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dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
single mom, Mia, and her teenage daughter, Pearl, just moved to Shaker. they rent out a house from the Richardsons, they’re your typical clean-cut suburban family. and the mom, Elena Richardson, is determined to uncover Mia’s secrets.
the first 80 pages were pretty slow in my opinion, but from the hundredth page and so on, it became more well-paced and a whole lot more interesting. but the writing is so beautiful, so i didn't find it insufferably slow. this book was so unpredictable, there are so many plot twists and the main conflict was something i would've never expected. also, the themes of family, motherhood, and mother-daughter relationships made me really think back and do some self-reflection. i think that Celeste Ng did an amazing job on laying this undertone of the ongoing racial issues of the late 1980s. by the last hundred pages, i couldn’t put the book down. the ending was so unpredictable but i do feel like it was the most suitable and reasonable ending.
my only complaint is that i didn't feel strongly about any of the characters. all of them just came off as morally gray to me and it left me feeling conflicted, but it did lead to me having a more neutral outlook and the story. but i was genuinely amazed and taken away by this book. one of the best reads of 2021.
my only complaint is that i didn't feel strongly about any of the characters. all of them just came off as morally gray to me and it left me feeling conflicted, but it did lead to me having a more neutral outlook and the story. but i was genuinely amazed and taken away by this book. one of the best reads of 2021.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content
Minor: Child abuse, Racism
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
so compulsively readable. a major strength of little fires everywhere is definitely its characters: ng is able to somehow craft a solid life background story for almost every single one of them, allowing us to understand them and their fears and why they are the way they are, and thus making it impossible for us to point to a 'villain' or conclusively identify anyone as 'bad.'
its study on the characters' psyche is perhaps my favorite aspect of the book. its structure also adds mystery to the plot, while the theme of mother-daughter relationships (and the book clearly has that in abundance) is highlighted time and again either stirringly, touchingly, or thought-provokingly.
though i do feel that the ending is a bit rushed and there's some loopholes in logic, ultimately, i appreciate this book for affirming that we're all human and everyone's just trying their best.
its study on the characters' psyche is perhaps my favorite aspect of the book. its structure also adds mystery to the plot, while the theme of mother-daughter relationships (and the book clearly has that in abundance) is highlighted time and again either stirringly, touchingly, or thought-provokingly.
though i do feel that the ending is a bit rushed and there's some loopholes in logic, ultimately, i appreciate this book for affirming that we're all human and everyone's just trying their best.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Kidnapping
Minor: Death, Abandonment
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Classism
Minor: Terminal illness, Kidnapping
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Kidnapping, Abortion
Moderate: Racism
There's a conflict involving adoption of a child which the mother wants to keep, which could be distressing for some readers.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a compelling read, but it ended very abruptly, and it wasn't a satisfying ending in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Abandonment
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Racism, Cultural appropriation
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed reading this when I was reading it, but when I wasn’t I didn’t think about it or anything. I just felt like the the first 60% nothing happened and I was wondering what the point of this was. I did enjoy the characters, but I did keep getting some of them confused(mostly Lexie and Izzy). I did not like the ending tbh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Classism
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Racism, Abortion, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Abortion
Moderate: Death, Racism, Sexism
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
a slow burn drama ostensibly about two families that ends up discussing the different forms motherhood can take and the validity of choosing whether or not one wants to be a mother.
after hearing all the hype for both the book and the show, i was let down by “little fires everywhere.” while i liked the show more – the characters felt significantly more fleshed out, and i liked the changes that were made – neither the book nor the show left a lasting impact. for a story that is purportedly about a legal dispute over a baby, so much time is spent centered on mia and elena and their weird obsession with one another.
none of the adult characters are likeable, which feels strange for a book that so obviously is attempting to make a moral standing. while the teen character are all flawed, their youth and naïveté lends them a significantly greater amount of sympathy due to their potential for growth.
i expected more depth from the conversations this book was attempting to start centering race, adoption, abortion, and privilege. i think the show was able to achieve more depth through casting black actors as mia and pearl and through allowing the teen characters to have more of their own personalities and storyines. however, i believe there are other books out there that do a better job at making the reader think, such as kiley reid’s “such a fun age.”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Abortion