Book Review: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Title: Little Fires Everywhere

Author: Celeste Ng

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Adult Fiction, Contemporary 

Pages: 338

Publisher: Penguin Press

Year Published: 2017

Format: Audiobook

"Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned- from the layout of the winding roads to the colours 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 teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just 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 rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends 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 an unexpected and devastating cost..."

My Rating: 2.75/5

This book would be great for a book club book for people who read one book a month. As an avid reader whose not a huge fan of contemporary this wasn't it for me. While this story touches on many subjects, it doesn't ever dig deep enough for me to be interested in the plot line. There weren't enough twists for me and while I understand that this isn't what is normally found in a contemporary, neither is someone burning down a house. Maybe I'm the issue, but anyway, this book was just ok to me. Easy to get through but not memorable.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Review: In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park

Title: In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom

Author: Yeonmi Park

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir

Pages: 273

Publisher: Penguin Press

Year Published: 2015

Format: Audiobook

"Human rights activist Park, who fled North Korea with her mother in 2007 at age 13 and eventually made it to South Korea two years later after a harrowing ordeal, recognized that in order to be 'completely free,' she had to confront truth of her past. It is an ugly, shameful story of being sold with her mother into slave marriages by Chinese brokers, and although she at first tried to hide the painful details when blending into South Korean society, she realized how her survival story could inspire others. Moreover, her sister had also escaped earlier and had vanished into China for years, prompting the author to go public with her story in the hope of finding her sister."

Rating: N/A

Sometimes when reading a memoir I feel comfortable giving it a rating but this is not one of those times.  This story was heartwrenching and so important for everyone to read. This story tells the horrific things that are happening in a country full of people who have been brainwashed into believing that their leaders are able to control the weather and hear their thoughts. That other countries all want what North Korea has and if they are trying to make ends meet in any way during a famine they are stealing from the government. It also highlights how people are taking advantage of those trying to escape the clutches of North Korea and how the system is not set up for those who are trying to leave a country filled with human rights violations. I would suggest reading the physical copy as opposed to the audiobook just so it's easier to take your time with the subject matter.

Thank you for reading,

SIdny