Reviews tagging 'Death'

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

106 reviews

thegardenlesbian's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is a story about mothers: what does it mean to be one, who can be one, who gets to define it, the lengths one will take to be one. The writing is fantastic and I loved the pacing —very slow at first, like watching a street on a Sunday. Nonetheless, it builds up and then goes quite fast. As a daughter (and an eldest daughter of an eldest daughter), it made me think a lot about motherhood, what they go through, what they sacrifice, what they long for, what they think could have been. The class and race aspects of the book give it an added profoundness, intersecting the questions above with them and creating new ones (can motherhood be revoked?, can it be bought?). In conclusion, it's an amazing novel, one I'll probably re-read sometime.
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maggiedoodlez's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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abitbetterbooks's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed this audiobook! I’m not really a person who enjoys mysteries or thrillers, so I really enjoyed this book that was mostly careful plot reveals and character study with just that little edge of drama and unease seeping in at the edges. 

I really liked the narration and storytelling; generally I’m a fan of a very close, singular 3rd person style, but I fell in love with this 3rd person that was constantly changing and evolving in perspective. One moment we’re seeing things how Pearl saw them, but the next sentence we’re shown something different in what Mia picked up on in the same situation. I enjoyed how the curtain was peeled back, even momentarily, on even the perspective of a side character, so that each person in this community felt like a full and distinct individual. 

I can definitely see why it was picked up to become a limited series— with the number of intertwining storylines and perfectly scaffolded tensions growing, it grabs your attention and there definitely is so much to work with on both a plot and character level!

I don’t think this book is like, one of my favourite of all time or something that I really connected with on a profound level, but it was really good and is what I would consider the perfect book club book- lots of pieces to untangle and talk about, with decisions to dissect both artistically by the author as well as the decisions of the characters we are trying to understand. I really appreciate how Celeste Ng played with these ideas and assumptions around motherhood, complicating the notions of ethics and ideology of what is “best” for a child. I love when you leave a book without clear answers of who is right and wrong, and the author forces you to confront you personally might interpret as the good or bad choice. 


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josisteacup's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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joshpow3ll's review

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emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I don't normally read books like this. I don't normally read small town dramas about an outsider coming into a perfect community and blowing it all up. And yet I loved it.

The initial chapter, providing a dramatic reveal of the ending, I think was necessary considering the rest of the first half really took its time to build the setting and wide ensemble of characters. But past the first half, everything accelerated and fell into place quite quickly. It took me a few days to start, but only a few hours to finish. 

It did feel pretentious at times, particularly with some dictionary-reaching choices of vocabulary and delves into art theory, but I'm glad I didn't let them get in the way of an enjoyable read.

The politics and well-meaning liberal speak about race in the 1990s was also interesting to read in comparing how far popular culture has come since then. To me it didn't come across as too preachy, but I think my conservative relatives would disagree with me on that!

Interested to see what else Celeste Ng has in store for her readers in the future!
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nreyno's review

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dark sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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mariavdl's review

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emotional mysterious reflective sad
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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mpbookreviews's review

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emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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abernathy_33's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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lwrisley's review

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

As with all of Ng's books, the characters are developed beautifully and I was immediately invested. The ending was horribly tragic, but in a per ect  way.
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