aiyam 's review for:

Like a House on Fire by Lauren McBrayer

4.25

challenging emotional sad slow-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

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This book would have been 5 stars if I wasn’t so uncomfortable with the cheating. Like falling in love with someone else while married but never acting on it until you’re divorced? Messed up but morally more okay to me. 

McBrayer drew me in immediately to this story. Merit’s story broke my heart, unhappy in her marriage and life but doesn’t know any other way is the fate of so many great women. The writing is incredibly emotional, I genuinely felt myself tearing up at points. 

I adore Jane. There is nothing to dislike about her. From the second she stepped onto the page I fell in love, so I really can’t blame Merit. She’s charming, funny, and completely comfortable in her own skin being in charge. 

This book is set over the course of several years, with many time skips. At the beginning I was crying over how sad Merit was, and by the end I was crying tears of joy as everything fell properly into place. It felt like a natural progression, not rushed and with all the pain that comes from an affair and a divorce.

I read the book in a morning, I was obsessed and could not put it down.