Selby goes deep into her own personal life, while weaving in the specifics of the history of an area of a current active fire. Selby’ takes on a fervent tone of the damage all out fire suppression is doing, despite it being her job.

Not surprisingly, women are not common as hotshots. There are some, but it is a male dominated job. It is also one that tends undermine the women that do show up. She, unfortunately, experienced men behaving badly. The guys on these crews are usually quite young, and are guided by their superiors, it appears this abusive behavior is systemic. Reporting it generally means losing one's job, as it becomes worse for the woman.

Selby spends quite a bit of time discussing her mom, they had a tough relationship. Selby didn’t have another parent to lean on though, and the result was a messy adolescence. Firefighting was a way out of some of that self-abuse and giving her a tough job that helped her. In some ways this book is much more about Selby than being a hotshot.

You know, when I was a child, I had big dreams of becoming a firefighter. I was talked out of it by my parents who thought I would be best suited to retail or office work. That feeling never went away, even though I did indeed go into retail as a teen and then office administration when I left school.

River lived the dream, and went one better: becoming a hotshot.

This was a very honest account of her life when she was a wildland firefighter and a hotshot, a career path that was full of roadblocks, both big and small. It is also full of detail about what her job entailed, which I really appreciated as I eventually realised that I wouldn't have had the physical strength to become a firefighter, in all honesty, so my only option is to live vicariously through someone else. I did join the Army Reserve when I was 19, in an effort to challenge myself and it was amazing but not a good fit for me. That physical strength thing again, darn it.

Anyway, I enjoyed this book and hope that River is living her absolute best life now, she certainly deserves it.

4.5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic | Atlantic Monthly Press for the e-ARC.

This was a captivating, raw, emotional memoir of a wildland firefighter. It focuses on the years that River Selby was engaged in that profession, as well providing insight into their life and troubled family life that led them to that profession for nearly a decade in the early 2000s, as well as their struggles with mental health and bulimia. Along the way it explores the natural history of the American West and the way we have mismanaged the land (and fire) that now combined with climate change is leading to evermore destructive wildland fires. It further documents the rough life, low-waged aspect of this seasonal type of work, as well as the misogynistic culture they endured during their time in the service.

As the father of a firefighter/paramedic, I found the details of how wildland firefighters go about fighting fires fascinating.

River Selby's prose is engaging in a way that while you know they are now in a PhD program and have written this book, their is a bit of that "edge of the seat suspense" that has you rooting for them to succeed, and concerned they won't.

Finally, I not only appreciated the fact that they included a bibliography, but also a suggested further reading list.

I highly recommend this read!

Hotshot is a brave, educational and captivating memoir. River Shelby perfectly blends personal narrative with educational content, creating my favorite type of memoir. I learned many new things about wildland firefighting, nature and history. River’s story is moving and fierce, I highly recommend Hotshot!

As someone fascinated by wildfires, I collect books on the topic. This one stands out not only because it is written by a woman, but also because she was a hotshot—a member of one of the most elite wildland firefighters crews. She offers a fresh perspective on familiar stories, demonstrating how her gender influenced her experience.

There is more value to this memoir, though. Her writing style is compelling, and she blends her recollections with interesting insights on the impact of colonization on indigenous peoples and centuries-old land management methods.

Thanks to the publisher, Grove Atlantic, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

The author reflects on their time fighting wildfires in California as part of a crew of hotshots.
Author River Selby was just 19 years old and at loose ends when a friend convinced them to apply for a job as a wildland firefighter. For the next seven years, they spent their summers on fire crews throughout the western United States: two years as a contract firefighter responsible for mopping up after an area burned through, four years as a hotshot (an elite firefighter who works in direct contact with active fires), and one year as part of a helicopter crew. Hotshot: A Life on Fire is a memoir of Selby's experiences from that part of their life, both on and off the fire line.

Selby's writing throughout is beautiful and engaging. Their first fire was the massive Viveash fire, near Pecos, New Mexico, in May and June 2000. More than a thousand firefighters and other personnel were assigned to put out a conflagration that started when a prescribed burn (one set deliberately to reduce flammable materials in the understory) got out of control. Selby describes their first experience of a burned area:

"The land around us was completely scorched; I’d seen nothing like it before. Bare, blackened trees with pointed, spindly limbs and black soil that felt strange underfoot, both spongy and brittle. The air smelled sweet and repellent, like a puttering campfire. Each footstep sent up clouds of dust and ash, coating everything, including my mouth and teeth, in fine grit, blackening my snot and saliva."

Selby's numerous close calls certainly send the reader’s pulse pounding, but their descriptions also emphasize the grime and drudgery that make up the bulk of a wildland firefighter's routine. They were often dispatched to a blaze for weeks at a time with little respite, sleeping on the ground, eating MREs, and remaining sweat- and soot-stained for the length of their deployment. They clearly illustrate that firefighting is far from glamorous work.

In addition to their personal experience of this life, Selby also discusses how fire suppression policies, combined with climate change, have caused fires to burn hotter and larger. For example, invasive species such as cheat grass are the first to move into the terrain created by current suppression techniques. This grass then dies early in the season, creating an enormous amount of fuel that wouldn't otherwise be present. They also write at length about how effectively Native nations managed the land, using fire as a tool to increase a forest's health, and how disruptive the arrival of European colonizers was to not only the peoples here but the environment as well. They delve into the histories of the Forest Service and forest fire management, as well as that of some of the larger burns that have impacted California in particular. One of the book's highlights is the author's ability to weave all this information into their narrative without allowing it to overwhelm or detract from their own story.

