Oh wow! I have actually managed to finish a book off my spring TBR in record time! I started and finished Little Fires Everywhere over the weekend and am now starting the Monday with a nice smug feeling of satisfaction.
About the Book
~ Synopsis from goodreads My Review
This book was a goodreads choice of 2017 winner, and I went into it with high expectations. For the most part, the book delivered. I loved how the author set up Shaker Heights and the people who lived there.
At its core, this is a story about mothers and their children (daughters in particular). Celeste Ng juxtaposes Mia and Pearl's unconventional relationship against Elena's more traditional relationship with her daughters (especially her relationship with her troubled daughter Izzy).
Mrs. Richardson, however, could not let Izzy be, and the feeling coalesced in all of them: Izzy pushing, her mother restraining, and after a time no one could remember how the dynamic had started, only that it had existed always.
~ LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE
In the beginning, we see Elena's family as the perfect family. And in a sense it is.
They are two successful and driven parents, with four good-looking children -
each popular and successful in their own way. However, Izzy the youngest is the problem child always at odds with her mother. But there is nothing to be alarmed about problems between mothers and preteen girls.
Mia is a single mother with a mysterious past, she's always on the move with her teen daughter Pearl - who longs for structure and stability.
However, as the story progresses, we that things are a lot more nuanced. Elena's family is not as perfect as she thinks it is. And as Mia gets close to Elena's children, cracks begin to form.
And this is also where I began to have problems with the book. I disliked Mia (who not so subtly is set up as the hero of the book) who interferes with Elena's relationship with her children, and with the adoption issue. But then, I guess if she wasn't such an interfering busybody, there wouldn't be any story whatsoever.
I also didn't like how extreme one character's action gets. Her actions were a little too unbelievable, and the consequences of her actions are not dealt with properly. I mean - and spoilers here - A character burns down their house and runs away from home, and that is the end of the story?
It was a little too abrupt and extreme and not what I expected in such a book.
Last words
So, this book let me down a bit with the plot - which abruptly veered from meandering to melodramatic, and in the end formulaic. However, the writing is very good, and she did a good job getting me to care about all the characters.
However, I would have liked the book a lot more if the second half hadn't gone all crazy on me.
What did you think of this book? Did you like it better than I did?
Nish
Voracious reader, vegetarian foodie, mostly armchair traveler, and frequent online shopper. I love to talk about all these passions (and other things happening in my life) in this blog.
