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A review by alisonburnis
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
dark
mysterious
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
2.75
This is the perfect example of a book that did not live up to the hype for me. I found it very frustrating to read, to be quite honest: there was so much potential in this story, and the writing took away from it, as opposed to creating a stronger story. Ng’s framing and use of characters was clumsy in trying to draw us into the book, and it took me out of the story.
The ending also felt rushed. There was a lot going on in the book, building up to the end - which we knew, from the beginning, was going to start with Izzy setting her family’s house on fire - but we dove very quickly into the end without much thought or foreshadowing to get there. Izzy was not meant to be a likeable character, she was a difficult one, but rather than challenging, she was distant. This pattern repeated, not necessarily with the same traits, but other characters suffered from similar lack of presentation versus intent.
The story itself: good. High potential for interest. Perfectly perfect planned community frays over a case of a child who was left on a fire station step, taken in by a white family, and the birth mother, a poor immigrant who was suffering from postpartum depression, now wanted the baby back. Layered over that is the friendship of a new girl to town with an unconventional past, with a well-off, sheltered set of siblings. Could have worked for me! But the writing did not make it there.
The ending also felt rushed. There was a lot going on in the book, building up to the end - which we knew, from the beginning, was going to start with Izzy setting her family’s house on fire - but we dove very quickly into the end without much thought or foreshadowing to get there. Izzy was not meant to be a likeable character, she was a difficult one, but rather than challenging, she was distant. This pattern repeated, not necessarily with the same traits, but other characters suffered from similar lack of presentation versus intent.
The story itself: good. High potential for interest. Perfectly perfect planned community frays over a case of a child who was left on a fire station step, taken in by a white family, and the birth mother, a poor immigrant who was suffering from postpartum depression, now wanted the baby back. Layered over that is the friendship of a new girl to town with an unconventional past, with a well-off, sheltered set of siblings. Could have worked for me! But the writing did not make it there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Grief, and Abandonment