A very intimate memoir of a female firefighter which shows the personal and environmental dangers of wildland firefighting.

You get history, environmental facts, tense scenes, sexism, personal relationships, and rocky mental health.

The author has a very vivid way of writing the decoration left by the fires. I could almost smell the smoke and feel the crunching bush under my feet.

Whilst I think there was slightly too much indulgence in the personal for a book about wild firefighting, it did make the author feel more real and broken. Trigger warnings for eating disorders, substance abuse.bad relationships, family issues, sexual assault.

This is a very brave story to tell and I wish the author the happiest of futures.

Audiobooks arc gifted by publisher.

Thank you to Netgalley and RBmedia | Recorded Books for the advanced audiobook in exchange for my honest review. I was intrigued by the title and cover of this book. I was interested in how firefighting out west in the US works. This author did a fantastic job describing her life, her job and many politics, history and types of forests in relation to wildfires. It was interesting, yet sometimes a bit dry with the details, though necessary. She is a total baddy in my book!

As a firefighter/paramedic wife I was very excited about this book!!! To hear a woman’s perspective in a male dominated
field. She has a very interesting take and I loved that the author read her own book for the audiobook! I thought the book was quite long but very insightful!

Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for the advanced audio book

River Selby (who went by Ana at the time) worked as a wildlife firefighter from 2000-2010, being only one of very few female firefighters in a male-dominated industry. Selby intersperses the history of wildlife firefighting with tales of their own harrowing backstory (disordered eating, sexual assault, parental alienation, substance abuse) and how they made it through working one of the most dangerous jobs.

The author reads this audiobook and I found Selby's voice very engaging and easy to listen to. But I struggled with getting through this book, even though the premise of following a female wildlife firefighter was very appealing. It wasn't because of the devastating things that Selby went through both on and off the job. In listening to memoirs that are also providing information about a topic I don't know much about, I like when the author weaves the history of the topic into their personal narrative. Selby did a lot more chunking of history about firefighting that, while interesting, didn't compare to the more active story of her life and I found myself wanting to skim over those parts, even though there was great material conveyed there as well. Overall, this is an interesting book about an occupation rarely written about and if the structure of the storytelling works for you, then this would be a great read.

Hotshot came out on August 12, 2025.

An interesting read that is a combination memoir, informational and political.

From 2000 to 2010, River Selby was a wildland firefighter whose given name was Anastasia. This is a memoir of that time in their life—of Ana, the struggles she encountered, and the contours of what it meant to be female-bodied in a male-dominated profession.

By the time they were 19, Selby had been homeless, addicted to drugs, and sexually assaulted more than once. In a last-ditch effort to find direction, they applied to be a wildland firefighter. Soon immersed in the world of firefighting and its arcana—from specialized tools named for the fire pioneers who invented them, to the back-breaking labor of racing against time to create firebreaks—Selby began to find an internal balance. Then, after two years of ragtag contract firefighting, Selby joined an elite class of specially trained wildland firefighters known as hotshots.

Over the course of five fire seasons, Selby delves into the world of the people—almost entirely men—who risk their lives to fight and sometimes prevent wildfires. Marked out in a sea of machismo, Selby was simultaneously hyper visible and invisible, and Hotshot deftly parses the odd mix of camaraderie and rampant sexism she experienced on her fire crews, and how, when challenged, it resulted in a violent closing of ranks that excluded her from the work she’d come to love. Drawing on years of firsthand experience on the frontlines of fire, followed by years of research into the science and history of fire, Hotshot also reckons with our fraught stewardship of the land—how federal fire policy is maladapted to the realities of fire-prone landscapes and how it has led to ever more severe fire seasons.

Hotshot: A Life on Fire, memoir from a hotshot firefighter. This is set to publish 8/12/2025.

This story is told from River Selby, life as her given name (Anastasia, aka Ana) during their experience as a Hotshot.

I loved how honest and raw Ana's story was. Hard to read at times given Ana's backstory (trauma check TW) and life as a 'female firefighter'. Female tagged in this way with respect to Ana's story and the alignment of how one is viewed in this field. I too can relate with that end of things, given I fought fire for a 7 year stretch.

I found this story to be a mix of narrative memoir with a purpose driven dialogue to the issues at play in this world of fire. There are harsh undertones that are clearly labeled and upfront. The writing acts like a magnifying glass Ana doesn't shy away from what others may not bring to light.

I thoroughly enjoyed the pace of this story, bringing the firefighting jargin to 'common every day speak'. Also, in a way that really brought one into the story to highlight the demand of the job. Coming from a knowledge of understanding didn't really take away from this story but brought more of a 'knowing smile' to the story.

My heart breaks for the personnel story and hardship that Ana has had (and maybe still is) to go through in this life. It says so much that this story exists. I would address Ana and say, that you have a voice and it matters.

The writing is very easy speak and approachable with some great insight into how forest agencies came to be. The heartbreak of the land and the indigenous people. This story was well integrated with Ana's personal life and the points brought in really highlighted the story being told.

Thank you to Netgalley and RBmedia for this audiobook in exchange of my honest review.

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 listening to Hotshot, as the author narrates herself!

3.5 stars rounded up. Coming from a fire family a lot of the technical information felt like repeat explanations, but once she really dives into the nitty gritty of the realities (her experience) of not only being a female in the male dominated field of firefighting, but as a hot shot?? That’s where it hooked me.