Things You Save in a Fire

I guess I'm somewhere between a 2 and 2.5.

When I read How To Walk Away and found it just okay, I should have realized that the author's writing style doesn't exactly work for me. But when I was offered this ARC, I thought I should give it another try and and here I am. I'm not exactly disappointed because I didn't know what I was expecting, but it was just an overall underwhelming read.

Cassie is a determined, hard working and talented firefighter/paramedic but she holds herself to an almost impossible standard to make it in her very male centered profession. Her mother's abandonment and a traumatic event at the age of sixteen have made her an emotionally closed off person, which means she hardly has any friends or social life and channels all her energy into being a great firefighter. When she has to move to a much more regressive fire department in a small town to live with her mother, she has to prove herself all over again. While I admire her for being so composed and handling every situation with a sort of clinical precision, I guess I wanted her to show a bit more emotion. But thankfully, her character arc is about growing more comfortable with showing emotion and vulnerability and I thought that was good. It just wasn't entirely satisfactory.

The rookie love interest Owen was a dreamy guy, sweet and kind and just overall nice. While I liked how he was able to bring down Cassie's walls a bit, I just thought the romance happened very fast and I didn't see the buildup at all. The other side characters at the fire station all felt very two dimensional and I couldn't even remember their names by the time I finished reading. Cassie's mom is like a walking talking self help book and though I was sympathetic to her situation and wanting to spend more time with her daughter, their interactions didn't feel very authentic to me.

The one thing that's good about this author's books are that they are very fast paced and easy to read - I finished it in just two sittings despite not enjoying myself much. My biggest problem was that the book wasn't sure which category it wanted to be in - it wants to be a romance novel but the love story itself is rushed, there is hardly any relationship progression and I couldn't understand why they were in love; on the other hand, the book wants to talk about issues like sexism in the workplace and dealing with trauma and how they impact our lives for a long time, but none of it is explored deeply because the author doesn't seem to want to lose the light /breezy feel of the book. This just makes it all feel very superficial. There is also a “not like other girls” trope, especially at the beginning when the main character says things like “being in love is very girly and it makes girls sad and pathetic” and I hated it. The main character experiences deep trauma as a teenager which has affected her capacity to have relationships for a long time, but we never get to see how she is actually dealing with it... and ultimately, falling in love fixes all her issues, which is another trope I don't particularly enjoy anymore. While I like the concept of forgiveness and how it's important to forgive to be able to move forward and lead a more productive life, all the advice given in the book about it was pretty perfunctory and shallow and didn't evoke any feelings in me. Despite having a bit of mystery element in the story, there is hardly any conflict and the author ensures that everything is neatly tied up in a bow.

If you have enjoyed the author's books before, you'll probably like this a lot more than I did. If you are looking for a light and easy fairytale-esque book without a lot of angst, then you should give this a try. However, if you are looking for an amazing well developed romance or a book that deeply touches on issues that the main character faces in her personal and professional life, then Things You Save in a Fire is definitely not it.

Really liked this book! The author tells a story of a resilient and strong woman who carries scars from her past and finds ways to heal from them and get to know herself more completely. The book made me laugh and cry, and think about my own experiences and love and forgiveness and strength. It grabs the reader's attention right away and brings them along for a ride.

Standing Outside the Fire. Wow. This tale about a female firefighter's struggles both personally and professionally was simply amazing. Told almost in memoir format, the tale picks up when our narrator is at an awards gala to receive the highest honor her Department has to offer. When things go a bit awry, she heads thousands of miles away to help her sick mother and hide. Little does she know that in the process of doing both, she will find things are more complicated than she ever dared imagine - and find strength even she never knew she had. Firefighters try to stay outside of fires unless necessary, and tend not to stay in them longer than absolutely necessary to do the job. But this tale gives new life to the old Garth Brooks song, in all the best ways. Again, simply amazing.

I want to say this is literary fiction due to the way it is written and the topics broached. I don't want to say it is literary fiction as I feel that would limit this book and the audience it attracts. In general, the book is both fully and serious. It is intense and light. It is everything you need. WARNING: includes sexual assault and love at first sight for those who don't want to read that. This book deals with both of those beautifully if you ask me, but be aware. Overall, this book is everything I could have asked for, and a new favourite

This was a fast read and I enjoyed it. The story is about a female firefighter and I looked forward to reading it because I've always been interested in the firefighter job and lifestyle. How do they accommodate the co-ed living situation, for example? I imagined there was prejudice from the men when a women came into their ranks and this book is all about that. It was really good.

2019 Summer Reading Challenge:
Continental drift: Read a book set in every continent - this book was set in North America.
Back to school: Read a book about a subject you don't know much about.

The jaded pick me girl falls for the feminist puppy guy. The end. Lol jk. It reminded me a lot of the movie Life as a House. Sick parent tricks angry child to move in, child finds love and cleans up their life, parent and child bond and parent dies, and finally, child lives the rest of their life well adjusted. Overall, I liked it. Lots of trigger warnings though.

