laughingrachel
Written on May 7, 2018
The #1 New York Times bestseller • Named a Best Book of the Year by People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Audible, Goodreads, Library Reads, Book of the Month, Paste, Kirkus Reviews, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and more
“To say I love this book is an understatement. It’s a deep psychological mystery about the power of motherhood, the intensity of teenage love, and the danger of perfection. It moved me to tears.” —Reese Witherspoon
From the bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You and Our Missing Hearts comes a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.
In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned—from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.
Enter Mia Warren—an enigmatic artist and single mother—who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.
When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town—and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.
Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood—and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.
Named a Best Book of the Year by: People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Audible, Goodreads, Library Reads, Book of the Month, Paste, Kirkus Reviews, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and more
- ISBN10 0735224293
- ISBN13 9780735224292
- Publish Date 12 September 2017
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Penguin Putnam Inc
- Imprint The Penguin Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 352
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780735224292
Reviews
Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews
Written on Mar 6, 2018
Featuring
- A legal battle
- Spoiled middle-class family
- Poor decisions
- Nature vs Nurture
The Characters:
- Do not read Little Fires Everywhere for the characters. They are all pretty self-absorbed and are only looking out for their best interests. This is definitely true for Elena and Mia, the matriarchs in their respected families.
- Why is it that so many books have characters who make horrible choices. I suppose a "never takes risks do-gooder" wouldn't be very interesting. Elena taking it upon herself to investigate Mia's past were ruthless and the lengths were unethical. However, the choices Mia made were appalling and contradicted her live and let live mentality. Seriously, agreeing to become a surrogate and then lying to the family, saying you had a miscarriage but then running for the hills with the baby. Not cool Mia.
Adoption Battle
- What I liked most about Little Fires Everywhere was the adoption battle and as to whether it was best for the child to grow up with her biological mother and her culture or the family who could financially (and emotionally) support her. I found the Nature vs Nurture storyline very interesting. As it did make you question the situation.
- Personally, from a cultural standpoint I found the McCulloughs to be ill-equipped to immerse Mirabelle in her Chinese heritage, because eating with chopsticks and watching Hidden Tiger Crouching Dragon isn't going to cut it.
- However, is it right to put a child in a financially precarious situation just for the sake of being with her biological parents? This examination is what got me immersed in Little Fires Everywhere as it kept me thinking throughout the novel's entirety.
Overall, I think Little Fires Everywhere is an excellent, thought-provoking book with a little soap opera drama added in.
This review was originally posted on First Impressions Reviews
luddite
Written on Dec 27, 2017
Engrossing, emotional, evocative in bits, and very difficult to put down. One of the best books I've read this year, easily.
PS: I want to see Mia's artwork! I keep going back to those descriptions over and over.
rohshey
Written on Nov 25, 2017
There's a point in the book where a neighbour announces "You can tell that when she looks down at the baby in her arms, she doesn't see a Chinese baby. All she sees is a baby, plain and simple,".
"She's a Chinese baby. She's going to grow up not knowing anything about her heritage," says another, frustrated by the seeming complexity of the situation.
And it is a complex situation. As the novel unfolds, Ng adds various subplots that support both sides of the case, in her democratic and gently mocking tone.
But situations can move a story only so far. After some time, it felt lik Ng's keenness to write a think piece on interracial adoption is greater than her desire to truly inhabit these characters and their desires.
The biggest disappointment for me was the one dimensional characters. Even the Asian characters fall under tropes. Although the stereotypes are sympathetic as opposed to negative (the benevolent neighbor, the desperate mother), they're never afforded the same depth of emotional life, however limited, that the white characters are.
A stereotype must have a fire lit beneath it in order for transformation to occur. For all her democratic storytelling and skillful plot weaving, Ng never supplies the requisite heat.
Quirky Cat
Written on Oct 12, 2017
Warnings first: A couple of the side characters introduced have or are currently going through fertility issues. Ng isn’t afraid to show us just how heartbreaking and difficult that problem can be, so those that are particularly sensitive to that may find this novel a little tough to read at times.
Little Fires Everywhere is the story of two families, both vastly different from one another. One family is the embodiment of Shaker Heights, the cute little perfectly planned suburb they live in. The other is a single mother and her daughter who had previously lived a more nomadic life. The interactions and connections these two families create spiral outward, reaching into and causing reactions in other families, much like the domino effect.
Much like Everything I Never Told You, this novel actually starts with the ending; a quick glimpse into the more traumatic part of the story (thankfully unlike last time, it does not start with a character death). From there it flips back to the past, giving us the gradual buildup of events.
Admittedly stories like Little Fires Everywhere is one you have to be in the mood for. I was fortunate in that this was the perfect book for me when I was reading it. Despite the heavy emotional elements involved, I found this novel almost relaxing (with a few exceptions). The amount of time spent getting to know each character involved (and there are quite a few of them) really creates the sensation that you yourself know these people. I found myself caring about the decisions they made, and at times I could almost picture the artwork Mia was creating.
Being that the novel focuses more on character development to drive the plot, you’ll find that some characters will quickly become your favorites, while other characters…not so much. I personally found myself loving Mia and Pearl (the single mother and daughter team) while finding Mrs. Richardson to be abrasive and at times cruel. While I think we were set up to feel certain emotions at times (for example I believe we were set up to feel like Mrs. Richardson was always being too harsh on Izzy), at other points I think that Celeste Ng wanted us to be able to choose our own path, and thus offered us both sides of a situation.
There are many moral and ethical debates that come to the surface during this novel. What makes a parent a parent? Is it biology? Is it the law? The way they treat their children? How should custody be decided, when the circumstances are anything but black and white? Does one mistake make a person a bad parent? Ng doesn’t provide any of the answers to these questions, we’re meant to think of them on and supply them ourselves. It was beautifully thought provoking in that sense.
I really enjoyed Little Fires Everywhere and look forward to what Celeste Ng comes out with next. She always seems to write such in-depth tales with a pensive quality to them. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for the next book to release!
For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
kimbacaffeinate
Written on Sep 5, 2017
- Welcome to Shaker Heights, a progressive little town situated in Cleveland. It is the perfectly planned neighborhood where even duplexes look like single-family homes. Everything about the town was designed to avoid any unpleasantness, and EVERYONE follows the rules. Mrs. Elena Richardson, married to a successful lawyer, and the mother of four, exemplifies the perfect citizen of Shaker Heights but as Ng invites us inside and things become topsy-turvy, we begin to see the cracks in this perfect family and community.
- Elena owns her parent's house just across the way and rents the home out to Pearl, a single mother, and her fifteen-year-old daughter Mia. At first, Elena sees this as a good deed. But as her children grow closer to Pearl and Mia, and a child custody battle, involving her best friend escalates, Elena becomes angered when Pearl chooses the wrong side. She begins to investigate Pearl but as she does so, her own home begins to crumble.
- The mother-daughter relationship between Elena and her youngest daughter Izzy was brilliantly portrayed. This dysfunctional relationship will resonate with many a daughter and Ng's insight into this complex dynamic was very insightful.
- The story has an overall plot with a few subplots that created some suspense and set the pace. Together they created a story and characters I could not look away from. I listened and found myself pausing and rewinding to listen again to some of Ng's beautiful prose. If you are reading this prepare to highlight.
- Jennifer Lim narrated and this was my first time listening to her. I think Ms. Lim was the perfect choice for the novel from the voices she chose for each of the characters to her handling of the pacing. I could not have asked for a better narration.
Audiobook provided by the publisher. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer