Playing with Fire

By: April Henry

Narrated by: Amy McFadden

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 best-selling 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 coworker 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.

©2021 April Henry (P)2021 Tantor

Good story of survival

It was a survivalist type story, reminded me of the show lost in a way. The main characters story line came back to PTSD & anxiety which I liked.

All that happened while they were their

A lot happened all at once which made it a little stressful but it was good

Sooooo good

The book was amazing it almost felt cold at some parts but warm and fluffy at the right times

Nail biting!

April Henry does it again! As this former librarian reads her books I am continually impressed with her imagination and her ability to draw you into a story to the point that you feel like you are in the story with the characters. Most middle grades kids are going to love this one because it is danger and excitement and romance on a small level, but also pure ingenuity and a shout out to the Boy Scouts!

not a thriller at all *no spoiler review*

Why did I even finish this book?? It was the worst book I ever read. I thought I accidently bought a first aid manual instead of playing with fire. 90% of the book was different medical emergencies and long drawn out explanations on how to fix it.

Two teens go on a hike and there's a fire. They realize they are trapped and make their way back to the water. There, they meet up with a group of adults, a baby, a kid and an elderly lady with dementia or Alzheimer's.

While stranded at the water a helicopter drops a weighted plastic bag down with a note telling them there's a bad fire, it's dangerous and head to a bridge a few miles away.

Wyatt one of the two teens also an eagles scout and his date Natalia who takes first aid classes yearly takes lead of the group. Along the way each person encounters a medical problem. Dislocated knee, low blood sugar from diabetes, severe burns, asthma attacks. Natalia and wyatt always knew what to do and always had everything they needed to handle whatever emergency came next.

This part was so annoying. Most of the book was Wyatt and Natalia coming to the rescue regarding so many unbelievable situations. They would walk 10 ft and OMG someone has a broken bone. Here comes Wyatt and natalia to the rescue and the next 20 pages explained why they came to their decision.

There was absolutely no thrill in this book. It felt more like a video you would watch in health class to learn different first aid techniques. The ending was totally unbelievable. Only reason I finished it was because it was so short and I sped the audiobook up to 2.5x the speed