This is my eighth Katherine Center book and I think I finally know why I enjoy her stories so much. Like her characters, her books aren't glamorous or movie-star-pretty or brilliant. No, her books are flawed, with flawed people. But—and this is important—her books and her characters have heart. Her stories tell about people who have been hurt by life, but who are actively working to heal and help others heal. We see people who use love and humor to set things right, and the end result is a world that is a little bit better. We come away from her books seeing how we can make our own lives and the lives of others happier.

Things You Save in a Fire is the story of Cassie, a woman breaking into what is still in many ways a man's domain. She's had terrible experiences in life—her mother left her on her sixteenth birthday and a man took advantage of her and deeply hurt her the same day. To save herself, she has completely walled herself off. And then her mother asks her to come live with her and help her. And she finds a man she wants to let in. What to do? It's clear that things need to change.

What would I save in a fire? THIS BOOK. Things You Save in a Fire was an emotional rollercoaster. I laughed out loud at some parts. I felt utter rage at others. A book that inspires such a range of emotions is the most deserving of 5 stars.

There are so many amazing aspects of this book. Number one: GIRL. POWER. If I was faced with the amount of blatant sexism Cassie faces in her life as a female firefighter, I don't know how I would handle it. For starters, I'd be enraged. I might yell. Some w

I really enjoyed the premise of this book—a woman in a man's world, dealing with the ramifications of trauma in her life. The fire station life felt authentic and I liked the character Cassie. It felt like there was maybe a little too much going on in this novel? There seemed to be three plot lines; estranged mother, firefighter life and a romance. To my taste, the author didn't get deep enough into all three plot lines for me to find them satisfying. Cassie just suddenly seems to flip a switch and warm toward her mom. Owen ‘the rookie' has undergone his own trauma, yet he seems like an impossibly perfect guy with no baggage, and often when Cassie's with the firefighters, it's a bit like... where is this going, especially before she starts getting harassed. Cassie is exemplary at EVERYTHING to do with firefighting, to the extent it's a bit like, come on. But overall, I liked it, and will definitely read more of Katherine Center's books.

