Celeste Ng weaves a deft story, and it’s one that’s thought-provoking and has you taking the sides of different characters, only to swing back around and wonder if you’re being fair in taking sides.

READ IF YOU…

• Want a character study
• Want a book that delves into deeper subjects (racism, abortion, adoption, surrogacy)

Title: Little Fires Everywhere | Author: Celeste Ng | Rating: 3/5

A decent read that explores racism, adoption, abortion, and more in a deft and deep story.

The book starts off with a house being set on fire; not an accident but an intentional fire, with “little fires set everywhere.” The story then meanders from that scene into all the things that lead up to that burning house.

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned…And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother – who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

Each character more or less had their own issues and hangups, though I can’t say any of them were very deep or nuanced. Which is not to say characters weren’t nuanced, because they were, but I expected more considering the topics being touched upon.

Having said that, the way Celeste Ng brings the threads of so many topics together is phenomenal. She weaves a deft story, and it’s one that’s thought-provoking and has you taking the sides of different characters, only to swing back around and wonder if you’re being fair in taking sides.

A social and character study, Little Fires Everywhere is a slow-burning read with explosive themes.