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
Review posted on https://lauriesbookshelf.comIt has been a while back that I stumbled on Little Fires Everywhere on Goodreads and my attention was immediately drawn to it. However, I waited to read this book until now. But, was the story just as intriguing as the synopsis?
First impression When I started reading, I immediately had questions. Why has there been a fire? Who were all these people and what did they do to deserve all this? After this prologue, the actual story began.
A never-ending story The thing that followed however, could be best described as a complete report of all the things that happened. To me, it felt like someone was telling the stories of Mia and the Richardson family. This way of storytelling made te book feel like a report instead of a story you could easily be a part of. Therefore, this book felt a little like dragging on and somewhat boring.
The characters Because of the distant way of storytelling, you can't say a lot about the characters. However, I was not a fan of mrs. Richardson. She was too controlling.
The plot In my opinion, the plot could have been more interesting. OK, it was interesting, but it could have been better. It was somewhere in the middle for me. I would have liked it better if we followed a few POV's instead of this reporting style.
Conclusion Little Fires Everywhere was an OK book. It was not bad, but not amazing either. The reporting style of writing made the story feel very distant, which made it quite impossible to feel a connection to neither the plot, nor the characters. It was a nice read for in between, but not a book I would easily recommend.This review was originally posted on Laurie's Bookshelf