Well, this much is clear: I wouldn't bother to save this novel in a fire. This book is a whole new kind of bad. It actually made me annoyed and, at times, angry.Sexualised violence, PTSD, cancer, sexism, general violence, stalking, abandonment, arson, insta-love, and forgiveness (for all of the afore-mentioned) - all in this one novel and badly done to boot.Before anything else - even being human - Cassie Hanwell is an extremely successful firefighter. No doubt in large part due to the fact that this profession in the USA is dominated by men. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in 2020 only 9% of the firefighters were female.I couldn't easily find my native Germany's statistics but in the UK, the percentage of female firefighters is about 7%. So, I'm going to assume it's the same problem in the USA and in Europe.Thus, Cassie - like many women - has always had (and still has) to work harder and longer than her male colleagues. She has also experienced sexualised violence at the age of 16.Shockingly and shamefully, according to the US National Sexual Violence Resource Center, she has that in common with approximately one in five women in the United States has experienced completed or attempted rape during their lifetime. Additionally, 81% of women reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetime. According to a report by the United Nations, globally, approximately one in three women experience physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence from a non-partner.Ten years later at an award ceremony in her honour, to everyone's surprise, when confronted with her attacker, 26-year-old Cassie thoroughly beats him up on stage. She's given the choice to apologise or be fired (let's not go into the question of whether any of that is realistic...) but comes up with a way out: Since her mother needs help with an eye issue, she's going to move to her into another state and take a job there - at an all-male fire station the male captain of which loudly complains about women in his profession...Prepared by her current female captain (“Don't ever be a girl! Be a robot instead!”), she moves and is confronted by a world I naïvely had hoped went extinct with the ‘90s. »l looked the sheet over. “So, to succeed in my new job, I basically need to be an asexual, androgynous, human robot that's dead to all physical and emotional sensation.”She sat back in her chair and nodded, like, Yep. Simple.I nodded.“Just be a machine,” she said. “A machine that eats fire.”«I will now go into spoilerish detail, so on platforms that support it, I'm going to use spoiler tags. On all others; beyond here be dragons!Cassie first moves in with her estranged mother, Diana, who walked out on her and Cassie's father on Cassie's 16th birthday, which also happened to be the date when she was raped...»I looked up to see Josie smiling at me. Then she reached out and tucked a wisp of hair behind my ear. “She believed you'd be okay,” she said again. “And she was right.”«Diana, it turns out, is an emotional manipulator who knows no boundaries and has no clue what happened to her daughter. Her “eye issue” also turns out to be a malignant, aggressive brain tumour which Diana neglects to mention till she cannot hide it any longer.Pretty much like her father, who never even tried to get Cassie help but resorted to teaching her basketball... In the present, he's a full-blown asshole when he “asks” her to help her mother:»“How could you say no to her?” he demanded. “She needs you.”“Can we talk about this later?” I asked.“It doesn't matter when we talk about it,” my dad said, rolling out his most authoritative voice. “You're going.”“I already said no.”“Change your mind.”“I'm not going to change my mind,” I said, like he was completely nuts.“She's your mother, and she needs you, and you're going.”“You're telling me to leave my job, my apartment, my life—everything?”“You're young. You'll make it work.”«But since mommy is going to teach Cassie forgiveness, daddy will be immediately forgiven for this and everything else.Let's stay with forgiveness, a central topic of this novel, for a moment: Yes, forgiveness can make sense. Most of all when we forgive ourselves. Or minor infractions by others. Mommy Diana, though, is trying to teach her adult daughter to forgive her rapist, a physically and emotionally violent criminal, and everyone else - all in the name of forgiveness and for forgiveness' sake. Even if you feel this is valid and fine: Said violent criminal who even confesses, gets away with a slap on the wrist. The same guy who stalked, threatened and even became physically violent against Cassie in fact gets back into her good graces:»In acknowledgment of his personal growth, I got him a T-shirt that says THIS IS WHAT A FEMINIST LOOKS LIKE.«Yea, right.Nothing is going to deter him or anyone else around to just do more of the same. While one's first duty is, undisputedly, to oneself, one has to keep the consequences of one's actions in mind. If one still stands by said action afterwards, that's fine. But in this novel there's no consideration for what might happen later.Let's move on: Having just arrived on duty, Cassie and a rookie, her love interest Owen, are being “initialised” by a ritual of duct-taping both of them half-naked to a post at night:»“Are you guys here to haze me?” I asked, lowering my arms.Tiny gave a little shrug. “We're supposed to duct-tape you to the basketball pole.”I nodded and relaxed out of my crouch. Fair enough. “Okay, then.”Tiny didn't step forward, so I waved him toward me.“Let's get it over with,” I said.[...]Next thing I knew, they had pressed us together, standing back to back against the basketball pole, running a roll of duct tape around us to keep us there. It was late summer and starting to get chilly.«Now, some of you might feel that this isn't so bad. Let's see, though: The way this plays out makes it pretty clear they suffer through it but at no point consent to this intentionally degrading and humiliating procedure. In fact, they're physically restrained.While it does not involve direct, immediate physical harm, it does involve subjecting individuals to discomfort and potential embarrassment. It's just plain disgusting and unworthy behaviour for any human being.But, hey, at least - and here we come to the issue of instant love which is about as attractive as instant coffee - both Cassie and Owen immediately fall in love with each other. Within a year, they will be engaged and about a year later married. The epilogue kindly informs us of the further adventures; two kids, lots of forgiveness and a happily-ever-after.This is, of course, helped by the fact that Cassie considers every single firefighter a hero and expects them always to be “the good ones”: Hyperbolising every firefighter into a hero is doing them a disservice as it creates unrealistic expectations and puts undue pressure on them. While firefighters are undoubtedly brave and selfless individuals who put their lives on the line to save others, they are also human beings who experience fear, stress, and trauma like everyone else. By portraying them as infallible heroes, we risk overlooking the mental and emotional toll that their job can take on them. This can lead to feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and shame when they are unable to live up to these unrealistic expectations.»Somebody who's supposed to be a hero.”«By acknowledging their humanity and vulnerability, we can create a more supportive environment that encourages them to seek help when they need it instead of trying to compartmentalise or other forms of self-abuse. This very novel shows us an example of that.»“Firefighters are supposed to be the good guys.”«This novel is not a romance but a misguided attempt at hero worship.Meanwhile, Owen asks Cassie to join him at a family celebration during which he magically “heals” all her issues with a kiss. Yes, I kid you not. PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder)? Just kiss it well!Of course, Owen has lots of issues himself: As a child he played a part in causing a huge fire which cost his paternal uncle's life. Plagued by guilt, Owen has never told anybody and became a fireman himself because daddy is “Big Robby”, a hotshot firefighter himself. Even though he, Owen, always wanted to become a cook! (Which, of course, in a reverse-Grisu move, he's going to become!)Due to their severe cases of mutual instant love, they don't have to talk or interact much either. There's no banter in this novel. There's no chance for chemistry to develop. They fall in love, jump into bed together (fade to black) and even before Owen gets discharged from the hospital after a life-threatening injury (Cassie of course saved his life!), he proposes to Cassie... (Using a “ring” made from the still-sticky foil of a yoghurt.)Worst of all, though: None of the above is reflected upon in the novel - the extreme sexism, bizarre initiation rituals, toxic masculinity - it's all just accepted as preordained. It's just like people saying “boys will be boys” after witnessing a boy harassing a girl. No, it's not that simple: We're not born as assholes but we become assholes. And whoever spouts irresponsible crap like the above is an immediate part of the problem.At least, though, it all magically works out for Cassie...»I even read a whole book on the psychology of post-traumatic growth, and how, in the wake of the terrible, traumatic, unfair, cruel, gaping wounds that life inflicts on us, we can become wiser and stronger than we were before.Am I wiser and stronger now?Without question. Even in the wake of it all.«... and she has even read a whole psychology book (gasp!) and is now a lifelong expert!One annoyed and angry star out of five.Blog Facebook Twitter Mastodon Instagram Pinterest Medium Matrix TumblrCeterum censeo Putin esse delendam