Selby's unflinching honesty also sets this memoir apart; they don't shy away from admitting to a life riddled with trauma. "I had been a tween and teenage runaway," they write, "a sex worker, and a survivor of violence." They were raped multiple times in their youth, abused drugs and alcohol, and struggled with bulimia. Even as part of the crew, they recount the many nights spent drinking heavily and sleeping with people they barely knew. When the author was part of the hotshot crew they identified as female, and as such they were subjected to levels of sexual harassment that most would consider completely unacceptable. They knew that to file a claim with HR would effectively end their employment, however, so they tolerated it until pushed to the breaking point. Merely threatening to report a fellow firefighter’s behavior caused enough negative reaction from the rest of the crew that they ultimately quit.

When not on a fire crew, much of Selby's energy was spent trying (and failing) to help their abusive, alcoholic mother live a less chaotic life. These chapters are at least as harrowing as the tensest scenes with the fire crew. The author realistically depicts their struggle to come to terms with the harm their mother has inflicted on them, although even at the book’s end one senses they continue to grapple with the long-term impacts of emotional abuse.

Hotshot reminded me in many ways of Cheryl Strayed's memoir, Wild, and I suspect fans of that book will enjoy this one as well. Like Wild, Hotshot depicts a vulnerable person at a crossroads in their life who takes on an incredibly difficult physical challenge. Selby's work is well-written, entertaining, and educational, and I highly recommend it for most audiences.

I am so thankful for the ARC of this novel. Since I do not like giving a rating on memoirs, I will explain what I thought of this story!

This novel is the account of a female firefighter, and the challenges that come with the job. This novel opened my eyes to so much within the occupation, and wilderness firefighting in general. I loved the descriptions, and the amount of things I learned. This was a book I never expected to enjoy, but hadnt read anything similar. I really did enjoy this one and think it could be good for those that love nonfiction!

Account of female firefighter in USA. The account is very detailed including firefighting, and intimate details of their personal life. It sure wasn’t easy being a firefighter. Important notes on sexual harassment in the workplace and childhood trauma. Thank you to the author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

"This may have been the exact moment I fell in love with being a hotshot. Burning was like entering an alternate dimension. My shirt was drenched but I hadn't noticed myself sweating. The drip torch became an extension of my arm, fire a liquid expelled by my body. There was no pain. I'd been totally focused, consumed like branches alchemized from solid to smoke. I was cleansed." (loc. 672*)

Selby fell into firefighting almost by accident—but it stuck, and what followed was years in and out of seasonal work, in the wild, on the fireline. Firefighting was (still is) an industry dominated by cis White men, and Selby did not fit the mold; sometimes it was possible to forget that and just be a firefighter, and sometimes the reminders came thick and fast that some of the people on the crew wanted a crew that was exclusively firemen.

I've said it before and expect I'll say it again in the not too distant future: in another life, I want to be a wildland firefighter. In the meantime, though, I'll just keep ploughing through memoir after memoir as they turn up. And what I'm learning from memoirs on the subject is this: Wildland firefighting has always been behind the times in the US; it has always focused on suppression despite centuries of evidence that some amount of fire can be a regeneration tool. And wildland firefighting is falling ever more behind the times as the effects of climate change accelerate and fires burn bigger and hotter than ever before. As Jordan Thomas does in "When It All Burns", Selby dives into both past and present, excavating history to trace the path of firefighting, mismanagement, and inadequate stewardship.

"Leaving was my answer to everything." (loc. 2401)

Though it is of course the same history, the tone of the books is strikingly different. While Thomas felt out of place at times for being an academic who took to firefighting as a side gig (for money and for research), once he proved himself, he was any other guy on the crew; for Selby, firefighting was a lifeline out of a traumatic upbringing, and there was never going to be the option to be "any other guy" on the crew. It's a painful read at times, but a raw and valuable one. Recommended to those interested in climate change, gender politics, fire, and/or more generally memoir.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.

In this thoroughly researched memoir, Selby expertly weaves memories of firefighting with technical and metaphorical descriptions of fires as well as Native American history of the land on which they worked, while examining the whole experience through the lens of the misogyny they experienced as the only visibly female crew member in a long time.

Selby does a great job of describing their experiences in vivid detail, particularly when it comes to the physicality of firefighting as an occupation.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in land history, the science of fires, the field of firefighting, and sexism.

Long and winding memoir set against the backdrop of wilderness fire fighting. I enjoyed learning about the fire fighters and especially the challenges of being a woman in that setting. There was also a lot of education interspersed on forest fires and I learned a lot. Excellent writer who has not had an easy road. Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and give an honest review.

Hotshot is an upcoming nonfiction/memoir from author River Selby. This book is rich with information about the environmental complexities of fire suppression and the impact of human behavior on our landscapes. These themes of nature are woven between stories of Selby’s life as a female wildland firefighter.

This will sound stupid to say, but I think this book does a really good job at being what it is. It is both an intensely vulnerable memoir and a thorough resource on environmental science—in equal parts. I can think of a few different friends or coworkers who would find this memoir really interesting.

TW: eating disorders, sexual assault, suicide, substance abuse, mental illness, sexual content

As you can see from the list above, this book hits on several heavy topics that may not be suitable for all readers. I’m pretty unflinching when it comes to these things, and the only part I’m still looking for at the end of the book is some resolution on Selby’s experiences with those things. Maybe unbeknownst to the author, the reader is rooting for you!

River, I hope you’re doing well and thriving today. This book taught me more than I ever dreamed of learning about fire, nature’s response to it and the various local and government departments, agencies and programs that regulate our human interactions with the land.

This is a 5 ⭐️ read for me. Hotshot is available on August 12, 2025. Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for this ARC in exchange for me honest review.

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