Ridgepoint Ranch was supposed to be a luxurious woodland dream for the avid golfer, but various funding problems caused the project to fizzle out - and then there were the two teenagers who went missing…

Sixteen years ago Leyna’s sister Grace disappeared with the boy down the street, Adam. The girls’ mother, Meredith, has a tense neighbor relationship with Adam’s family since no one could bear to leave the homes their children might come back to - plus there’s a lot of unanswered questions. When a young woman who looks strikingly similar to Grace shows up at Leyna’s place of work (& is then reported missing), a domino effect is triggered as a wildfire rages & answers may finally come to light…

I enjoyed all the true crime messaging board aspects of this story & the threatening Instagram account, the story made good use of the unique way the internet has influenced the way missing persons cases are discussed. I loved the little interludes about the wildfire creeping ever closer to characters in this story! This is my first time reading a book from this author, I definitely need to track down her backlist.

Thank you to NetGalley & Mulholland Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sixteen years ago, Leyna Clarke's older sister, Grace, along with Grace's boyfriend Adam, disappeared into thin air. Now, another girl has gone missing, after a haunting encounter with Leyna, and all those old feelings are brought directly to the surface. With a wildfire racing toward her hometown, Leyna is in a race against time to try and find answers. But the fire is not the only destructive force in the old neighborhood, and some secrets will do worse than burn.

This is an entertaining blend of disaster fiction blended with thriller and it mostly worked for me. I enjoyed unwrapping the mystery, but felt more exposition might have cleared a few murky places. Thank you to Netgalley and Mulholland Books for the review copy.

The premise of this book was so intriguing and I was hoping that I would absolutely love it, but unfortunately it was just a complete miss for me.

This slow (so slow) burn thriller centers around Leyna, who is still looking for her older sister, Grace, who vanished into thin air more than ten years ago. When a girl with a striking resemblance to Grace goes missing as well, Leyna goes home to get answers from the mother who is keeping secrets from her and the family whose son she thinks had a hand in her sister's disappearance. All this is set against the backdrop of the deadly California wildfires, raging and threatening to spread to Leyna's home.

The story is told from three perspectives- Leyna, Leyna's cold mother Meredith, and Olivia, whose son Adam also went missing at the same time as Grace, who happened to be his girlfriend. The story also bounces back and forth between the present and the past. Overall, Meredith and Olivia's narratives are unnecessarily angry- instead of trying to work together to find their children they just spew insults and blame each other- and I found the shifts and storytelling very choppy. Leyna's whole life for the past sixteen years has revolved around finding her sister, and if the fires are a metaphor for the mystery burning underneath her childhood home, then the unfinished housing development Meredith and Olivia still live in seems to be fitting metaphor for Leyna's stunted life and Meredith and Olivia's inability to move forward in many ways.

Not much happens for a good two-thirds of the novel and then the last third is almost overly action-packed to make up for it. While the pacing and lack of likeable characters made it hard for me to get invested, the mystery of what happened to Grace and the new missing girl is what kept me turning the pages. I won't give any spoilers except to say that the final reveal of what actually happened was a total letdown. Not only was it needlessly complex and convoluted, once I sat back to absorb it, it just didn't make any sense. The ending literally kept me up at night trying to figure out how the pieces all fit together, and simply put, they just didn't.

With so many great thriller options this summer, this is a hard pass from me. Thank you NetGalley and Mulholland Books for an advanced earc in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Mulholland Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Grace went missing 16 years ago and her younger sister Leyna has never stopped looking for her. When Ellie, a girl who looks just Grace walks into the restaurant where Leyna works, she wonders if there is some kind of connection. Then, Ellie goes missing and Leyna begins searching for her. The search brings her back to her mother, Meredith's house and there she finds Meredith still in a feud with her neighbor Olivia, who is the mother of Grace's boyfriend Adam who also went missing at the same time. Shortly after her arrival, the nearby wildfires start to encroach on their neighborhood and the tension ratchets up as they prepare to leave.

3.5 stars.

This book was told from 3 points of view, Leyna, Meredith and Olivia. It started very slow and I didn't feel like anything very interesting aside from Ellie's disappearance happened for the first at least half of the book. Then things picked up and I was engaged and I was excited to finally learn what happened to Grace, Adam, and Ellie. But aspects of the ending didn't really make sense to me and I really couldn't follow how some of these things could have happened. I also care enough to re-read the ending to try to make sense of it. All in all, it was ok. Not my favorite from this author, but I will still read her next novel.

