“Lies Like Wildfire” by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

“Lies Like Wildfire” is a novel with a familiar air that convinced me to buy it. Its mysterious air is an attention catcher, I assure you. “Lies” is always the key word:) The fire is the one that has the final judgement. The “monsters” are waiting for their sentence. Five souls damned to carry a secret to their grave. They will fight the flames or let themselves be burned alive.

Title: “Lies Like Wildfire”

Author: Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

Genre: Thriller

Trope: Lost memory

Number of pages: 384

Recommended age: +15

Star Rating: 5/5 ⭐

A Sneak Peek into “Lies Like Wildfire”

Hannah, Mo, Violet, Drummer and Luke. The “monsters”. It has always been them. The little children who chose the monster over the human. But the childish, innocent game they once played is over. They are grown-ups now. Desperate to make their last summer spent together count.

       You don’t have a choice than running. The fire started and it cannot be stopped. Someone goes missing and there’s no place to seek. There were five “monsters”, but one disappeared. They swore to keep the secret, but someone failed. The “monsters” promised to keep the plate spinning, but someone fell. Fire is not just pure, but destructive. It didn’t take only their lives, but their friendship as well. Are the “monsters” going to make it out alive?

“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆. 𝑰𝒕’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔.”

“𝐿𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒”, 𝐽𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝐿𝑦𝑛𝑛 𝐴𝑙𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑧

First Impression

I have seen, some days ago, “Lies Like Wildfire” in a library. It was like a feeling, surreal. I knew it right then I had to read it. It sounded as a dangerous, but yet tempting story. We all love the lies which unravel our souls. Learning who is the weakest and the one banished in the end. 

       I think nothing compares to a chilly day and a thriller. The perfect doze of coldness, unknown and risk. It is unpredictable what someone is able of when everything is to lose. Get your coffee and get ready for the hot flames of lying!

An Inside Look into “Lies Like Wildfire”

The action is subjective, narrated by Hannah. The story splits in two main parts: “The Lie” and “The Missing”. The topic of the book is mostly based on the wildfire awareness. That is what inspired the author, a wildfire in her local town.

       The whole plot starts from a wildfire which irrevocably binds the “monsters”. The unconsciousness and the immaturity leads them from one lie to another. Everything is a beautiful packed lie which will become unstoppable and irreparable. You cannot make up for 10 lost lives. For your friends’ burnt down houses and memories. Once the first lie is told, there is nothing to do.

“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒊𝒕. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒔.”

“𝐿𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒”, 𝐽𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝐿𝑦𝑛𝑛 𝐴𝑙𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑧

The five teenagers are very determined to cover each other. I admire their loyalty and how they remain unintimidated by task forces. They risk being brought arson charges, but they stay loyal to their pacts. “monsters” don’t turn “monsters” in.

A Romantic Turn

Two of the most important pacts of the “monsters” get broken. That is what brings the hell on earth. A secret relationship breaks the one about monsters dating. Lying about it makes forgotten the one about falsehood.

       They are reckless and impulsive, but a united family. Most of them have personal problems they do not talk about. Their group is the place where they are safe. The rules do not really apply to them. Only their pacts, which are unbreakable. Or not…?!

 “𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕-𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍.

 𝑰 𝒗𝒐𝒘 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏. 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏. 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔.”

“𝐿𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒”, 𝐽𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝐿𝑦𝑛𝑛 𝐴𝑙𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑧

Deeper into “Lies Like Wildfire”

Burning Down the Forest

They hardly knew the forest would be burnt down at the end of the day. The “monsters” were just having fun. Let themselves go with the flow. Lightning that pipe was not the best idea. Hannah should have known better than to make Luke drop it down. She is the sheriff’s daughter; she always knows better. They thought they would stop it one moment or another. They did not know it would take almost one month. Their last summer was predicted to be a memorable one.

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒖𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓, 𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒚𝒔. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒖𝒔. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔.”

“𝐿𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒”, 𝐽𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝐿𝑦𝑛𝑛 𝐴𝑙𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑧

Violet has always known she was the outsider. The gorgeous, but yet cold girl. She could not completely understand them. Not everything that was to lose in their lives. She was rich and imprudent. Violet started the lie and she wanted to be the one who ends it. The monsters always knew she was the weak link. Too perfect to be a part of them. Impossible to keep the “plate” spinning. Out of the question to respect the pacts and cover the “monsters”.

       I love irrefutably the sequence when Hannah found her Tiffany necklace. Her little game of matching the V with a word. She found it- vanished. It is pure gold!

The Outsider

Straight to the point

I recommend this book for its mixed up story line. We experience everything through this book. Secret relationships and toxicity coming from best friends. Lies and reckless mistakes. It is a great book, but not so popular yet, unfortunately. The second part of the story was actually my favorite. The first one got too deep into introduction. This might get tiring, but I see its point in the story. We needed to learn about the fire and its effects. After all, that part is called “The Fire” for a reason.

       I consider very clever how the author split the book in parts. The readers will be more excited to reach the next one. I love the attention for the details, as well. The atmosphere from the novel creates an apocalyptic aesthetic. It gets fast forward to your heart.

       I warmly recommend it. Reading it was quite an interesting and entertaining experience. It goes straight to my favorites. For that ending, I would buy this book again and again!

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