Tag: 2017 publication

Little Fires Everywhere

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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Author: Celeste Ng
Genres: Fiction
Read: Oct. 2017

 

Celeste Ng is at it again!! I loved her debut novel, Everything I Never Told You, and she totally blew me away again with Little Fires Everywhere. In fact, I liked this one even better than her debut novel!

Like Everything I Never Told You, this is a slow-paced, character driven novel. Ng spends time on every single one of her characters, showing us their dreams and fears, their strengths and flaws. At times the characters are so frustrating, but they are always fascinating.

There’s a lot going on in this book. The Richardson family, with their four children, have lived their entire lives in the Shaker Heights community just outside of Cleveland. Shaker Heights prides itself on being a planned city and regulates everything about the city, from the colour you can paint your house, to the time you’re allowed to go trick-or-treating, to when and how often teens receive sex-ed classes in school.

Struggling artist Mia and her daughter Pearl have just moved to Shaker Heights and are renting from the Richardson’s. Without meaning to, their lives become incredibly intertwined with the Richardson’s and as the story unravels, we learn that everyone has their secrets and that with so many secrets, it’s hard to stop all the little fires from spreading.

Ng weaves questions of class and race throughout the novel that really bring her characters and her setting to life. Shaker Heights has always maintained their mantra that they “don’t see colour”, but when a court case arises around the custody of a young Asian child, the community is polarized and it becomes harder to deny that despite what everyone says, race and class still matter.

This novel felt almost like a Shakespearean tragedy. Everyone is so consumed with their own lives and secrets – trying to contain their personal fires – that the plot felt like an out of control train barrelling towards a broken bridge. The people inside the train are so caught up in their own drama that they don’t even realize they’re careening towards their impending doom.

But I loved every second of it. Ng’s writing is what makes this such a huge win. Not only has she written a fascinating drama and character study, but she has penned some truly beautiful prose. There is a lot of depth to this story and I would definitely recommend this book!

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue

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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Author: Mackenzi Lee
Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, LGBT
Read: July 2017

 

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue was wonderful! I haven’t been reading a whole lot of young adult novels lately because the genre seemed a little tired and everything felt more or less the same, but the genre has definitely been growing and tackling a lot of issues around race and gender identity that general fiction sometimes seems hesitant to address.

Bravo to Mackenzi Lee for this book! The story is set in the 18th century and focuses on 18 year old Monty and Percy as they set off on a “grand tour” around Europe before preparing to settle down and begin their adult lives. Monty sees the trip as a last hurrah before being forced to take over his father’s estate and plans to gamble and drink his way around Europe with his best friend Percy, who he just happens to be in love with.

The trip quickly goes sideways and Monty, Percy, and Monty’s sister Felicity find themselves being chased all over Europe after an encounter with honest-to-god highway men. This book is hilarious and wildly fun, but it also tackles a lot of tough issues and does it without feeling preachy or forced. Monty is extremely privileged and totally oblivious to his privilege. He blunders around making bad decision after bad decision, but I loved watching him grow and be challenged.

Somehow this book manages to address race, disability, gender equality, sexual orientation, and class privilege. It had the added intrigue of tackling all these issues during the 18th century, where I can’t even begin to imagine what it might be like to be a gay, black, epileptic man. There was a lot going on, but the novel had a lot of depth and was quick-paced.

The characters were all fantastic, but I’m thrilled to discover that Felicity will be getting her own novel next year because she was by far my favourite character. She was so badass – my favourite line of the entire book had to be when she informs Monty and Percy that “Ladies haven’t the luxury of being squeamish about blood”. I loved how all the characters challenged the boxes that 18th century society tried to place them in and how they grew as individuals and in their relationships.

So I would absolutely recommend this as a fun read, but fortunately it’s not a frivolous one and I really think you will be better for having read it. It’s a large print book and it definitely does not feel like 500+ pages – I breezed through it!