Things You Save in a Fire is the story of Cassie: badass firefighter, hard worker, and independent girl. When her estranged mother calls and asks Cassie move to Massachusetts and live with her for a year, she couldn't imagine uprooting her comfortable, if spartan, life in Texas to make the move. But doing so sets Cassie off on a journey that forces her to confront all that she's been hiding, and ultimately heals her heart and her relationship with her mother.
I have a love/hate relationship with this book. On the one hand, the plot line itself is sweet and uplifting, and has a lot of potential. Cassie has closed herself off to love and relationships for so long, and it was heartwarming to see her grow and open up to all the possibilities of the world. Almost all the side characters are lovable and funny, and they provide so much kindness and support for Cassie. And the message of hope and forgiveness in this story is a worthy one.
However, the book way overdid it on the sweetness, to the point where the saccharine syrupyness of some of the scenes, including the climax and the subsequent conclusion, felt unreal. Every bad thing just magical resolved itself. If someone behaved badly towards you, well all you have to do is save them from themselves and forgive them, and then it's all good. It smooths over so many complex issues, such as sexual assault and drug abuse, as if such traumatizing experiences could ever be just one absolution away from complete resolution.
The ending also felt preachy and fake. Not only does everyone's issues resolve in the best way possible, but those in the wrong also learn their lessons and then go on to become the poster child do-gooder for every sin they ever committed. And this is hammered home to the reader many, many times. I read a lot of chick lit and romance, and enjoy them very much for their warmth and optimistic endings. So I'm a little baffled by the way this book made me feel. It's as if I've been given the hard sell, leaving behind this unsatisfied hollowness in its wake.
I also had problems with the main character, Cassie. A lot of the conflict in this book comes from the fact that she is still hung up on the fact that her parents divorced when she was 16. I would understand if she were a child, thinking that her parents' world revolved around her. But surely she's figured out by the time she's an adult that parents sometimes have to make difficult and complicated decisions, such as going their separate ways. It's really hard to read about Cassie acting like an entitled brat, being mean to and ignoring her mother for years because of this perceived slight.
I've also never come across a character who is so rigid and uptight. She rejects fun, dating, love, talking, hanging out with people, making friends, or pretty much anything that isn't her job or being mad at her parents. My god... how can she stand herself and her attitude? I almost couldn't stand it just reading it for the duration of the book.
In the end, this book garnered a lot of mixed emotions for me. As I was reading it, I'd find moments where I would chuckle to myself or my eyes would mist over. But there were also plenty of times when I wanted to hurl my book across the room at the sheer ludicracy of what was going on. I very much took to the story line of growth and redemption in the face of adversity. But this book was so insistently sweet in its resolution of all conflicts and its glossing over of every complex issue that it often felt like I was reading the script of a Hallmark movie on steroids, written by a car salesman.
Readaroo Rating: 3 stars
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