The Richardsons are an affluent and well-respected family, living in the affluent and aspirational Shaker Heights in Cleveland. Brian and Elena, and their four children, Lexie, Trip, Moody and Izzy find their lives shaken up in different ways when photographer Mia Warren moves into the area with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rent a house from the Richardsons. Each of the Richardson children end up gravitating towards Mia and/or Pearl, and Elena initially accepts the pair into the family’s orbit.

However, when one of Elena’s oldest friends tries to adopt an American-Chinese baby, Mia and Elena find themselves on opposite sides of the custody case, and battle lines are drawn. Elena knows that there is something in Mia’s past which Mia wants to keep secret, and she is determined to find out what it is. But the secret could end up blowing up in everyone’s faces…

I enjoyed this book a lot and thought the story was well told, switching from the present day, to the past. In this way, the reader discovered the secret in Mia’s past at the same time in the narrative as Elena did, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about what said secret was.

I thought the characters were generally well drawn, with the most fleshed out ones being Pearl and Elena. I liked the first one but definitely did NOT like Elena, who was manipulative and sly, and obsessed with appearance. But I did feel slightly for her in that the fire that she had had in her belly as a youngster had been extinguished by her expected conformity to live in Shaker Heights, where she had grown up and was now raising her own family.

I didn’t feel like this was a book that I couldn’t wait to pick up each evening, but I definitely enjoyed it and found it a less demanding read than I expected. I would certainly read more by this author. ( )

Hey, y'all! I finished a book! I actually liked this one. I thought the characters were well developed and I liked how you were given bits and pieces of information to figure out what was going on. Izzy is my fave teen rebel at this point. I watched the first episode of the TV show and thought they did a good job portraying the characters. Who am I kidding?!! I just love Reese Witherspoon! Now that I finished the book, I'll watch the rest of the show. ( )

"Most of the time, everyone deserves more than one chance. We all do things we regret now and then. You just have to carry them with you."

I think some books are just a little too close to real life. This story started slow - filled with teenage dreams, dramas and after school assignments. I know it was an important part of the story and pulled the strings together of the story web, but I just didn't feel pulled in.

When I finally hit half way, the story started to pull me in. But this is....just a sad story. So close to the real world, I feel like I could easily pick a new story and find this there. It breaks my heart and drags me down, reminding me how unfair the world and life really is. I can't call this book "a good read" because it's just left me sad, but I did appreciate that it wasn't roses and sunshine and rainbows - it was brutal and realistic and.....just sad. ( )

Little Fires everywhere is an easy to read novel set in the 1990s and a tale about mothers and their children, teenage relationships, secrets and lies and a community that on the outside appears idyllic and yet is sizzling with issues. Ng raises several moral and ethical dilemmas, all of which the reader can identify with.

While I enjoyed the novel and found it an easy read, I did feel it was a little YA for my liking and I didn't quite buy the ending and felt it was a little contrived and rushed. The character development was quite good although I did feel some of the characters actions were not very believable but this was just my take on the book.

This would probably make a good discussion book as its a book that throws up lots of topics for book groups to dissect and talk over and while I loved Ng's first novel [b:Everything I Never Told You|18693763|Everything I Never Told You|Celeste Ng|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386795198s/18693763.jpg|26542311][bc:Everything I Never Told You|18693763|Everything I Never Told You|Celeste Ng|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386795198s/18693763.jpg|26542311] Little Fires everywhere was an enjoyable read but not one for my 2017 favourite shelf. ( )

Everything - This book has everything I love about novels: character development (those we misunderstand and those we love despite their flaws); a little bit of mystery; questions we endeavor to answer through the characters but that are never fully understood; and it reads easily but not too elementary. ( )