Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE
by Celeste Ng

Penguin Press
September 12, 2017

From Goodreads:

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours 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 teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the alluring mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When the Richardsons’ friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town and puts Mia and Mrs. Richardson on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Mrs. Richardson becomes determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs to her own family – and Mia’s.

Little Fires Everywhere was a book that seemed kind of interesting and then ended up sucking me right in and didn’t let go until it was done with me. 

The plot is unassuming. Interesting, but nothing to imply not being able to put it down. And then you start learning about the characters and watch how the interact with one another and it becomes fascinating. It’s like you’ve become a little social scientist and these subjects have been given to you for study.

It all boils down to a story that is expertly told. Every chapter pulls you in, even when the story shifts suddenly. Several times throughout the book, a particular thread would be be getting really interesting. Then, suddenly, the book would shift and the next chapter jumped to another thread, or started a brand new one. Each time this happened, I was disappointed to switch away from the really interesting stuff I was in the middle of. However, within a few pages, I was completely into the new thread, hoping THAT one didn’t end. And when it did, I found myself in something else that I didn’t want to end.

Throughout the story, you’re presenting with several moral issues. Each one has multiple outcomes, though none of them are right or wrong. Just shades of grey. Which is very similar to the characters of the book. There are no good guys or bad guys, just more shades of grey. It leaves you really considering what you would do. Whose side you’d be on. And if you’re like me, you’re going to have a really hard time deciding.

When I started this book, I wondered if my expectations were going to be too high based on the hype surrounding the book. If anything, it actually made me a little skeptical. But after reading I can now say it’s earned all the hype, awards, and accolades surrounding it. Something everyone should read.

Fun fact about this post: Ng is pronounced like ‘ing’