'Little Fires Everywhere' Book Review

This book caught me off guard. It came into my life when I was checking out an adorable bookstore near my college. Throughout each shelf, they would have a couple staff recommendations with little cards on the books saying what that staff member liked about it. I loved the idea, so I went through the store and looked at each staff recommendation in the fiction section (and trust me, there were a lot). I ended up stopping in front of this gem. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng.

If we're being completely honest, I wanted it because the cover was beautiful. It had these deep, muted colors, and I felt something when I looked at it. That's how you know art is good, and that's why I wanted this book. I wanted to look at the cover and feel something. Little did I know, I was going to feel a lot more before the end of the book.

Little Fires Everywhere takes place in a Cleveland suburb called Shaker Heights. It is this idealistic, glittering area with wholesome, glittering people. The Richardson family owns two homes there. They live in the nicer of the two houses, in true Shaker Heights fashion, where they raise four children, almost perfectly in line with the expectations of the area. One is a football star, one is a beautiful genius, one is both smart and musically gifted, and then there is Izzy, a rebel without a cause. We will come back to her.

The Richardson's put their second house up for rent. Elena Richardson (the mother) likes to bring in renters that she feels like she can help. It is what helps her sleep at night. Although the house is somewhat small, it is still in Shaker, which she believes is all a person needs to be healthy and happy. In comes Mia Warren, an artist in every sense of the word, with her daughter Pearl in tow. The Richardson family and the Warren family are quickly woven into each other's lives, somewhat begrudgingly. Mrs. Richardson eventually comes to question if Mia is who she once thought, and all kinds of dirty secrets come out.

That's not all though. Not even close.

In the midst of all the family drama, there is a custody battle. A couple from Shaker Heights adopted an abandoned Asian baby a year prior to when the book takes place. Suddenly, the mother resurfaces and wants her child back. Shaker Heights is divided as people choose sides on an issue much deeper than this one child. Questions of race, social status, wealth, and love all buzz under the surface of the case.

Within the first few pages of the book, you know that someone has burned down the Richardson's house. It was started by someone setting little fires everywhere. See what they did there? Everyone suspects Izzy, the Richardson rebel, but there is no proof. Technically, this happens after everything else I talked about. It is the finale. Only Ng made a move that took some nerve and put it at the beginning. After reading the entire book, I realized it truly does make the most sense at the beginning of the novel. It bookends the story in a way that is beautiful and perfectly complete.

All this to say, Little Fires Everywhere is an absolutely stunning work of art, and Celeste Ng is its ever-so-talented artist. She has the ability to make you sympathize with every single character. I would read a scene and be firmly planted on one side of the argument, but in a few pages I would be uncomfortably neutral because she showed the other person's side. She brilliantly captures how people are a product of their environment. Everyone makes decisions for reasons, and she dives into the "why?" behind every character. Reading her book changed how I look at people entirely.

I'd give Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng 5/5 stars. If you like art, social commentary, race relations, drama, adoption, Asian culture, Ohio, babies, fire, rebellion, journalism, pretty book covers, or great literature, this book is for you. I think there is something in it for everyone. It makes you ask hard questions about what is important, the American dream, what you believe, and more. It grows you as a person when you read it. Why would anyone not want that?

Get it here.