Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Wildfire

Representation: N/A
Score: Two out of ten.

Wildfire was as awful, if not worse, than Icebreaker. Perhaps I should stop reading from Hannah Grace, as all her books have been overhyped. I wanted to read this one for a while, hoping it would be much better than Icebreaker, but unfortunately, it was at the same level as Icebreaker. The ratings were low, the blurb didn't seem intriguing and I was underwhelmed.

It starts with Russ Callaghan and Aurora Roberts meeting and briefly interacting with each other in a college party, but Aurora escapes before Russ asks for her surname, then it cuts to a summer camp, where Russ and Aurora meet again. Everything looks typical except for one rule, the camp staff can't develop relationships, much to their dismay, but I know what's going to happen. They develop a relationship anyway. There is little plot other than that, and all the issues I saw in Icebreaker reappear in Wildfire. First the characters are difficult to connect or relate with, making me disconnect from the central storyline. While the length of Wildfire is less than Grace's debut creation, Icebreaker, clocking in at less than 400 pages, the pacing is still slow and continues to be this way, which made me enjoy it less.

I didn't feel like Russ and Aurora had any chemistry or character development, since they lacked depth and never changed from the beginning to the end. Adding more depth and development would've improved the reading experience. Wildfire has no literary value, as it is nothing more than a mere contemporary romance, meaning those looking for diversity or literary value should look elsewhere. At least the setting of the camp was interesting, but I would've liked to see more of the side characters, like Anastasia, of which there aren't many. The writing style is enough to keep the plot going, since it's accessible and there's nothing too literary. I don't think Grace will improve based on this one. I'm done with her now. The climax is heartwarming though, as the couple is together.

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kharri13's review against another edition

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funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It was okay. Could've been better. I just don't think I really like the "I've just met you and I feel comfortable telling you everything about myself" trope or the bringing up of daddy issues a lot.

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vaguelyredhead's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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toastyghosty13's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was exactly what it was advertising to be: a lighthearted romance story between people with trauma and some smut. the writing wasn't great, but I do enjoy how the books in this series are very similar in themes to the movie Chef: they start off with the characters going through tough times, and their lives keep getting better even though you expect something bad to happen. This is a great light hearted read for in between serious books that are very deep. It is pretty surface level and it feels like a palette cleanser, but it almost feels like an insult to call it a palette cleanser since the characters are pretty loveable. This was not as smutty as the book before this, called Icebreaker, although that was some overkill on the smut given how innocent the covers look.

Overall, cute read, I enjoyed the characters a lot.

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abby_can_read's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

🎧
Since I haven't seen this book all over BookTok and Bookstagram, I'm assuming it's not as popular as "Icebreaker."

Based on my experience with "Icebreaker," I went into this book with low expectations. I thought it was alright. The characters were flat, and I struggled to connect with either Aurora or Russ. I just found that I didn't really care about them or what they were going through. The plot was fine. I think the pacing was a little slow as I got bored with this book at times. The writing style was okay.

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kayji's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Reading this book felt like reading people chronically on twitter interacting in real life.
The conversations seemed too unrealistic between the couple, especially during "deep", "emotional" or "romantic" moments. I wish Honey Acres as a setting was explored more alongside the whole camp atmosphere.
The side characters also deserved more moments to shine, as I really loved Xanders banter with the other characters.
Some moments in the book gave me whiplash just from how quickly the scenes and conversation topics were changing. Some moments and conversations also felt like they finished too abruptly before moving on.
TDLR: Great setting, funny side characters, unrealistic mmc and fmc.

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maddysoup's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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lilhappyhermit's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Russ and Aurora are so precious. Their dynamic of the outgoing social girl paired the shy and timid guy was to die for. I loved how they had a similar dynamic with their family and were able to bond and support each other through those moments of vulnerability. Also, Blythe’s sense of humor was hilarious. She had me cackling on more than one occasion. Random but much needed note: Fish and her babies made my heart explode!

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