Reading Little Fires Everywhere after sprinting through several fantasy books with very literal displays of good and evil made for some deep thinking on my part, and perhaps enabled it to have an even more powerful impact. Shaker Heights, OH is not home to a great battle of good vs evil with the fate of the entire world in the balance, but it is home to regular everyday humans with their view of the world hanging in the balance. The people we meet throughout are not shunted into easy categories but are deeply complex creatures capable of both kindness and cruelty.

Ng has a gift for making the reader feel like a voyeur in the lives of these characters. In her hands, the Richardsons, Pearl, Mia, and Bebe are not just bits of a grand imagination but living and breathing people whose lives are cracked open and laid bare beneath the reader’s gaze. The vulnerabilities and choices of these people resound in my mind and I find myself empathizing, in turns willing and unwilling, with the cast of characters as the book unfolds.

Reading Little Fires Everywhere makes you question; how would I react? Would I think like this? The answer I got from Ng was yes – there is something in here that speaks to some part of you for everyone. After all, at the core of this book are odd twists and turns that only make sense if you are human.

For all that this book feels unspeakably private at moments, I would recommend this book to almost anyone. While not perfect, Ng’s talents as a writer shine here and Little Fires Everywhere can transport you to Shaker Heights – where you might start asking questions of yourself.