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megmccreery's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This story opens with Lydia Lee, a 16 year old, in a small Ohio town, being found dead in a lake. The story explores everything that got Lydia and her family to this point, and how their whole family unit implodes with Lydia's death. There's generational trauma with the Lee parents projecting their wants, dreams, and desires that were never realized onto their favorite child, Lydia. There's two other kids in the Lee family, Nath and Hannah, and they have always been backburner children to Lydia. They have to find where they fit in in the family now that the star is gone.
I loved the discussion of not fitting in and being "different." James Lee was born from Chinese immigrants and has been the butt of racist jokes in all the Midwest towns he has lived in throughout his life. He dreams to fit in and have his kids fit in. Marilyn Lee is a woman who has always wanted to be different. She never wanted to have the husband, family, and white-picket home that her mother force-fed her her whole life. She wanted to become a rare female doctor in the 1960s.
The big question is: What happens when you just can't do it anymore? "It" meaning anything, a culmination of things, something you can't describe but only feel. The feeling of something suffocating you, holding you back, or maybe even the absence of feeling or feelings.
It did take me a minute to get into this book because Celeste Ng's writing is more complex and deeper than I'm used to reading, but it was such a heartbreaking, thought-provoking story. My heart hurt so much for all of the characters; I didn't think anyone's feelings or actions in reaction to their feelings were invalid. In conclusion, ouch my heart. Read this book.
I loved the discussion of not fitting in and being "different." James Lee was born from Chinese immigrants and has been the butt of racist jokes in all the Midwest towns he has lived in throughout his life. He dreams to fit in and have his kids fit in. Marilyn Lee is a woman who has always wanted to be different. She never wanted to have the husband, family, and white-picket home that her mother force-fed her her whole life. She wanted to become a rare female doctor in the 1960s.
The big question is: What happens when you just can't do it anymore? "It" meaning anything, a culmination of things, something you can't describe but only feel. The feeling of something suffocating you, holding you back, or maybe even the absence of feeling or feelings.
It did take me a minute to get into this book because Celeste Ng's writing is more complex and deeper than I'm used to reading, but it was such a heartbreaking, thought-provoking story. My heart hurt so much for all of the characters; I didn't think anyone's feelings or actions in reaction to their feelings were invalid. In conclusion, ouch my heart. Read this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Child death, Racial slurs, Infidelity, and Bullying
Minor: Suicide
honeyfauna's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Infidelity, Child abuse, Death, Abandonment, Xenophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Suicide
boba_n_books's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
No notes. Ng is an incredible storyteller who always draws you into the heartbreakingly beautiful tales she spins. While masterfully weaving in character development, Ng takes you on a journey as this interracial family struggles to find themselves as individuals and as a family unit. How Ng is able to bring in multiple POVs in each chapter and effortlessly transition from one to the other is beyond me. Her words are magic, and I can’t get enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Child death
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Child abuse
gabfat's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, and Child abuse
kelchisradz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Physical abuse
yellow_library's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
A beautiful, skillful, and heartwrenching depiction of family and relationship dynamics, what happens when our desires are left unexpressed, the struggle between striving to be different and striving to be normal. The weight of inheriting your parents dreams.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Sexism and Racism
Minor: Child abuse
lbird's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A good novel about family intricacies and striving towards being successful and being normal. The premise is nothing new, suburban life not being all that it’s cracked up to be and families having cracks beneath the surface. But the descriptions of what is happening inside characters’ minds and the metaphors are strong! I wish every character did not need a tragic backstory and huge emotional weight behind each one of their actions, because it felt manufactured for the story instead of authentic. The last 30 pages or so are the best!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Racial slurs, Medical content, Death, Racism, and Suicide
Moderate: Infidelity
missbear's review against another edition
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
By 2020, I decided I was done with what I called "suburban drama" books: Big Little Lies was not bad, but I really didn't like Where'd You Go, Bernadette, or Gillian Flynn's books, or Little Fires Everywhere, for that matter. But apparently, this is not the kind of information about myself that I use to make informed future reading decisions. The problem is, I have this (mostly unsuccessful) habit of wanting to try a second book by an author if the first one didn't hit me the way I had hoped. Besides, I was working off of some new evidence: in 2021, I read and loved The Dutch House, which was the quintessential suburban drama about a family of unlikeable, unhappy people. So I thought it would be worth it to give Celeste Ng's books about unlikeable, unhappy people another shot, now that I'm more prepared.
The good news is that I was successful, in the sense that I did enjoy this book considerably more than Little Fires Everywhere. I actually quite like Ng's writing style, which I think is why I wanted to try another one of her books - there were several turns of phrase in this one that really stuck with me and small details that rang very true. I especially thought the section that focused on Lydia was really touching and relatable.
However, despite what I said above about unhappy, unlikeable people, I found most of the characters in this book to be so unlikeable in their cruelty to each other that I found it hard to enjoy fully. And I know, The Dutch House is like that, too, but at least in the Dutch House, the cruelest and most unlikeable character is the "villain" of the story. Here, I understand that we are being given nuance, so the father and mother and brother's cruelties are explained but not justified in the context of their personal sufferings. But I guess they were just not redeemed for me, and I'm sure that others would be fine reading this book and feeling like those characters don't redeem themselves, but it just didn't work for me. Perhaps because although there is nuance in the sense that the characters have good and bad sides, struggles they suffer and struggles they inflict, the situations themselves (affairs, vicious insults towards children, disappearances, suicide, etc) are so dramatic that the effect isn't so much nuance as it is a dizzying pendulum swing.
So the end result is, I think, I won't write off the genre, but I may be done with Celeste Ng.
The good news is that I was successful, in the sense that I did enjoy this book considerably more than Little Fires Everywhere. I actually quite like Ng's writing style, which I think is why I wanted to try another one of her books - there were several turns of phrase in this one that really stuck with me and small details that rang very true. I especially thought the section that focused on Lydia was really touching and relatable.
However, despite what I said above about unhappy, unlikeable people, I found most of the characters in this book to be so unlikeable in their cruelty to each other that I found it hard to enjoy fully. And I know, The Dutch House is like that, too, but at least in the Dutch House, the cruelest and most unlikeable character is the "villain" of the story. Here, I understand that we are being given nuance, so the father and mother and brother's cruelties are explained but not justified in the context of their personal sufferings. But I guess they were just not redeemed for me, and I'm sure that others would be fine reading this book and feeling like those characters don't redeem themselves, but it just didn't work for me. Perhaps because although there is nuance in the sense that the characters have good and bad sides, struggles they suffer and struggles they inflict, the situations themselves (affairs, vicious insults towards children, disappearances, suicide, etc) are so dramatic that the effect isn't so much nuance as it is a dizzying pendulum swing.
So the end result is, I think, I won't write off the genre, but I may be done with Celeste Ng.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Racism
Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, and Suicide
aecorsilva's review against another edition
challenging
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
3.0
The prose is incredibly powerful, and whilst I found the story a little slow at first, it got far better as it went along. Great portrayal of themes of (mild spoilers) race, gender, self-destruction, and family conflict. Would highly recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse
shannanigans92's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, and Child death
Moderate: Racism and Suicide
Minor: Alcohol, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Vomit