Little Fires Everywhere book review

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Published by Penguin Group on March 17, 2020
Pages: 368
Goodreads

From the bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You, 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 many more...
Perfect for book clubs! Visit celesteng.com for discussion guides and more.

I picked Little Fires Everywhere up because I had heard brilliant things about the mini-series. I wanted to read the series before diving in. Well, I definitely will be watching the series. I would like to see if it is any better because this missed the spot for me. This book bored me all the way through. Plus, I don’t really understand why it was written or the point of it. I don’t know whether I missed the point completely. However, it took me forever to get through and I don’t actually know what happened. I would never pick this one up again.

Characters in Little Fires Everywhere

We follow a couple of families who all live in or around this affluent neighbourhoods. They all have seemingly perfect lives as they potter around their huge houses. It was a tough book to read because I didn’t relate to any of the characters. I found their problems and outlook on life to be superficial and fake at times. Alongside all of this happening we also meet a single mother and her daughter. They end up renting an apartment off of the Richardsons. The story seems to feel a little ridiculous at times and without a point and needless drama.

My biggest issue is the way that Izzy is seen and treated all the way through the book. There doesn’t seem to be any explanation or development at all when it comes to her story. I didn’t connect with the characters or the story and this made it frustrating to read at times. Also, Pearl, a pivotal character, felt unfinished. This was definitely my biggest issue with this book was that everything felt unfinished and pointless.

Good and bad bits

Little Fires Everywhere was at best forgettable. It made choosing my best bits hard. A standout point for me was the way the media was portrayed and used to highlight and push certain points. But that was about it if I’m being completely honest.

I’ve mentioned above where I thought that the entire cast of characters felt unfinished and underdeveloped. I would go so far as to extend that to the rest of the story. Little Fires Everywhere felt incomplete. None of the side stories were fleshed out, and they all ended somewhat abruptly with no real explanation. I just felt SO unsatisfied with the ending and just made the entire book feel like a waste of time.

Recommendation

I wouldn’t recommend Little Fires Everywhere. It wasn’t for me. I found the book immensely boring and it was definitely a disappointment. I might watch the mini-series and do a separate review on that one and see if it works better.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? Let me know what you thought!