Little Fires Everywhere: Reese's Book Club
Books | Fiction / Literary
4.5
Celeste Ng
The #1 New York Times bestseller • Named a Best Book of the Year by People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Audible, Goodreads, Library Reads, Book of the Month, Paste, Kirkus Reviews, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and more“To say I love this book is an understatement. It’s a deep psychological mystery about the power of motherhood, the intensity of teenage love, and the danger of perfection. It moved me to tears.” —Reese WitherspoonFrom the bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You and Our Missing Hearts comes a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives. In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned—from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. 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.When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town—and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs. Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood—and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.Named a Best Book of the Year by: People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Audible, Goodreads, Library Reads, Book of the Month, Paste, Kirkus Reviews, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and more
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Author
Celeste Ng
Pages
368
Publisher
Penguin
Published Date
2017-09-12
ISBN
0735224307 9780735224308
Community ReviewsSee all
"I found it a little slow and hard to stay with. I'm not sure if it's because I watched the Hulu series first or what but I loved the TV series. Not a bad read just hard to stick with"
Katlin Jones
"I really enjoyed the way the author described the characters. I really got to know each person and she did an excellent job creating biases that formed my opinions of each character. <br/><br/>I really enjoyed reading about Shaker Heights and how Mia’s lifestyle really challenges the norm. The way that Pearl was shaped and then changed with her experiences in the city. <br/><br/>A great story. I don’t recommend the tv show though. I really don’t like how they have portrayed Mia as this bad ass pot smoking terrible mother. That’s not the Mia from the book. I will say that Reese Witherspoon has Elaina down to perfectly though. Still, stick with the book."
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Stacy Hughes
"This book was SO good! It started a bit slow but the writing was so wonderful that I needed to keep reading even though I had no idea what the plot really was. I found myself getting invested with every single person and their stories and feeling for all of them, unable to take a side. I highly recommend this book and will be reading Ng’s previous one like tomorrow!"
Nadia Despain
"I had watched the series that was made based on this book when it came out, and had been fairly neutral on it so hadn’t felt moved to read the book, but earlier this year I read Ng’s Everything I Never Told You and enjoyed that a lot, so decided to give this a read. It had been long enough I only remembered the very basics of the plot, but what I did recall was not liking most of the characters and that’s still the case for the book. <br/><br/>I feel there is an interesting discussion to be had about freedom vs. stability, the idea of being a free spirit and following your passions vs. staying in one place and creating roots and structure, but I don’t feel this book effectively explores that, giving one side much more empathy and understanding than the other. <br/><br/>I did like how the metaphor of fire was carried throughout the book."
Liesl Prentice
"An incredibly relevant book in today's societal class landscape."
Justin Marshall
"2-3 stars. I need time to consider this more. Very soft 3, for now."
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Paul Garcia
"The story is so captivating and it brings up important topics like race, social class and motherhood in a very touching way. I loved it all!"
Aliek
"I understand why this novel was turned into a show, and why there was so much hype around it. The mystery that surrounds Mia is unfolded in just the right way, as well as developing the lives and intricacies of the other characters in the novel. I appreciated how grounded the novel was, how each action felt like something that someone in that circumstance might actually do. Fun book to read, makes me want to rewatch the show."
Hailey Showalter
"Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.<br/><br/>In Shaker Heights, everything is meticulously planned and no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson. Then enters Mia Warren - an enigmatic artist and single mother- who arrives with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. All four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.<br/><br/>After all the hype I heard from this book - family, hulu series, Instagram posts - I was expecting to dive right in loving this book. Unfortunately that's not what happened. the first ¼of the book was slow, it introduced characters and felt like it was lacking in any progress. <br/><br/>Once I got past that, I got caught up in how everyone's lives started to impact each other. Mia's past coming into light, how Pearl become a part of the Richardson's life seamlessly, and once that happened, how every action had a reaction. Izzy was one of my favorites and I wished we had seen more of her. But I liked the change that Lexu went through as well."
Melanie Dutka
