Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a Buddy read for Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng starting on February 3, 2025.


Happy Reading!

Thank you!

I read this earlier this week, but had trouble processing my thoughts. I thought it was a good book, but boy did it make me uncomfortable. First off, (view spoiler)[as a teacher, I do NOT want to be reading about students having sex, even more than my usual aversion. Then there's how this book's focus is on motherhood, and unplanned motherhood, and how motherhood had derailed people's life plans... which is pretty much my own personal nightmare, and has been ever since high school, when that fear was struck in me by parents and society. So seeing high school children--young women--near the time when I was in high school, having sex, getting pregnant, and being unable to trust their partners... A very uncomfortable read.

I also didn't find any of the characters likeable. Except maybe Izzy. I could identify with her anger at all the other characters. The Richardsons were all too rich, entitled and fake savior. Pearl was too enamored of them. Mia spent too long lying to Pearl. Maybe I could have liked Bebe Cho, but we didn't really see much of her outside of her crusade to get her baby back. I do like that we got the backstories for each individual, which gave the most noxious characters, like Mrs. Richardson and the McCulloughs, something empathic.

My book club was able to talk the whole time about the book--so it definitely had a lot to unpack. One of the questions was who we sided with in the Meilin/Mirabelle case. I can empathize with each side, but I come down firmly on Bebe's side. Ideally--I'd like to have seen Bebe adopted by the McCulloughs along with her daughter, and they all be one big happy family... maybe along with the new baby adopted from China as well. But fear got in the way of that... plus, this was the 90s, and people weren't even thinking of being that open in those days. But I was against the McCulloughs the instant they decided to ignore Meilin's real name and rename her in their image. Not cool, to ignore the one part of her heritage left to her. I've had a few friends who were adopted (and my dad), and the identity of their birth family was not something that could be shut away and ignored. Hate it, yearn for it, curious about it... it was never a topic of neutrality. One book clubber brought up how mixed-culture/race adoptions can be tricky, because the parents won't have experienced the same stereotype reactions that the child will, and unless they are aware and do the research, they won't be able to help their child through them. And the McCulloughs... did not seem like they were very aware. Hopefully that would change for their future adoption, after the experience they had.

I do like that the whole cast of characters was primarily women, that women were the driving force of everything that happened. The only male character that even got a POV was Moody. I almost liked him... until the end, when he showed himself to be just as much of a spoiled rich kid as his siblings. Maybe I shouldn't blame a teenager for being spoiled and self-centered--but I hope he realizes that he shares part of the blame for Pearl & Mia leaving--or being kicked out. In fact, I really really wish there was an epilogue, where each of the Richardsons realize just how horrible they've been and all rip into each other. (hide spoiler)]

Other questions included:
Describe Shaker Heights and its sense of itself. Would you have liked to grow up or live in a place like this?
How are class and race treated in the novel?
What characters did you like? Who did you identify with?
What was the significance of the title? What are the "little fires"?