Category: Reviews by Maddie

We were given this book for review courtesy of Month9Books in exchange for an honest review.

Fire in the Woods is about a girl called Jess, who gives on an army base. A UFO has crashed nearby, causing chaos very close to home. Perhaps not so coincidentally, Jess stumbles across a hot guy, called David, in the woods who isn’t exactly normal. Turns out, not normal means alien, and both Jess and David have to work together to try and get David back home without the forces of the US military raining down upon them. Sounds tricky? Well…a bit.

First of all, we really, really enjoyed the beginning of the novel. The fact that Jess’s passion as a photographer was what led her to David, instead of being a girl seeking adventure was original and creative. Jess did not have the annoying traits of a dystopian protagonist, for example being dead set on self sacrifice, and was therefore an easy character to like and read.

The pacing of the novel was slightly irregular, with surges of action happening throughout, although the beginning of the novel was quite slow going. It took about 40% of the book for Eaton to set up the plot for the rest of the book, and to build the preliminary relationship between Jess and David (which did come across as insta-lovey, but if someone walked into my life resembling Jake Abel, I also wouldn’t hesitate to get as close to them as possible, as quickly as possible.) Plus, this book is the beginning of a quartet, so we can forgive any fudged over explaining within the debut novel. The one thing I was really impressed with was the reasonability of the whole plot. I’ve seen ‘Paul’, I know the military would be down for an alien goose chase. I though the descriptions of the aliens and their motives were realistic and completely not cliches (at least I wasn’t rolling my eyes because David’s skin was green – it was actually purple.)

I found myself a little lost once Jess and David had barely escaped from the hands of David’s captors, after the Walmart scene. A lot of things happened and I wasn’t sure about the direction Jess and David were going in (both figuratively and literally – they had to go north at some point!) And when we reached the climatic scene towards the end of the novel where David was ‘rescued’ by his own species and the ultimate face off occurred between the military and the aliens, Bee and I were both confused. First, they hated each other, then they were going to work in harmony, then more hate, more harmony, some plots for the destruction of the human race that came to nothing, then were back in action, then stopped, then continued. I wasn’t surprised that Jess blacked out. Was the constant change of plan making her head spin as much as mine?

I’m hoping that the final decision between the humans and the aliens, and what the aliens plan on doing to the humans is clear in the next book ‘Ashes in the Sky’, otherwise, I’m going to have to make a flow chart of events or something.

Overall, we both really enjoyed this book. It slightly reminded me of ‘Scarlet’ by Marissa Meyer because of the tension between David and Jess, knowing their relationship can only last so long, and of course, the train scene. The action, although very quick to transpire, kept me wanting to read on and wanting to know the outcome of David and Jess’s romance. The book started so strong, which was excellent, but then lost its touch a little towards the end as more things started to happen. For that reason, we’ve decided to give ‘Fire in the Woods’ 3.75 stars.

Thank you so much Month9Books for the opportunity to read this amazing debut! We can’t wait to read what happens next in this alien adventure.

Where to find Fire in the Woods: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | Chapters Indigo! | iBooks

Enter to Win: 

·        One of Five (5) Digital Copies of Fire in the Woods by Jennifer M. Eaton (INT)

·        One (1) gorgeous necklace  [The pendant is 1.75 inches, and the chain is about 26 inches long]

Winner will be drawn November 7, 2014

ABOUT JENNIFER M. EATON: Corporate Team Leader by day, and Ranting Writer by night. Jennifer M. Eaton calls the East Coast of the USA home, where she lives with her husband, three energetic boys, and a pepped up poodle. Jennifer hosts an informational blog “A Reference of Writing Rants for Writers (or Learn from My Mistakes)” aimed at helping all writers be the best they can be. Beyond writing and motivating others, she also enjoys teaching her dog to jump through hoops—literally. Jennifer’s perfect day includes long hikes in the woods, bicycling, swimming, snorkeling, and snuggling up by the fire with a great book; but her greatest joy is using her over-active imagination constructively… creating new worlds for everyone to enjoy.

Offical Blurb of Fire in the Woods When a plane crashes in the woods near Jess’s home, the boy of her dreams falls out of the sky—literally. But David’s not here to find a girlfriend. He’s from another planet, and if Jess can’t help him get back to his ship, he’ll be stuck on Earth with nothing to look forward to but the pointy end of a dissection scalpel. But her father runs their house like an army barracks, and with an alien on the loose, Major Dad isn’t too keen on the idea of Jess going anywhere. Ever. So how the heck is she supposed to help the sweetest, strangest, and cutest guy she’s ever met? Hiding him in her room probably isn’t the best idea. Especially since her Dad is in charge of the squadron searching for David. That doesn’t mean she won’t do it. It just means she can’t get caught. Helping David get home while protecting her heart—that’s gonna be the hard part. After all, she can’t really fall for a guy who’s not exactly from here. As they race through the woods with Major Dad and most of the U.S. military one breath behind them, Jess and David grow closer than either of them anticipated. But all is not what it seems. David has a genocide-sized secret, and one betrayal later, they are both in handcuffs as alien warships are positioning themselves around the globe. Time is ticking down to Armageddon, and Jess must think fast if she’s to save the boy she cares about without sacrificing Earth—and everyone on it.