Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

E-Audio, 11:27:57
Narrated by: Jennifer Lim
Release Date: September 12, 2017
Published by: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Read from: May 11-15, 2020
Stand-alone
Source: Library (Overdrive)
TW: Abortion, Infertility, Kidnapping, Arson 
For fans of: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Adult

    In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.
     Enter Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother – who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.
     When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town–and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.
     Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood – and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.

*MY THOUGHTS*

I originally skipped this because it was an adult book and I’ve mostly reviewed ONLY YA books. But then the show came out and all my friends, (bloggers and non-readers alike) were looking at the show and reading the book. And I guess you can say I had to see what it was about.

I won’t go into a recap since this book has been out so long already and there’s a show. I’m just going to jump right in with what I thought about it. I liked it ok, but I wasn’t as wow’ed as I thought I’d be. And that was mainly due to the plot. I didn’t feel that much was happening in the beginning. And the things that were happening were in the synopsis. And that is one of my pet peeves. I hate when publishers give most of the story in the synopsis.

As for the characters, everyone in the book seemed like a terrible person. Not because they were written bad or anything, but just because they were terrible people. And weirdly enough that makes me like the book so much more lol If I can stomach a terrible character, you gotta be able to write.

If nothing else, this book also gives you so much to think about. I loved that some of this stuff was brought to light. Ng makes you question what’s moral and what’s right and what’s in the gray area in between. Hands down my favorite part of the book.

The thing that made not rate this any higher was the ending. I felt there was no wrap-up. Everyone continued to run and no one was responsible for anything. I know it may just be me, but I hate books like that. I need an outcome.

This wasn’t the complete knock-out that I was expecting, but it definitely gives you some things to think about. I heard the show was a little different than the book, so I will watch that and review that as well. Hopefully the ending is tied up differently there.

Overall, I give this