3 wildfire stars

This one is filled with secrets and twists—too many for this reader. I had trouble tracking everything as we learned bits and pieces along the way.

Leyna Clarke has been looking for her missing sister for a long time. Grace is likely dead, as it’s been 16 years, but Leyna would like to know what happened to her. She blames Adam, Grace’s boyfriend, who is also missing.

A mysterious stranger shows up asking questions about Adam and Grace, but now she has disappeared too. What exactly is going on in this town?

Mixed in with this story is the burgeoning wildfire that will soon complicate things for everyone.

We meet the people in both Adam and Grace’s families, and they all want the truth. Someone knows what happened that fateful night, but it’s been kept a secret this far.

I really enjoyed an earlier book by this author, “Before She Finds Me”, but this one was not as strong as that one for me. And the ending was convoluted and just didn’t resonate with me.

I love Heather Chavez!

This story is a little different than your average mystery/thriller.
You love to hate some of the characters and it’s not so hard to figure out who done what. But you will still not want to put this book down.

And who doesn’t love a little French bulldog causing a little mischief. I did feel sorry for the little bugger though.

Read this book to find out what happens.

Filled with tension and suspense! Leyna was 12 when her beloved older sister went missing and now, 16 years later, she is still haunted by this event. When a young woman, named Ellie, comes into the restaurant where she works, Leyna is triggered by how much she looks like her lost sister. That very day, Ellie also goes missing in a similar way that her sister disappeared and Leyna heads home to find out what happened to her. Meanwhile a wildfire is stirring in the Sierra Nevadas and the clock is ticking to find Ellie, solve the mystery of her missing sister, Grace, and outrun the impending wildfire.

I am a huge fan of Heather Chavez. I devoured Before She Finds Me while on vacation last summer. I thought the storyline for this one was intriguing and solid. But it just didn’t hit right for me. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and a couple of them were so similar they were difficult to differentiate. The story was told from a couple of POVs, which is usually not a problem, but in this book seemed kind of jumpy and disorganized. Nevertheless, I found myself on the edge of my seat waiting to find out where Ellie went and the wildfire terrified me. This author is an auto buy for me and I can’t wait for her next book!

Thank you Netgalley, Mulholland Books and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on July 23, 2024

For anyone that lives in California or has ever been impacted by wildfire, this book will give you chills.
The story of a long missing teenage girl as felt by her younger sister, Leyna, plays out like a domestic suspense. In the background and between chapters, a narration of how the fire starts and becomes a menacing predator of those inhabiting the highly wooded and unfinished housing development that is home to the secrets of the missing teen.
I enjoyed every aspect of this book from the devastated now grown younger sister that can't leave the memory of her big sister's disappearance alone, to the neighbor whose son also went missing the same night as the girl and the hatred that was ignited between the two families from the same tragedy.
Then another teenage girl goes missing .
All the players from years past return or meet up unwillingly in the same development when all leads point to the newly missing teen having been there just before vanishing. The problems is the fire is burning and will not be denied.

Thank you to Novel Suspects, Mulholland Books and Netgalley for an early e-copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are mine.

3.5 ⭐️

This was a SOLID 4 STAR read for me….until the ending. 🫤

Grace was counting down the days until she graduated: 1300, 1115, 895…softening the blow for her younger sister, Leyna.

Leyna was counting on 466 more days with her sister at home-but then Grace and her boyfriend Adam, disappeared from their Sierra Foothills neighborhood.

Now she has been without Grace for nearly 6000 days- And, she is still obsessed with the true-crime websites-still looking for a trace of her sister.

Sixteen years later, a stranger who looks like Grace shows up at the restaurant where Leyna is working.
Her name is Ellie Byrd.

SHE VANISHES SOON AFTER

When it comes out that Leyna was one of the last people to have talked with the young woman, she and Adam’s brother, Dominick, become convinced that there is a connection, and they team up to investigate.

Leyna’s mother, Meredith, still lives in the family home—and down the street, Adam and Dominic’s mother Olivia has also stayed, determined to be there when her son finally returns.

So, it isn’t hard to find either woman when the PAST comes knocking. But the past isn’t the only threat to the two families, or to the missing girl from Sacramento.

There is a Wildfire threatening the neighborhood, and it may be even more deadly than the secrets that are about to become exposed. As the 🔥 grew closer, I grew nervous, as I have personally seen what the sky looks like when FIRE is near.

