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Fireworks Every Night
A young woman trapped in a deeply dysfunctional family in the seedy wilds of 1990s South Florida has to make a choice—save her family, or save herself—in this larger-than-life debut novel from the acclaimed author of Lay the Favorite.
“Florida, we got it all. Motorsports, ribs, beer. You can drive on the sand right on up to the ocean. Fireworks every night.”
That's how twelve-year-old CC's father, who named her after his beloved Canadian Club whiskey, describes the appeal of their new home. The man is a born grifter, a used-car salesman who burns down his dealership in southern Ohio for enough insurance money to set up a life for himself, his wife, and his two young daughters in a place he picks largely at random, because the living seems easy.
CC’s mother is thirty-five going on seventeen, a housewife who just wants to drive a Mustang and hang out at the mall. CC’s sister goes from loving Debbie Gibson and jelly shoes to having a full-on drug addiction and listening only to heavy metal, after enduring forms of abuse within her family. In the midst of this dysfunction, CC is trying to stay afloat and make it out—to achieve some semblance of a stable life in America while coming up against the structural and cultural challenges of growing up in poverty.
This tumultuous coming-of-age novel features an unforgettable protagonist, a character who narrates her life story with dark comedy and compassion for her family, even as she is failed by them. Those failures—and her self-taught methods for succeeding anyway—are the backbone of this deeply funny and surprisingly poignant story about hard bargains, family loyalties, and the grit of a woman determined to create a better life for herself than the one she was born into.
“Florida, we got it all. Motorsports, ribs, beer. You can drive on the sand right on up to the ocean. Fireworks every night.”
That's how twelve-year-old CC's father, who named her after his beloved Canadian Club whiskey, describes the appeal of their new home. The man is a born grifter, a used-car salesman who burns down his dealership in southern Ohio for enough insurance money to set up a life for himself, his wife, and his two young daughters in a place he picks largely at random, because the living seems easy.
CC’s mother is thirty-five going on seventeen, a housewife who just wants to drive a Mustang and hang out at the mall. CC’s sister goes from loving Debbie Gibson and jelly shoes to having a full-on drug addiction and listening only to heavy metal, after enduring forms of abuse within her family. In the midst of this dysfunction, CC is trying to stay afloat and make it out—to achieve some semblance of a stable life in America while coming up against the structural and cultural challenges of growing up in poverty.
This tumultuous coming-of-age novel features an unforgettable protagonist, a character who narrates her life story with dark comedy and compassion for her family, even as she is failed by them. Those failures—and her self-taught methods for succeeding anyway—are the backbone of this deeply funny and surprisingly poignant story about hard bargains, family loyalties, and the grit of a woman determined to create a better life for herself than the one she was born into.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published June 27, 2023
150 people are currently reading
11485 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 405 reviews
June 4, 2023
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"Florida, we got it all. Motorsports, ribs, beer. You can drive on the sand right on up to the ocean. Fireworks every night.”
I love a good coming-of-age story, especially those of a dysfunctional family - one that isn't my own. I also love historical fiction, that is if a book about growing up in the 1990s can be considered historical fiction. This story shattered my heart, it's about nine-year-old CC (named after her dad's favourite drink, Canadian Club). After a fire breaks out in their Ohio home/business her family travels to Florida to start over but chaos ensues and things quickly unravel.
Told in alternating timelines of past and present we get CC's singular point of view. Many issues abound including drug addiction, alcoholism, marital discord, homelessness, sexual abuse and mental health. Even though the book is very dark CC won my heart and this is one of my favourite books I've read so far this year. I assure you as crazy as it was it's very realistic and as CC grows up and comes into her own she realizes she will never have the normal family she has always dreamed of and she once again becomes the parent to her father. I really related to the story having been brought up by selfish, addicted parents myself, maybe that's why I liked it so much. All. The. Stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
"Florida, we got it all. Motorsports, ribs, beer. You can drive on the sand right on up to the ocean. Fireworks every night.”
