A review by starthelostgirl
Bonfire by Krysten Ritter

2.0

This is not a good book. I wanted to love it so badly, because the talent is there, but it just fell flat in every way. I did not care at all about a single character in this book. They were all flat and dull. Abby is messed up over a weird thing that happened in high school and it is never explained why she cares so much. She immediately ends up in romantic situations with two guys for no apparent reason. Abby conveniently recalls crucial details of a twenty-year-old incident that she apparently embedded into her psyche, despite not remembering them until now. The main mystery is honestly very boring and not fun to read about. They are investigating whether a local company is polluting the water and then no one cares at all when they prove that to be true. The real mystery is so convoluted, contrived, and ludicrous that even the best suspension-of-disbelief could not get me to swallow it. There are so many semicolons in this book (sometimes up to a dozen per page) that it actually distracted me.

The climax was incredibly exciting and had me on the edge of my seat, but the total disregard for anything resembling realism left me feeling disappointed when I had turned the last page. I think Ritter can do so much better with a solid plot, some character development, and a better editor.