Playing with Fire
When a fire cuts off a popular trail in the Oregon forest, a small group trapped by the flames must find another way out—or die—in Playing with Fire, an unrelenting teen-vs-nature YA thriller by New York Times bestselling author April Henry.
Natalia is not the kind of girl who takes risks. Six years ago, she barely survived the house fire that killed her baby brother. Now she is cautious and always plays it safe. For months, her co-worker Wyatt has begged her to come hiking with him, and Natalia finally agrees.
But when a wildfire breaks out, blocking the trail back, a perfect sunny day quickly morphs into a nightmare. With no cell service, few supplies, and no clear way out of the burning forest, a group of strangers will have to become allies if they’re going to survive. Hiking in the dark, they must deal with injuries, wild animals and even a criminal on the lam—before the fire catches them.
Christy Ottaviano Books
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Community Reviews
This book was intense. I expected injury and possible death given the plotline of this YA survival novel. The child death is unrelated to the survival portions of the book but took place in Natalia's past with the death of her younger brother. It is not graphic but does include a scene describing what happened during the fire that took his life when Natalia was younger.
Natalia is now faced with her past while fighting for survival. This book will keep you on your tows from beginning to end. I haven't read very many survival stories but I enjoyed this one. I liked that it was a group of people working together to survive their situation and that the characters were of different ages and stages of their lives, and some were related while others weren't. Each one of them learn to trust each other and work together as they face some very scary instances that include coming across a mama bear and her cubs, falling trees, and rushing water all while trying to escape the fire coming for them.
This book is about facing your fears both physically and mentally. I really liked that the MC attended therapy after her brothers death and that the techniques she's learned to help her cope with her PTSD are applied throughout her experiences she's faced with on this crazy rollercoaster.
If you're not easily triggered by the warnings above than I would recommend this. It kept me on my toes and wanting to find my next survival story!
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