Things You Save In a Fire is a pretty quick read that is probably a good beach or vacation book. My 13-year-old daughter agreed to read this book with me for the ‘Two Heads’ bingo square. The title of the post is a sentence she repeatedly tried to insert in to my own answers.
Mom: I thought this was a good book. It was a story about Cassie, a firefighter in Texas who moves to Massachusetts when her life gets turned up-side down. It follows her as she re-establishes a relationship with her estranged mother and as she tries to gain acceptance at a new (and less diverse) fire station. So, kid, what did you think?
Kid: I liked the book, it had a nice flow to it. It even made me cry. The book gave you a great insight into how Cassie feels throughout the story and expressed her emotions well.
Mom: I thought that the author did a great job in describing what it might be like to be the only woman in a very male-dominated work place. Cassie is constantly underestimated because of her sex and works really hard to not just be as good as the men, but even better than them. I felt really proud of her (even though she is a fictional character), but also exhausted for her! Have you been in a situation where you felt like you had to overachieve just to get respect? I definitely have during some parts of my education, particularly when I was pregnant (with you) and some of my instructors would make comments about how ‘in their day’ pregnant women would be kicked out of school or made to stay home.
Kid: Though I haven’t been alive long enough to truly experience this I still was able to relate to characters which I believe is a great quality in a book. If anyone reading is able to relate to the book it makes it a more enjoyable read.
Mom: The Things You Save In a Fire is not just a book about work, but also a romance and a story about how violence can shape your life as you go forward. Cassie has to leave her job in Austin after she retaliates against a city official that assaults her in public (and has assaulted her more violently in the past). The book follows her as she processes her feelings about her assault and how she feels about a new love interest. Cassie has shielded herself from relationships by being ‘one of the guys’ for years, and she doesn’t really know what to do when she actually has feelings for someone. This reminded me a lot of what it felt like as a teenager and not knowing exactly what I should or could say to guys and always feeling like I was saying the exact wrong or embarrassing thing and overthinking everything. The book also follows Cassie and her mother as they repair their broken relationship. Cassie’s mom left the family on her sixteenth birthday– on the same night she was assaulted- and to Cassie those two events are linked. I think the author did a good job writing the relationship between a mother and daughter and how sometimes that can go off the rails but is still an important relationship.
Kid: Her Mother was my favorito characterito. In the beginning of the story she came off as selfish, but as I was exposed to her side of the story she quickly became my favorito characterito. This story line between Cassie and her mother intertwined well with the other parts off Cassie’s life too.
Mom: I’m glad you agreed to do this with me, this was fun.