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Invitation to a Bonfire
Invitation to a Bonfire | Adrienne Celt
13 posts | 8 read | 2 reading | 37 to read
The seductive story of a dangerous love triangle, inspired by the infamous Nabokov marriage, with a spellbinding psychological thriller at its core.In the 1920s, Zoya Andropova, a young refugee from the Soviet Union, finds herself in the alien landscape of an elite all-girls New Jersey boarding school. Having lost her family, her home, and her sense of purpose, Zoya struggles to belong, a task made more difficult by the malice her peers heap on scholarship students and her new country's paranoia about Russian spies. When she meets the visiting writer and fellow Russian emigre Leo Orlov--whose books Zoya has privately obsessed over for years--her luck seems to have taken a turn for the better. But she soon discovers that Leo is not the solution to her loneliness: he's committed to his art and bound by the sinister orchestrations of his brilliant wife, Vera. As the reader unravels the mystery of Zoya, Lev, and Vera's fate, Zoya is faced with mounting pressure to figure out who she is and what kind of life she wants to build. Grappling with class distinctions, national allegiance, and ethical fidelity--not to mention the powerful magnetism of sex--Invitation to a Bonfire investigates how one's identity is formed, irrevocably, through a series of momentary decisions, including how to survive, who to love, and whether to pay the complicated price of happiness.
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ilyssa.g
Invitation to a Bonfire | Adrienne Celt
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Pickpick

Just finished this and loved it! It was so well-written and kept me invested in its entirety! The book felt so realistic and was the perfect length. The characters and story itself are psychologically complex, which I love in a book. I didn‘t predict the ending like I have with most psychology thrillers/dramas I‘ve read. I am so excited that it‘s going to be a show with my favorite actress! I will be reading other books by Adrienne Celt!

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BekaReid
Invitation to a Bonfire | Adrienne Celt
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Mehso-so

This is definitely a character based storyline verses an action based one, and I tend to enjoy the contemplative aspects to that style. But it was extremely slow moving. If it were not for the quality of Adrienne Celt's writing, I would have thrown the towel in long ago. The ending felt a bit anticlimactic after the slow pace.

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readingjedi
Invitation to a Bonfire | Adrienne Celt
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Mehso-so

Enjoyable but overwritten & in need of a pruning. The characters' voices were unconvincing & lacking authenticity. Story itself was fairly engaging if sparse but repeatedly got bogged down in the faux profundity and irrelevancy that was a weakness of the author's style. Some of it was beautifully written, some pseud nonsense. The themes got lost at times, hammered home at others. Not without promise but misfiring somewhat.

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emmaturi
Invitation to a Bonfire | Adrienne Celt
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Day 4 for the #fallisbooked challenge, saw this book in the library.

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

OriginalCyn620 👌🏻🖤🔥 5y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Pretty cover 🧡🖤 5y
25 likes2 comments
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veritysalter
Invitation to a Bonfire | Adrienne Celt
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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 🖤🔥🧡 5y
OriginalCyn620 👌🏻📚🔥 5y
11 likes2 comments
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readingjedi
Invitation to a Bonfire | Adrienne Celt
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Starting this one tonight. With thanks to #netgalley for this book.

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LDuffN
Invitation to a Bonfire | Adrienne Celt
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What I'm readin now!! Its moving along very slowly.

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Christine11
Invitation to a Bonfire | Adrienne Celt
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This is my #augustwrapup - I liked quite a lot of the books I read in August. I loved all three Karin Slaughter books - I finished her Grant County series and the final chapter - OH MY GOD! 🤯
I also loved We Are Never Meeting in Real Life and liked Thirteen a lot! 😊 So, overall, not a bad month!

LoveToReadLiveToRead Beautiful journaling! Hopefully you‘ll have received the next #whodunituk book by now xx 6y
Christine11 @LoveToReadLiveToRead Thank you! Yes, I‘m away this week but I received it just before I left on Saturday and then totally forgot to post on Litsy to let you know! Sorry! Thank you so much! 😊💛 6y
47 likes2 comments
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BookNAround
Invitation to a Bonfire | Adrienne Celt
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Nice new upholstery on the chairs at the doctor‘s office. This book sounds ominous but I‘m very curious since it‘s based on Nabokov, his wife, and a young woman he had an affair with.

Reviewsbylola I‘m curious about this one too. The cover is an interesting choice—not really the route I would have taken. 6y
56 likes1 comment
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Christine11
Invitation to a Bonfire | Adrienne Celt
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Mehso-so

This book is so beautifully written but I felt it meandered a lot more than was necessary. Overall though - a good read! My full review is on my blog now if you fancy reading!
https://lifewithallthebooks.com/2018/08/19/invitation-to-a-bonfire-by-adrienne-c...
I received this one from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

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Matilda
Invitation to a Bonfire | Adrienne Celt
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It's time for a "part psychological thriller and part literary puzzle."

sherrynuts I'm in love with the cover! Let me know what you think of the book. 7y
Andrea4 This seems interesting... 7y
PrincessLibrarian I have the ARC, but haven‘t gotten to it yet! 7y
ShadowOfLove The cover looks really interesting. 7y
RahiemThewriter Cool cover. 7y
83 likes10 stack adds5 comments
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underground_bks
Invitation to a Bonfire | Adrienne Celt
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Pickpick

Zoya Andropova comes over from Russia as a young orphan, dropped into an all-girls boarding school in 1920s New Jersey. Zoya is alienated and alone when her favorite Russian novelist arrives with his beautiful, aristocratic, calculating wife. What results is a quiet, burning meditation on deception, identity, class distinction, nationality, loyalty, & art, that rages into a holy conflagration and leaves you with delicious smoke in your eyes.

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Liberty
Invitation to a Bonfire | Adrienne Celt
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Afternoon reading. Finally - FINALLY - sitting down with this beauty. If you haven‘t read her previous novel, THE DAUGHTERS, you should do that right now. I‘ll wait here. 🔥❤️🤩

108 likes13 stack adds