Little Fires Everywhere

So, let's address the important stuff first. Will I watch the television series? Yes, because I've found Reese Witherspoon usually does a good job in selecting books that, on paper, aren't super great, but puts together a marvelous cast to turn that blah thing into something great. Plus, will Reese do a good job as the repressed Elena Richardson? Definitely.

On to the book. I mean, what is it that people think is so great about this hamfisted book that wants to address different types of mother/child relationships, suburbs vs. city, artists vs. blue collar vs. white collar workers, teen angst, “adoptions” of babies that are a different race than the parents, etc. etc.? But, address almos tall of these topics in a glossy fashion where I could care less (and would if this were done well)? Why must we switch points of view CONSTANTLY? Plus, setting this book in 1998 seemed forced and didn't suit the plot as well as setting the book in the 50s or 60s would have. A lot of the characters are blah or they are cliched, like the “evil” Mrs. Richardson.

The book gets an extra star from me for the only part of the story I really liked, and which could have been the centerpiece: Bebe's custody struggle for her daughter May Ling. These sections represented the most poignant parts of the story that felt more real than all the other nonsense. Was I supposed to like a surrogate who pretends she's lost her baby and then moves said kid every few months depending on when an art project is finished because she couldn't let her baby go? This is also not stellar parenting and she could easily have settled down somewhere because no one was looking for her (except Mrs. Richardson).

With all that said, I appreciate Reese Witherspoon using her star power to get people to read and enjoy authors they might not have heard of otherwise. Also, her performance on the audio book was pretty good.