Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Book Review: Little Fires Everywhere

Before Little Fires Everywhere, I had never read one of Celeste Ng’s novels. Upon finishing, I felt that it was well-written, captivating, and full of suspense. At times, the novel was quite dark, but it shed light on numerous issues that arise in society and are often overlooked.

The town of Shaker Heights is where the author grew up, and this is the setting for where the Richardson’s story takes place. The town is depicted as any conservative, orderly community could be imagined — sheltering its youth from any outside reality, forming the perfect “bubble.” The arrival of Mia Warren and her daughter, Pearl, suddenly shatters this illusion, causing many of the town’s secrets to be revealed. 

Since there are several characters throughout the book, I found the character descriptions to be a bit slow at times; however, I do think that they were able to build the personality of each person. One thing I did really enjoy about this book was that it jumped between character plots, which is a great tactic to draw the reader in and keep them wanting more. 

This novel is full of twists and turns, and presents some serious issues that are often not discussed in communities (even though they are very much present). A few examples are family dysfunction, race discrimination, bullying, unwanted teen pregnancy, the trials and tribulations of motherhood, as well as many more. 

Overall, since I don’t want to give too much away, I’ll leave it at this — I definitely recommend Little Fires Everywhere, it will keep you at the edge of your seat. I also loved the Hulu adaptation of the novel — Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington did a phenomenal job portraying Elena Richardson and Mia Warren.