Little Fires Everywhere

The teens were very engaging but the book slowed down for me whenever it spent time on the Truly Aggravating Adults. The depiction of perfect suburban Shaker Heights seems like a fantastic caricature, so I was surprised to read in the author interview at the end that she grew up there, which is maybe why the younger characters are more interesting. There are broad themes on motherhood and the difficult issues similar to the David E. Kelley episodes, but frankly the adults are dull with weekend trips into self-centeredness, The 90210 angst of the kids seems more real and their characters, even the supposedly shallow ones, stand out.

Exquisitely crafted tale that starts as dozens of smoldering embers that find enough oxygen to become a full on conflagration that burn to the nearly infinite possibilities of motherhood into the reader’s heart. I loved almost everything about this book, except Mrs Richardson, whose almost villainous role felt at time overly moralistic and flat. Highly recommend!