Book Review: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

"Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down."

I have a few friends who have a hard time getting into contemporary fiction. The argument tends to be, "If there aren't any dragons, potions, wars, dystopian cities, vampires, zombies, steamy sex gods, murders, assassins or wizards, where's the fun?"

(Personally I tend to feel the same way about NON-fiction. )

Well my friends, the fun is in the drama! And I got a full serving of it in Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere. I had never read anything by Celeste Ng and I know many people loved this book as well as her previous book Everything I Never Told You--another amazing story I also would like to dive into-- but once I started Little Fires Everywhere I immediately understood why readers loved her. Her writing is not only simple and clear, her prose are beautifully constructed. It made jumping into the book so easy.

The story follows nomadic artist and single mother Mia Warren and her young daughter Pearl as they move into Shaker Heights, Ohio. While the idyllic pair had always been accustomed to going with the flow as new artistic inspirations swept them away to many new towns across the country, Shaker Heights--a pristine community that planned everything from street layouts to proper paint colors for French style homes--was different. For starters, there were the Richardsons, a family that seemed to have their charming, glistening, upper middle class lives together. Practically neighbors, the two families begin to bond and grow together in a variety of ways, until good friends of the Richardsons--the McCulloughs--adopt a Chinese American baby and a huge custody battle emerges, causing the Warrens, the Richardsons (and the entire town) to stand on opposing sides.

I loved this book so much. I was instantly sucked in by the end of chapter one, and by the end of the last chapter I was left in an emotional puddle and my heart ached for more. There are some great themes--motherhood, race, friendship--that I honestly would have skipped over in many other books mainly because they tend to be written so devastatingly, so dryly ( plus, sometimes one just isn't in the mood when there aren't any wizards or mermaids). But Celeste Ng took these themes and turned them into something captivating, beautiful, and heartbreaking.

“Sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground, and start over. After the burning the soil is richer, and new things can grow. People are like that, too. They start over. They find a way.”

I fell in love with the characters especially--their quirks, their imperfections, their desires. The families put up fronts while hiding huge secrets. And if there's one thing I'm a sucker for when it comes to literature, it's big secrets. Whether a character has had a steamy affair or happens to be Robin Hood in disguise, if it's a secret, I'm all in. I also love how the characters felt so real that I was often angry with them, aching with them or feeling for them. A lot of the issues they face are absolutely terrifying, even life-changing, and that fact made it more difficult for me as the reader to have a decided opinion about many them. One minute you hate certain characters, the next minute you love or pity them.

All in all, Little Fires Everywhere was wonderful. Being engrossed in the complicated dynamics of these American families and seeing the similarities and contrasts between their faults, strengths, lives and ideologies has put me on a journey I don not regret. This was definitely one of my favorite books of the year so far and I am officially a Celeste Ng fan. To my doubtful, contemporary-fiction hating friends: This review doesn't do the book justice, and there's really no way I can properly convince you to pick it up from the shelves. And while there are no wizards, dragons, spies, thrones, curses, or princess warriors, there's plenty of teen angst, secrets, drama, politics, and one heck of a battle--of which you yourself can choose a side.

Give it a read and see what you think!  

      

                                                                                xo Nina