Little Fires Everywhere Review

*MAJOR SPOILERS*

Little Fires Everywhere is about the Richardson family and how from the surface they look like the quintessential family but when you delve a little deeper it seems that looks aren’t everything.

I really, really enjoyed this book. I honestly found it a little bit tedious at the start, sure the fire was a compelling introduction to the story but the plot took a little while to get established for me. But let me just say that the way that Celeste Ng wove the story together left me in awe!

I love that each family member really got a time to shine and develop within the book. Except for maybe Mr. Richardson who isn’t that big of an influence to the overall plot, though he still does have his moments. I would have to say that Izzy is probably my favourite of the Richardson’s. We don’t see a lot of her for like three quarters of the book; she is just painted by her family members as the weird, crazy one without an explanation as to why. But, when we finally did get to explore her background and the reasoning’s behind the way that she acts I was impressed. Even though she is only 15 she has a clear sense of right and wrong and isn’t afraid to call her family out on their skewed point of view. She understands how privileged she is but doesn’t accept that her privilege makes her better than anyone else.

Mia was definitely the most intriguing character for me though. Again we don’t get a lot of prior information about her and why she chose to move around so much with Pearl and why they decided to settle down in Shaker Heights. I like how compassionate and empathetic she is, especially after Lexie’s abortion and helping Bebe with her case. I loved finding out about her history with her family and Pauline Hawthorne and the Ryan’s.

Bebe’s case and how it eventuated was a plot line that I honestly didn’t see coming but it fit perfectly in the scope of the book. It was a way to show exactly the type of people that these characters are and the ethical and moral conversation that it starts was enlightening.

This book was a journey from start to finish. There wasn’t really one main focus to the story, it was all of the characters revolving around each other and seeing how they intersect and how based on one decision or action everything can completely change. The way that everything unfolded first with the fire and then backtracking and explaining the family dynamics and weaving all the differing storylines together was beautiful!

⭐️4.5/5 A slow burner!