Little Fires Everywhere

Book review of the novel by Celeste Ng

Little Fires Everywhere

Courtney Juhasz

As you follow artist and single mother, Mia Warren, and her teenage daughter Pearl through the hushed, rule-following town of Shaker Heights, Ohio, you cannot help but become fascinated with uncovering Mia’s past along side of Elena Richardson who has also made it her mission to find out Mia’s history. Celeste Ng

 

has a beautiful writing style and develops her characters with such depth that they truly come alive as you read. The book

touches on several issues found in the “perfect” small town that get hidden and pushed away to keep this image, each of these issues helps to connect the reader to each of the characters. We see the innerworkings of what seems to be the “picture-perfect” Richardson family and another important family plot line is the adoption of a Chinese baby by one of Elena Richardson’s friends that leads to a custody battle and brings up issues of abandonment and income inequality. There is no one category or grouping to put Little Fires Everywhere into because it truly checks off each box that a fantastic book needs. This is one of my favorite books and my go-to recommendation