come to a conclusion that in reality was ever so expected.

This was at times a very confusing novel. It meandered through relationships and made sometimes tenuous connections. It seemed to that the the heroine of this tale always seemed to be in a drunken state wandering from one bar to another, drinking one drink after another. In this she lost her true voice as the main protagonist and seemed detrimental to all she was trying to convey. The author tries to make Abby a pathetic sad creature but in doing so she creates a character that is often one that dredges up little sympathy.

Thanks to NetGallery and Crown Publishing for providing an advanced copy for an unbiased review.