Book Review: Things You Save in a Fire

By Jessica Oravec

Things You Save in a Fire is a wonderful tale of love, forgiveness, and firefighting. As a firefighter, Cassie does her duty well. But as she is being honored for an act of heroism, her past comes back with a vengeance, and she does something that ends her firefighting career in Austin.

But when Cassies mom asks her to come live with her for a year to help her recover, she is given a second chance at firefighting. However, this opportunity means living with a mom she hasnt seen in 10 years and whose choices she refuses to forgive, being in a firehouse with guys who dont want her there, and (most disturbing of all) having a crush on the rookie who joined the team the same day she did.

As Cassie sorts through her feelings and tries to forgive, she will be tested in ways that she couldnt have imagined. But when it all comes to a head, she will learn that the things you save in a fire are the things that matter most the things worth fighting for.

Author Katherine Center does a wonderful job of creating three-dimensional characters in this book. She gives the reader an appreciation for what its like to be a firefighter the drills, the prep work, the coping mechanisms, the danger and subsequent adrenaline, and the heartbreak that comes along with it all. Centers characters are multifaceted, complex creatures. This story of forgiveness and the things that matter most evokes many emotions.