Review: "Wildfire" by Hannah Grace (Maple Hills #2) ★★★

Review: Wildfire by Hannah Grace

I heard about this book so much you could say it was spreading like “wildfire”. Sorry, I couldn’t resist a good pun! So, after seeing so much hype – and the very cute cover! – I was most eager to dive in and give it a read.

“It’s no secret that I love books. I love stories about people I don’t know, and places I haven’t been to. I’ve lived a thousand lives between a thousand pages, but no story, no life, no page has ever made me as happy as you do, Russ Callaghan.”

Introverted hockey player Russ Callaghan and extroverted unfiltered rich girl Aurora (Rory) Roberts are 20-year-old students at Maple Hills who meet at a party, both with family issues. Stark opposites: the order to her chaos, the chaos to his order. He prefers keeping to himself, out of the spotlight, she prefers to be in them. After a one-night-stand, in which both misinterpret the other: Russ goes to the bathroom to hype himself up to ask her out but returns to find she has gone; Aurora leaves instead of staying the night because she thinks his disappearance is a sign she is unwelcome.

They find themselves coincidentally as counselors at the same summer camp, Honey Acres. Confused and distant at first, they start desiring each other all over again – but the summer camp has a rule: no fraternising, otherwise fired. Russ needs the job, Aurora wants to work on herself and become a better person, so they try not to want each other. But of course, forbidden love cannot ever be ignored.

This story is told from the present-tense first-person POVs of Aurora and Russ.

OVERALL OPINIONS
I get the feeling that those who have read Icebreaker will probably enjoy this 2nd book in the Maple Hills series. I haven’t read Icebreaker first and perhaps should’ve as, from my understanding, it is considered better. Well, by proportional comparison, it has more 5 star reviews than this one. Conveniently, the word “icebreaker” occurs 5 times in this story, serving as a gentle reminder of her other story.

Bearing in mind Hannah Grace is self-labelled as a “fluffy comfort book” author, this story does tick those boxes. Her writing style feels a little too immature for my liking though amusing in places. But I liked the overall plot, and I really liked how realistic both Russ and Aurora are with their family problems, low self-esteem, eventual vulnerability in opening up about this and the way they both help each other through all this. This was done exceptionally well, and it was nice to see these matters get resolved, or as good as. There were maybe too many parallels between them, but I don’t mind it overall.

I also liked the small references to Angel Numbers in this book. Aurora stays in Cabin 22, the number a symbol of strength, power, success, harmony, and resilience. Russ stays in Cabin 33, the number for protector and guidance, which makes sense as she guides herself toward him but also because she goes for him to comfort her as she is scared of the thunderstorm. That is a nice touch.

This is like the sorts of Wattpad stories I used to read (which I hear is where Icebreaker first debuted). Indeed, one such example I read on there was the After series which I liked then but consider overrated now. Perhaps if I was around the same ages as the characters, I’d like this more. Or perhaps I need to give another one of her books a chance.

I would agree with the general opinion that the pacing is off: there was somehow a lot happening but at the same time not at all. It was a quick read (the type where I wasn’t checking what page I was on) but felt long, with some that felt like filler chapters. Overall, I came out of this... somewhat disappointed. I didn’t ease into this as well as I would’ve liked as I could not connect to any element of the story, certainly not the characters and certainly not to begin with. I will make an exception for “Muffin” Russ, he was always rather sweet. But more on him in a moment.

This is almost a slowburn, except for the jump into the one-night-stand. I think it was a bit useless the whole thing about the camp being strict, but then they get let off essentially with a little slap on the wrist because fratenising happens all the time.

In short, it was alright, sweet even, but not my cup of tea.

CHARACTERS
-ˋˏ ꒰ Aurora꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ Puts the name to shame, at least during ¾s of the story. I didn't warm to her as she was a lot of “pick me” and horny and not much else. Understandably, she is the way she is because she desires male validation – and this I really do relate to because I was the exact same when I was around 18. Her chiding herself for “always expecting too much and trusting the wrong people” spoke to me too. I have the same problem. Her being relatable was not a problem, it was the person she was as a whole.
I do pity her for having “one parent who doesn’t give one shit and one parent who cares far too much”. Her relationship dynamic with her mother changing as the story went on was also nice to see.
🠚 It was nice to see her growth though, as she stands up for herself and her happiness without seeking validation from other people (especially her father) and matures. She had some cute moments.
🠚 the SLANDER of JANE AUSTEN though?? Calling Darcy a dick – a far too modern a term for him – missed the whole point of the novel. Mr. Darcy is generally misunderstood: he appears to be rude when in fact he is not used to nor wants to talk to or dance with anyone outwith the company he keeps. His dismissal and calling Elizabeth “tolerable but not handsome enough” was mainly to shut down any rumours and guard his own feelings because people saw him respond to Elizabeth and thought he liked her – and he did.
On that note, calling a dick “pretty” wasn’t my vibe either.
*⁀➷ Favourite quotes
• “This is not the kind of main character moment I’m looking for in my life!”
• I could live peacefully with the animals, like Snow White – same
• “If we get caught in the rain, we’ll just enjoy the rainbow.”
• “I was being dramatic for sympathy!”
• People have made us feel like we’re less than we are and those opinions are buried deep in us both, like weeds.
• I think about what I said and how he responded, then what I could have said instead and how he might have responded to that – relatable, again!
• years of hurt that I’ve buried beneath reckless actions and self-deprecating jokes
-ˋˏ ꒰ Russ꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ Golden retriever energy, 6ft 5 man with light brown hair, sapphire blue eyes and dimples. I loved him the moment he said quiet he is. I relate to his introverted self.
🠚 He deals with a lot of problems at home: his father has a gambling addiction, his mother makes excuses for the father’s behaviour and his brother Ethan is in a band having left him to deal with the brunt of it which he resents understandably so. No wonder he keeps to himself and doesn’t have much confidence!
But seriously? "generally it takes more than one night for me to get the confidence to make a move, but she was so confident and I wanted to match it" pfft and “just because I want her doesn’t mean I deserve to have her” – She doesn't deserve Russ, I'm sorry. He views her as well out of his league when it is, in fact, the complete opposite. I understand these lines stem from his lack of confidence but it got annoying at times.
“We’ll make it fit” was meant to be sexy but it did not sit right with me (‘scuse the pun).
🠚 Again, I like that he is able to accept his past, properly converses with his father and there is a lot of hope for his family.
*⁀➷ Favourite quotes
• People mistake me being quiet for being shy, but I’m not shy. I don’t even think I’m that quiet, it just looks that way because of how loud everyone else is. I prefer to sit and listen than be at the center of everything – truer words were never spoken!
• I know she’s here, because the universe loves nothing more than to drag me to hell and back for fun
• I’m the moth and Aurora is the brightest flame
• “If I change one thing in my past, it’d cause a ripple effect and I wouldn’t chance not meeting you.”

-ˋˏ ꒰ Other characters꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ Henry is so lovely, I love how he is a kind, sympathetic listener. Bless him! I think I do want to have a go at reading Henry's story. I'm glad he’s up next!
• "Henry asked me if I was alright and I told him I was fine. I expected that to be the end of it, but he told me he knew I was lying and he’d be back when I was ready to talk."
• "He didn’t ask me questions, he didn’t offer advice, he didn’t judge me."

🠚 Xander is hilarious!
• “You gotta admire the creativity,” Xander teases. “Being a douchebag is difficult in this day and age, but here he is, hustling.”