I love a good coming-of-age story, especially those of a dysfunctional family - one that isn't my own. I also love historical fiction, that is if a book about growing up in the 1990s can be considered historical fiction. This story shattered my heart, it's about nine-year-old CC (named after her dad's favourite drink, Canadian Club). After a fire breaks out in their Ohio home/business her family travels to Florida to start over but chaos ensues and things quickly unravel.
Told in alternating timelines of past and present we get CC's singular point of view. Many issues abound including drug addiction, alcoholism, marital discord, homelessness, sexual abuse and mental health. Even though the book is very dark CC won my heart and this is one of my favourite books I've read so far this year. I assure you as crazy as it was it's very realistic and as CC grows up and comes into her own she realizes she will never have the normal family she has always dreamed of and she once again becomes the parent to her father. I really related to the story having been brought up by selfish, addicted parents myself, maybe that's why I liked it so much. All. The. Stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
August 14, 2023
literally what the hell was that ending? i thought i lost pages to the book.
July 16, 2023
My Rating: 3.5 rounded down to 3⭐️⭐️⭐️ this is a sad story, that is written well and weighs on your heart.
A dysfunctional family in the seedy wilds of 1990s Florida, C.C is the youngest and she has a decision to make - save her family or save herself.
C.C’s father is a salesman/conman who is making money by any means possible, he is also a drunk so he is spending money they don’t have. C.C’s mother is 35 going on 17 a housewife who just wants pretty things and to be told she is beautiful and hang out at the mall.
C.C’s older sister experiences a traumatic event which changes her from being sweet and quiet to having a full blown drug addiction and only listening to heavy metal.
In the midst of all this C.C is trying to stay afloat… she loves her family and she wants to be everything to everyone which is a hard task for a young child who knows no different. Can she get out of the dysfunctional cycle of this family and ever make something of her life that belongs to her…
This is a sad story that weighs on your heart… it is not the saddest book I have read but it definitely points out the “baddies” of families. They are not all beating their kids and assaulting them after dark (although TW there is mention of assault) to be causing emotional damage. The behaviour that the adults in this book display are despicable and they help shape the people that C.C and her sister become.
C.C is caught in the middle of everyone’s world she wants to save her family keep them together and be there for them even when they treat her poorly… she knows no different.
Told in multiple timelines going from present day to various timelines when C.C was growing up we see the dysfunction and emotional abuse get worse and worse as the book goes on. C.C survives on her learned behaviour and is barely getting by.
In the present day she is marrying a man who she thinks is the smartest man alive because he has school smarts… but to me while he treats her fairly well… the respect is not there for her as a person. His family are rich snobs and it is just another way for C.C to feel shitty about herself and her life.
There are no winners in this story… the mother is a real asshole, the dad is a loser and C.C’s sister is lost with perhaps no way of getting her back. Even the secondary characters are terrible people. I think C.C is the best character and you want her to survive, you want her to win and you want her to do well… it seems almost impossible that, that will happen though.
Overall - My 3.5 star rating is not bad, it is just in comparison to other stories I have read like this, it didn’t hit me as hard. The writing is still very good and I liked it.
I recommend this to some people probably not all my friends (Pink I am looking at you hehehe). It is a shortie clocking in under 300 pages so I read it in a few hours. It is not an uplifting coming of age story rather a cold hard look at living life on the verge of losing it all, all of the time. And just doing your best to get through the day.
A dysfunctional family in the seedy wilds of 1990s Florida, C.C is the youngest and she has a decision to make - save her family or save herself.
C.C’s father is a salesman/conman who is making money by any means possible, he is also a drunk so he is spending money they don’t have. C.C’s mother is 35 going on 17 a housewife who just wants pretty things and to be told she is beautiful and hang out at the mall.
C.C’s older sister experiences a traumatic event which changes her from being sweet and quiet to having a full blown drug addiction and only listening to heavy metal.
