LIES LIKE WILDFIRE

A summer hangout turns into tragedy when a group of friends accidently start a wildfire.

Mo, Luke, Violet, Drummer, and Hannah have been best friends since they were 7-year-olds in a small forest town near Yosemite in California, all of them locals apart from wealthy, beautiful incomer Violet, who comes from Santa Barbara to visit her grandmother every summer. During one of their outings to the local lake, they accidentally start a fire while smoking weed, but, scared of the consequences and guided by sheriff’s daughter Hannah’s knowledge of the law, the teens lie about their involvement. The fire spreads, devastating their community with vast losses in property and life. Their relationships—already frayed at the edges due to their imminent post–high school separation and Hannah’s unrequited love for Drummer—start to crumble when one bad decision leads to another, and the lies spread just like the tragic wildfire. And then Violet goes missing. Alvarez’s young adult debut is a twisty, fast-paced thriller about accountability, guilt, jealousy, and survival. Divided into two parts—before and after Violet’s disappearance—and told from Hannah’s viewpoint, the story focuses on the friends’ complex dynamics, seamlessly intertwined with each character’s personal stories, which include domestic abuse, financial strain, and the close yet toxic friendship between Hannah and Drummer that guides most of Hannah’s actions toward a fittingly dark climax. Olive-skinned Violet’s surname cues her as Latinx; the other teens are assumed White.

A gripping page-turner.