A review by seraphiina
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

2.0

I really wish I liked this novel more, I really did. I enjoyed Celeste Ng's novel "Everything I Never Told You", which I found extremely touching and heartbreaking. But this one felt tedious to read and I had to push myself through it just to finish it in the first place. Most of the characters felt like your stereotypical, one-dimensional suburb characters. Even the children fit neatly into the classic high school movie stereotypes - the jock, the nerd, the popular girl, the rebel.. and nothing happened to subvert this. I had hoped the stereotypical setting and characters would lead to some sharp and deep-cutting satire, but it fell completely flat.
The narrative also feels fractured - it both wants to be a legal drama, young adult coming-of-age story and the story of this non-conformist artist trying to fight back against the oppressive structures that are the American suburbs in her own way, but it tries too much at once and does not deliver.
I had honestly expected more considering all the positive reviews, but for me, this was not it.