Can You Ever Outrun Your Past? | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post

Can You Ever Outrun Your Past?

A Review of Bonfire by Krysten Ritter

44
Can You Ever Outrun Your Past?

“KRYSTEN RITTER is well known for her starring roles in the award winning Netflix original series, Marvel's Jessica Jones, and cult favorite, Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, as well as her pivotal role on AMC’s Breaking Bad. Krysten’s work on film includes Big Eyes, Listen Up Philip, Life Happens, Confessions of a Shopaholic and She’s Out of My League. She is the founder of Silent Machine, a production company which aims to highlight complex female protagonists. Ritter and her dog Mikey split their time between New York and Los Angeles.”( An excerpt from Ritter’s Goodreads Author Bio). But what I DIDN’T know was that Krysten Ritter is a fantastic writer.In her debut novel Bonfire she shows off her immense talents, and storytelling skills.

I started reading Bonfire envisioning Jessica Jones as the protagonist. I don’t know why per say, but Krysten Ritter is Jessica Jones to me and it was very hard to separate this well known actress from the spunky female main character. Our main character Abby is an environmental lawyer, and a fire cracker of her own nature. She is just the perfect amount modest as she is spunk and sass. And though I started out picturing

Jessica, I soon was pulled into Ritter’s pages and Abby herself became clearer to me as the reader.

Then about 20 pages in I found myself complaining about the choppy sentences, and the short chapters. The entire novel felt mediocre at this point, and I was disappointed. . . Until I read another 20 pages, and realized that the nature of the text and format itself was a stylistic choice of the author and an amazing one at that.

This novel left me literally on the edge of my seat the entire time. Ritter’s characters were relatable, and personable. You wanted to know everybody, and even got to learn the stories of all of her characters. Even the bad ones who you would never be friends with in your own life. And there were a lot of them. But overall it gave that small town feel in every aspect. I knew every bodies names. And what their stories were just like you would in an average small American town.

And then I neared the end, and had less than 20 pages left… and I still had NO idea what was going to happen. How was this story going to end? This was what I loved the absolute most about this novel. Because with the thriller and suspense genre, I often find myself guessing and figuring out the ending before I get halfway through the book. But not this time. Ritter didn’t give away the ending until it was happening and there were almost not even enough pages left to give me all the answers I needed.

She answered them though.

And she did it with grace, and style. It was not your average wrap up, but something greater.

I was a fan of Krysten Ritter before, but through this debut novel she has earned every bit of success, and has proved her immense talents once again.

If you want to check out this novel its available for preorder on Amazon, Barnes & Nobel and other book retailers worldwide. Bonfire will be released in November of 2017 by Crown Archetype Publishing.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
ross geller
YouTube

As college students, we are all familiar with the horror show that is course registration week. Whether you are an incoming freshman or selecting classes for your last semester, I am certain that you can relate to how traumatic this can be.

1. When course schedules are released and you have a conflict between two required classes.

Bonus points if it is more than two.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

12 Things I Learned my Freshmen Year of College

When your capability of "adulting" is put to the test

2977
friends

Whether you're commuting or dorming, your first year of college is a huge adjustment. The transition from living with parents to being on my own was an experience I couldn't have even imagined- both a good and a bad thing. Here's a personal archive of a few of the things I learned after going away for the first time.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

Economic Benefits of Higher Wages

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

302052
Illistrated image of people crowded with banners to support a cause
StableDiffusion

Raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would not only benefit workers and their families, it would also have positive impacts on the economy and society. Studies have shown that by increasing the minimum wage, poverty and inequality can be reduced by enabling workers to meet their basic needs and reducing income disparities.

I come from a low-income family. A family, like many others in the United States, which has lived paycheck to paycheck. My family and other families in my community have been trying to make ends meet by living on the minimum wage. We are proof that it doesn't work.

Keep Reading...Show less
blank paper
Allena Tapia

As an English Major in college, I have a lot of writing and especially creative writing pieces that I work on throughout the semester and sometimes, I'll find it hard to get the motivation to type a few pages and the thought process that goes behind it. These are eleven thoughts that I have as a writer while writing my stories.

Keep Reading...Show less
April Ludgate

Every college student knows and understands the struggle of forcing themselves to continue to care about school. Between the piles of homework, the hours of studying and the painfully long lectures, the desire to dropout is something that is constantly weighing on each and every one of us, but the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel helps to keep us motivated. While we are somehow managing to stay enrolled and (semi) alert, that does not mean that our inner-demons aren't telling us otherwise, and who is better to explain inner-demons than the beloved April Ludgate herself? Because of her dark-spirit and lack of filter, April has successfully been able to describe the emotional roller-coaster that is college on at least 13 different occasions and here they are.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments