Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Little Fires Everywhere

Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

33 reviews

pheebabeeba_'s review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The first half of the book I found a bit too slow to my liking, although I did enjoy the contrast of the two families, the Richardson’s and Mia and Pearl Warren.

The main conflict; the case of Mirabelle/ May-Ling appeared close to the halfway point of the story. It introduced one of the main themes of the story: motherhood.

The theme was very well written and thorough. Nothing about it felt black and white. Admittedly, I didn’t care for a lot of the characters views on things,(the adoption, the surrogacy)but I understood them.

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belleslibrary1012's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-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

3.75

I was super excited to read this book with my bookclub because it had been so widely read and recommended both in print and through the TV show. However, I was surprised when I almost gave up on it entirely; glad I pushed through. The beginning is tough and I had a hard time not only figuring out who everyone was, but honestly even caring. It doesn't grab you immediately; the writing lulls you in and holds you there until you are thrust forward at the right time. Once the first little push happens, the story, characters, plot, all of it convenes down a Rollercoaster style path until you're literally breathless, finding ways to flip the pages, to read faster, to know more.

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hanlov's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

“All her life, she had learned that passion, like fire, was a dangerous thing. It so easily went out of control. It scaled walls and jumped over trenches. Sparks leapt like fleas and spread as rapidly; a breeze could carry embers for miles. Better to control that spark and pass it carefully from one generation to the next, like an Olympic torch. Or, perhaps, to tend it carefully like an eternal flame: a reminder of light and goodness that would never—could never—set anything ablaze. Carefully controlled. Domesticated. Happy in captivity. The key, she thought, was to avoid conflagration.”

Oooh this one ended up fascinating me. Took me a minute to connect with the story but once it picked up, I NEEDED to know what would happen! The way everything connected was so good and definitely gets you thinking.

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clarelou612's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and the general plot, but the structure and pacing of this book didn’t work for me. It was hard to tell what the central plot/conflict was supposed to be and the first half was quite slow while the second half was super fast.

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schlady's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

4.0

A well written and thought provoking story that explores topics of privilege, race, family, and motherhood. The setting was strikingly accurate even in its littlest details, myself having grown up around the same real places in the Cleveland area. The various characters and their stories are interesting & compelling while still easy to keep track of, written in a seemingly effortless way while taking a few unexpected turns. The ending wrapped up a tad too quickly for me, but overall another great book by Ng that I just couldn't put down.

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