Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

From the New York Times bestselling author of How to Walk Away comes a stunning new novel about courage, hope, and learning to love against all odds. Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she's seen her fair share of them, and she's a total pro at other people's tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to give up her whole life and move to Boston, Cassie suddenly has an emergency of her own. The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie's old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of funding, and poor facilities mean that the firemen aren't exactly thrilled to have a "lady" on the crew—even one as competent and smart as Cassie. Except for the infatuation-inspiring rookie, who doesn't seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can't think about that. Because love is girly, and it’s not her thing. And don’t forget the advice her old captain gave her: Never date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping...and it means risking it all—the only job she’s ever loved, and the hero she’s worked like hell to become. Katherine Center's Things You Save in a Fire is a heartfelt and healing tour-de-force about the strength of vulnerability, the nourishing magic of forgiveness, and the life-changing power of defining courage, at last, for yourself.

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