Last year’s “Before She Finds Me” was a FAST paced thriller that earned 5 stars from me. And, many early reviewers were disappointed that this book DIDN’T share that same fast pace. I didn’t mind this SLOW BURN, which is more DOMESTIC SUSPENSE-as Heather Chavez writes a lot of delicious highlight-worthy passages that just capture my fancy…

Like when Leyna finds at a neighbors house-a well worn copy of a favorite book, Agatha Christie’s -The Murder of Roger Ackroyd-and wonders if her favorite parts were also his. Or, when Olivia is visited by law enforcement who is warning residents of the threat of fire, and she muses that “the worst news always followed being asked to take a seat”.

But, what did not work for me after such a binge worthy book, was the CONVOLUTED ending. I had to read it TWICE, so I understood what happened but I still couldn’t make sense of WHY. It just didn’t work.

I remained engaged and curious throughout but, the final chapters really let me down.

At least Goose 🐶 comes out unscathed!

BE SURE to read the author’s notes about her terrifying experience with a WILDFIRE.

AND, be sure to watch for DeAnn’s review for additional thoughts! Perhaps she found the ending satisfying?

Available July 23, 2024

Thank You to Mulholland Books for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. These are my candid thoughts!

This was one of those mysteries that, while very slow, also had so much going on at the same time. It took until about halfway through for me to really get into it. There were multiple perspectives, one being the fire itself, which was odd but unique. The ending was done well, but overall, I felt like maybe I could have skipped this one. That's not to say this was bad. It was just not for me. Maybe others will enjoy this one, and if the description piques your interest, give it a shot. Three stars because although I could have done without, this was still a well written book with a decent plot.

Thank you, Netgalley and Mulholland Books, for this ARC.

This domestic thriller is a super slow burn with an ever present ominous and lurking fear of the fire. Although Heather Chavez is one of my favorite authors, I thought this book was just so so.

🔥 F I R E F R I D A Y 🔥 featuring “What We’ll Burn Last” by Heather Chavez!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

Leyna Clarke has never given up on finding her missing sister Grace. Sixteen years ago Grace disappeared with her boyfriend Adam and was never seen again.

When a teenaged girl goes missing that looks a lot like Grace, Leyna is desperate to return to the small town she fled from to get some answers. As a threatening wildfire spreads through the county, Leyna pushes to uncover the truth about her sister and see if the cases are connected!

This book is a SLOW burn domestic thriller … but at the same time the threatening wild fire adds to the desperation of the MC finding answers! The characters are unreliable and sketchy, the twists and turns creates tons of tension and the uncovering of secrets and lies puts readers in a downward spiral!

Thank you kindly to @heatherchavezauthor @mulhollandbooks @hachettebooks @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on July 23, 2024!

This book has a neat premise - it takes the California wildfires and missing persons (and the hunt for missing persons) and combines those two events into its plot.

I felt like the novel had a good mystery to its plot, but I also felt as though the book had almost too much going on at once.

Leyna returns to her home neighborhood after being gone for years. It was sixteen years ago that her older sister, Grace, and Grace's boyfriend, Adam, disappeared one night from the very same neighborhood. Leyna is drawn back to the location because of another disappearing teen, Ellie, who eerily reminds her of her long lost sister, Grace. Leyna was visited by Ellie in a restaurant where she works (hours away from her old hometown) just the day before her disappearance.

Upon returning to the subdivision, Leyna finds that not much has changed - her mother and Adam's mother still reside next door to each other, still hate each other, and are still blaming each other for their kids' disappearances that fateful night. Throw in the fact that Ellie did indeed visit this exact neighborhood right before her reported disappearance.

You encounter multiple perspectives as the clock counts down to the wildfires' approach and to finding the missing teen. You also encounter a plethora of twists and turns which will keep you glued to the enigma being presented.

Lovers of crime and mystery will enjoy this wild ride. Thank you, NetGalley and Mulholland Books, for this ARC. It drops July 23.

This book was so hard to get into, I felt like it was super slow, and it really didn’t have a hook that drew me in. It’s told through 3 POVs, but the same timelines.

There was so much drama and hate between families for understandable reasons once you know. I don’t think I really liked any of the characters…maybe the side characters. Dominic and Thea were good characters.

I think it really took me til 60% before I was fully invested in the story. At that point, the story was giving me such anxiety. I liked that the story was about the fires that California had went through. I couldn’t imagine living through that.

I think I may have just not been in the right headspace for this book. I think other people would really love this story. I like that the author didn’t leave you guessing at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me read and review this book early.

