A review by fictionofthefix
Every Little Thing by Celeste Ng
5.0
That was just incredible. It packed so much emotion in such few pages. The little details blew my breath away:
It started then, the phone still clutched to my ear. Early morning, the first day of first grade, crumbs of sleep still sharp in the corners of my eyes. A haze of cigarette smoke around the coffee table, Uncle Tommy snorting over the comics, the Want ads fallen to the carpet. Two quarters sticky in my fist: half a day’s lunch money. My mother bent double over the couch, searching behind each cushion for the rest. And again: I’m eight, the kitchen chair wobbling as I swing my feet, the toes of my Keds just scraping the linoleum. The phone jangles in the other room, my mother’s footsteps heavy and slow on the bare floor, then her voice, brittle as glass: No, Jimmy’s not here – who is this? and Spaghetti-Os turn to cement in my throat.
Will most likely hover over my mind for a while in the same way [b:Girls, At Play|40010422|Girls, At Play|Celeste Ng|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1530353030l/40010422._SY75_.jpg|61961253], Celeste's other short story did.
It started then, the phone still clutched to my ear. Early morning, the first day of first grade, crumbs of sleep still sharp in the corners of my eyes. A haze of cigarette smoke around the coffee table, Uncle Tommy snorting over the comics, the Want ads fallen to the carpet. Two quarters sticky in my fist: half a day’s lunch money. My mother bent double over the couch, searching behind each cushion for the rest. And again: I’m eight, the kitchen chair wobbling as I swing my feet, the toes of my Keds just scraping the linoleum. The phone jangles in the other room, my mother’s footsteps heavy and slow on the bare floor, then her voice, brittle as glass: No, Jimmy’s not here – who is this? and Spaghetti-Os turn to cement in my throat.
Will most likely hover over my mind for a while in the same way [b:Girls, At Play|40010422|Girls, At Play|Celeste Ng|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1530353030l/40010422._SY75_.jpg|61961253], Celeste's other short story did.