Little Fires Everywhere

I thought Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ainge, was an incredible story, both in plot and character development. Elena Richardson and her family live in Shaker Heights, pretty much a utopia community with perfectly manicured lawns and a tree in front of every house. Mia Warren, an eccentric artist, and her teenage daughter become tenants in the Richardsons' rental home, bringing with them a mysterious past and alluring the Richardson children. Trouble erupts when a friend of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese baby and a custody battle ensues, putting Mia and the Richardsons on opposite sides. Mrs. Richardson becomes determined to uncover Mia's secret past, with dire consequences for both families.

I thought the characters were very believable and well-developed. They seemed to react to situations in ways I felt like a lot of people might have reacted.

I listened to the audiobook, and I thought Jennifer Lim did an excellent job at narrating the story. She used different voices for all of the characters, in particular, softening her voice when reading Mia and using a firmer tone for that of Mrs. Richardson. She also read the Chinese accent for one of the characters very convincingly. I thought her voice was perfect for this book and she was very pleasant to listen to. She kept up a good pace throughout the story, without reading so quickly that I couldn't grasp the plot. I had no trouble hearing soft voices, and the sound quality was perfect; there was no background noise or latency that I could hear.

Overall I thought this was an excellent story with fantastic narration. Jennifer Lim complimented the book really well. I always looked forward to reading it, and I was both thrilled and sad when it ended: thrilled that I finally got to find out what happened, and sad that this particular experience was over. I would recommend it to anyone looking for an interesting story with an excellent plot and plenty of twists to keep them guessing.

Title: Little Fires Everywhere
Author: Celeste Ainge
Narrator: Jennifer Lim
Publisher: Penguin Audio 2017 (Unabridged)
Length: 11 hours, 27 minutes