Slow

What We’ll Burn Last is a thriller centered around a missing girl and a wildfire approaching a half-completed housing development, which is eerily tied to another disappearance from the same area 16 years ago.

I went into this book expecting the pacing and action to be similar to Before She Finds Me, which I loved for the action, drama, tension, and suspense. This book is quite different--it is a slow-burn read with minimal action until the end.

The narrative revolves around three women:

Leyna, a sometimes waitress who has never given up hope that her sister Grace, who disappeared 16 years ago, is still alive. Her obsession with uncovering the truth has isolated her from everyone.
Meredith, mother to Grace and Leyna, lives a solitary life painting replicas of famous artworks in an unfinished housing development.

Olivia, the mother of Adam (Grace’s boyfriend) and Meredith’s neighbor, grapples with her hidden struggles.

All are keeping secrets about Grace and Adam’s disappearance. I didn’t like any of the characters, although Leyna is perhaps the most sympathetic.

The narrative structure is a bit choppy--perspectives will shift from the present to the past in the middle of a chapter, making it a bit confusing to remember which timeline I was in.

There are chapters also dedicated to the fire. I expected more tension and suspense from these chapters, but they were stagnant.

This was a bit of a struggle to read. It took me a week to get through it. Had it not been for the mystery surrounding Grace’s disappearance, which was intriguing and had many layers, I probably would have DNF’d. The only other element I was concerned with was whether or not Olivia’s dog, Goose, would make it out of the fire alive.

The ending is where the action, tension, and suspense finally come into play. However, the outcome fell flat. I also had some questions that were never answered.

This isn't a bad read; however, it didn't fully meet my expectations. The mystery is compelling, and while the intensity of the characters can be off-putting, it also adds a certain depth to the narrative.

Overall, this was a mixed bag that left me curious yet somewhat unsatisfied.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Mulholland Books in exchange for an honest review.

This one was a bit of a departure for the author, at least in terms of pacing. Her other books have been fast paced with lots of action to keep you turning the pages and this one was very slow with the action not happening until the very end. There were quite a few characters to keep track of at first and it did take some time for me to settle in with them, I think it’s because Olivia and Meredith were so similar in their unlikability that I had a hard time knowing who was who as the book switched back and forth a lot. Leyna was much more likable for me so her chapters were my favorite and then there were short chapters from the fire that was beginning to rage in their neighborhood that were ok. I took almost a week to get through this and that’s pretty unheard of for me but I am glad I finished because I was super curious about what happened to Grace and Adam. Overall just an ok read for me, I definitely needed more action and faster pacing.

This book had lots of suspense and who did it questions but I found myself confused at times. While eventually it all came together I had many times where my attention was lost. It jumped around a bunch. I kept reading however because I had to figure out what the heck was going on with these families. I just wished there was a bit less chaos throughout the book.

Thank you, NetGalley and Mulholland Books for the copy of What We’ll Burn Last by Heather Chavez. I loved the description of this book, but somehow the pacing was off. I had trouble really getting involved with the story because there were so many characters and I had a hard time keeping them and their stories straight. The integration of the wildfires didn’t meld with the rest of the narrative until the end, and when it did it made the book even more exciting. I loved how everything came together in the end, I just wish I had been more engaged with the characters.

Many thanks to Novel Suspects Insiders Club, Netgalley, and Hachette Book Group for this arc. I received this book in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are entirely my own.

Layla and Grace are sisters and when Grace was 16 and Layla was 12 Grace disappeared. Grace disappeared with Adam Duran the guy next door. Layla and Grace were best friends with Adam and Dominic Duran. Adam and Grace were a couple and after a big fight they disappeared. Layla believes that Adam hurt Grace and killed her, the day after she disappeared Layla confronted Adam's mother Olivia and told her that her son wasn't as innocent as she believed him to be. Even after 16 years Layla still believes her sister is alive somewhere. Then another girl who looks a lot like Grace disappears. Ellie Bryd is actually Grace's daughter and Layla's niece. Ellie was taken by Olivia because Olivia finds her in her and Richard's bedroom and believes her to be Richard's mistress. Layla and Grace's mother buried Adam in the backyard after killing him by hitting him with a mallet when he had his hands around Grace's neck. Grace and Layla reunite and save Ellie who Richard hid in a cabin after discovering what Olivia did. Grace and Layla have a stronger relationship and Layla will get to know her niece.

It took me a bit to get into this fully as there were so many characters and a back and forth timeline. Definitely a family drama with a lot of secrets and a wildfire burning out of control that forces them to all come spilling out.