A review by claudiamacpherson
Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng

emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Shaker Heights is the perfect community: everything is organized and planned and perfect. Mrs. Robinson has lived in Shaker practically her whole life, and she has taken these values wholly to heart. Then Mia, a nomadic and free-spirited artist, moves into the Robinson family's duplex with her daughter, Pearl. Everything is fine at first; Pearl befriends the Robinson children and Mia starts working as a housekeeper for the Robinsons. When the Shaker Heights community is disrupted by a custody battle for a Chinese-American baby, tensions flare and truths are brought to light.

All of the contemporary fiction I have been reading lately has strong themes of motherhood and mother-daughter relationships, and it's really making me miss my mom (It doesn't help that this weekend is Mother's Day here in Spain)! I loved Ng's writing style and the flashbacks that gave more context and personal history of the characters throughout the book. I really liked Mia's  story (and her character in general) while anything from Mrs. Robinson's point of view was painful to read (she's just obnoxious...I know that's the point).

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibes):
SpoilerBittersweet for sure, and a little ambiguous.
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