One Little Spark

By: Ellie Banks

Narrated by: Courtney Patterson

Before the fire, it was the perfect place to raise a family.
An idyllic community where neighbors knew one another…
or so they thought.

Jenna Abbott’s life went up in flames even before the fire started in Tenmile, Oregon. She was still coping with her husband's affair—and the revelation that he got a much younger woman pregnant—when the fire finally died down, and Ryan was among the missing.

Chelsea Goddard still can’t explain how her estranged husband got back to Tenmile from out of the country the day of the fire, and she also can’t shake the nagging feeling that the secrets they’ve kept between them for the last twenty years might just be the tinder that made it all burn.

Morgan White knew getting involved with a married man was wrong, even before she got pregnant. She might be the only one who knows the truth about some of Tenmile's leading citizens…but people would have to stop treating her like a pariah to hear it.

Alex Coleman doesn’t remember anything from that fateful day, why she was found wandering on a rural road or why she has dreams of standing on scorched earth, holding a book of matches.

For four women, when the flames finally burn out, what’s left behind will be even more devastating than the fire itself…

I've got beef with this book

I went into this one after reading reviews that it was more about the women's movement through this journey than it was solving the crime. As a social worker, I was down for the self-growth and development, as these moments in our lives can absolutely spark the most growth. Additionally, I love multi-perspective books and was intrigued at the complicated web of characters.

This book lost me about 3/4th of the way through. The story has four strong, traumatized wome leading the plot, but rather than use this time to grow through their strength, they all just run into the arms of different men. There are SO many monologues about the depths of their feelings for these news dudes it felt almost like a soap opera.

My real issue, though, is the final chapter. At the end of the novel, the women all commiserate on how former men in their lives hurt and harmed them and how strong women are *hear, hear for the record*. I found this incredibly ironic considering how much time the author spent on making sure each women had their dream man by the end of the novel. The big reveal was minimized for me because of the copious amounts of over-romanticied word vomit the author filled this novel with.

It was well written in parts and the narrator did a great job. I didn't find the various timelines too confusing and found the back and forth made this novel worth finishing in the end.

I will say, this book made me think. But more about how trauma is useful for more than finding a partner. Unless you're into the whole romance scene, this book probably isn't for you.

Lots of characters and perspectives, similar tone of voice

it was a little difficult to tell the different narrators apart, the differences in tone of voice were subtle.

There’s always a backstory to everything.

The story kind of took forever to get going- the last two hours were the best part.

Loved it!

I loved this story! Multiple perspectives is always something I love and the twists and turns this story took had me hooked! Love, loss, friendship, danger- couldn’t wait to keep listening!
Also incredibly performed!

Love story. But about someone who loved only himself to the great harm of others.

Following highschool friends through events that shaped their lives in ways they wouldn’t fully discover for decades made for a well populated storyline allowing satisfying growth and leading to several beginnings of happy endings.