REVIEW: Playing With Fire

By Denise @ Life With No Plot on July 4, 2024 • ( 0 )

About the Book

Title: Playing With Fire

Author: C.J. Archer

Series: 1st Freak House Trilogy #2

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 336

Edition Read: Kindle eBook

Dates Read: June 1-2, 2024

Blurb: Hannah Smith thinks she’s safe now that Reuben Tate is set to face trial. But when an unusual creature is let loose on the Freak House estate, everybody is in danger, including Jack. To hunt it down, the household must take risks, but the greatest risk is to Hannah’s heart. She’s in danger of falling deeply in love with Jack, a man whose very touch can kill her.

Review

This was a very good follow up to The Wrong Girl. I wasn’t sure where things were going to go, but I wasn’t expecting demons!

But really, who ever expects demons?

A big part of this book is trying to find out where these demons are coming from and who summoned them. The big bad from the first book (Tate) in theory shouldn’t be able to be causing trouble, but the trouble with big bads is that you never fully know what they’re capable of, or what they may have left behind to stir things up.

There is a romance element to this story, but I liked that the books so far don’t dwell too much on it. I was also glad that the author didn’t take the easy way out and turn this into a love triangle situation. It’s too cliche and, while it may have worked, I don’t think I would have liked the book as well with it. There is plenty of angst between Hannah and Jack without it; since they are both fire starters, they can’t touch each other without the heat becoming too unbearable and hurting them.

We get to meet a few more characters, plus get to know old characters better. We get more of Jack’s backstory (although not everything) and also see a lot more of Samuel, Sylvia and Tommy. Still waiting to find out the truth about Hannah’s history as well, but she has a lot of growth in this second book, which was nice to see. There are still plenty of mysteries to be had.

A solid second installment of a really good story.

GoodReads rating: 4 stars