>Okay, the obvious: Ng is incredibly talented, which is why when I see the terrible people who populate her Shaker Heights I get incredibly angry.<
>Moody very clearly thinks he owns women who are just his friends, and he does so in the way that so many sad nerdy boys do.<
>And he's the type that turns not being reciprocated into a character trait.<
>And worse, he uses this as an excuse to be nasty to women that he ALLEGEDLY cares about, and ALLEGEDLY loves and ALLEGEDLY is friends with.<
>Ng is hella talented in this, because Moody is hella real. BUT he's also the worst kind of person.<
>Because he doesn't actually love this girl, Pearl.<
>He pisses me off because he is like who I was in high school, but even I--luckily for me, and luckily for my friends and for the girls I had crushes on--knew that if you actually care about someone you should be happy for them when they find love and not pissed as hill.<
>BUT! Pearl also clearly doesn't give a shit about him, nor does Trip, his brother. If they actually cared, they would have told Moody about their triste.<
>That's the thing: in this book the only people who are capable of caring about other people are Mia and sometimes Lexie.<
>JUST! UGH! I HATE SEEING THE FAIR AND HONEST PSYCHOLOGICAL DETAIL OF BAD PEOPLE! I clearly don't HATE that, because that kind of fiction must exist.<
>These are bad people who do not care about each other or think about their actions: or worse, think about them just enough to rationalize them.<
>These are Bad People.<
>I love Mia's story. I would have adored the book were it about her, but instead the book had to be about bad people who make me angry, which is fair, but it still makes me mad.<
>Mia is good. Mia is a good mother and good person.<
>Okay! But, the trial that takes up the center of the book is Very Exploitative, which is fine, because the book is against this exploitative voyeurism, and we must depict the exploitation if we are being honest with the world.
>Ferrante also does this.<
>But, I don't want to read about bad things happening to good people, or even bad things happening to bad people (or bad people happening to bad people; that's what this is about, and what a lot of serious America fiction does)<
>Ng is super talented. I also adore her twitter and want to read more books by her. I think she is the best of this genre. My issue is with the meta, not with her. And my issue is that she made me angry, which she was trying to do, but you know, when the author gets what they want the reader has lost.<
>That isn't actually a meaningful sentence, but that is the only type of literary criticism I know how to make at this point--criticism with unmeaningful sentences.<
>Celeste Ng is killing it. Little Fires Everywhere made me mad.<
>I think it's personal though, and not objective to the work (whatever that means). This review strikes me as very Roger Ebert re: Unforgiven.<
>BUT, I have met enough bad people in my life. I have been a bad person in my life. And right now, I can't stomach things about bad people.<
>And I think that those who can pull that off still are hella valid.<
>But I am that no longer.<