A review by lmjones
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Did not finish book. Stopped at 58%.
I got about half way. It took me a minute to get interested in the story from the get-go, so I actually started watching the mini-series to see if it would spark more interest or if the story just wasn't going to be my jam. It did spark interest. I like seeing the difference between the original novel and the adaptation, but in the end, finishing the mini-series (I don't care about spoilers, so this wasn't a big deal to me) cemented my decision to not finish the book. I loved aspects of it - obsessed with the portrayal of an artist at work that actually felt based in reality, good character development, excellent writing - but overall, I felt like it was just going to be too depressing to finish with multiple messed up mother-daughter relationships, so much self-righteousness, and without much hope of redemption or repair. The book does touch on motherhood being difficult and the way traumatic events related to motherhood can effect the future relationships with the children involved in that trauma. I would say that's what the story ends up being about. But I personally appreciate a little more merciful writing for all the women trying to be mothers and messing it up along the way. I craved reconciliation for Elena and her children, and even between MayLing's biological mother and her adoptive parents (which by the way, this story feels pretty insensitive to the adoptive parent community.) It just seemed like there was no hope for moving forward. Not my kind of fiction. 
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