Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

38 reviews

gertrudski's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging inspiring 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

5.0

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blumoonie's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This story explores the meaning of family, love and home. How rules are made to be broken, how if you love someone too much it will turn to simmering hatred. this book left me feeling gutted and vulnerably wide-open, like a fire had ripped through. 
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alisonfaith426's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

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midnightmarauder's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-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

4.0

This is another book where I had watched the show/movie before reading the book itself, so, it took me a while to finish it, as I already know how things end.

The story revolves around a family in Shaker Heights, The Richardsons, whose lives are unknowingly shaken up after Mia and Pearl Warren arrive into town.

The Richardson matriarch, Elena, is a woman who has a white-savior complex, to say the very least. She's lived in the idyllic community of Shaker Heights her entire life, where racism is virtually non-existent and everyone gets along. She often feels as though it is her duty to keep things orderly and perfect, and to help those she sees as being in need.

This shows itself with the arrival of Mia Warren, a single black mother, who arrives with her daughter, Pearl. She allows Mia to stay in her rental property, seeing it as a "good deed" to the less fortunate.

As time goes on, Elena finds Mia's unwillingness to to talk about her past, threatening to her somehow, and
uses her journalistic skills to dig up information on Mia's life
.

Looking into Mia and her life leads her down a path of destruction, where she
looks through the medical files of her old college roommate to get dirt to help a friend's custody case
,
pretends to be writing a story about Mia's brother and drives all the way out to her old home in Pennsylvania, to find out all that she can about Mia, instead of just asking her
, and gaslighting and emotionally abusing her friends and even her own child, leading the child to
burn down the family home in revenge
.

I don't think I've ever hated a character so much. I hated her in the Hulu miniseries, and I hate her even more in this book. The book is a great read, but can be hard at times because of how vitriolic Elena is. 
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noellelala'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? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This read was really refreshing to me. It was so enlightening to be able to sort of dive into each individual character and find out how they intertwined with one another. Celeste did a fantastic job at weaving the characters together, to unfold a deep and enriched quilt of a story. I am glad that I took the time to challenge myself with this read. 
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maggievanningen's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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sharebear431's review against another edition

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emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

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kjm_x's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-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

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maddie_1999's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.75

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ayem's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.75

A new classic for the American canon. Manages to be both reflective and a page turner. I can see why they made it a TV show! I’ll have to watch it. 

If she wasn’t already a great author, Celeste Ng might consider a career in photography. 
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