In the midst of all this C.C is trying to stay afloat… she loves her family and she wants to be everything to everyone which is a hard task for a young child who knows no different. Can she get out of the dysfunctional cycle of this family and ever make something of her life that belongs to her…
This is a sad story that weighs on your heart… it is not the saddest book I have read but it definitely points out the “baddies” of families. They are not all beating their kids and assaulting them after dark (although TW there is mention of assault) to be causing emotional damage. The behaviour that the adults in this book display are despicable and they help shape the people that C.C and her sister become.
C.C is caught in the middle of everyone’s world she wants to save her family keep them together and be there for them even when they treat her poorly… she knows no different.
Told in multiple timelines going from present day to various timelines when C.C was growing up we see the dysfunction and emotional abuse get worse and worse as the book goes on. C.C survives on her learned behaviour and is barely getting by.
In the present day she is marrying a man who she thinks is the smartest man alive because he has school smarts… but to me while he treats her fairly well… the respect is not there for her as a person. His family are rich snobs and it is just another way for C.C to feel shitty about herself and her life.
There are no winners in this story… the mother is a real asshole, the dad is a loser and C.C’s sister is lost with perhaps no way of getting her back. Even the secondary characters are terrible people. I think C.C is the best character and you want her to survive, you want her to win and you want her to do well… it seems almost impossible that, that will happen though.
Overall - My 3.5 star rating is not bad, it is just in comparison to other stories I have read like this, it didn’t hit me as hard. The writing is still very good and I liked it.
I recommend this to some people probably not all my friends (Pink I am looking at you hehehe). It is a shortie clocking in under 300 pages so I read it in a few hours. It is not an uplifting coming of age story rather a cold hard look at living life on the verge of losing it all, all of the time. And just doing your best to get through the day.
December 22, 2022
Truly fireworks every night! I love the cover which portrays the issues to come but includes such vivid and vibrant color -hinting that this isn't your everyday coming of age novel. CC has an incredibly difficult life and Beth Rayner has created a beautiful portrait of 1990's. This story will break your heart as CC flashes back to her upbringing and you learn what transpired in her past. Rayner has a way with words and you will be rooting for CC all the way. If you love coming of age stories, reminiscing (90's style) or just want want a memorable story of characters you won't forget, Fireworks Every Night is for you!
.#RandomHouse #Fireworkseverynight #BethRaymer
.#RandomHouse #Fireworkseverynight #BethRaymer
June 9, 2023
100% loved. Cc is so relatable. I really liked how the characters were presented just as they are with no "this is how you should feel about them" I also found it a very sad book
June 26, 2023
People assume I grew up white trash. But it wasn't like that. We were a normal middle-class American family. It was a treat for us to go out for seafood. We played sports in the driveway. Whatever emotions I felt for my family, I thought of as love.
4.5 stars. In a word, Fireworks Every Night is breathtaking. If you like to read deep, emotional, complex character-driven novels, put this one on your list.
After a fire destroys their home and car dealership in Ohio, C.C. (named for her father's beloved Canadian Club whiskey, which should give you some idea of where we're headed) and her family move to swampy Florida, where their father uses the insurance money to build them a new home and a new life. But you can't outrun your demons, and things quickly spiral out of control, leaving C.C. struggling to hold on to some semblance of stability in the chaos of her family's circumstances.
Fireworks Every Night is a heavy book, dealing with topics like alcoholism, homelessness, mental health struggles, abuse of all types (physical, emotional, sexual), addiction, and dysfunctional relationships. Anchoring this story is C.C., caught in the maelstrom of her family's issues, who narrates the story on dual timelines. We learn about her childhood, but we also watch her struggle as an adult with her relationship and career, seeing the impact of her upbringing on her adult life. Her story is mostly one of hope and loyalty: hope that she can rise above the horrors of her childhood (and the determination to do it); loyalty to the family who failed her. Her devotion to them and compassion for them, even as they disappoint her again and again, is both beautiful and heartbreaking to witness.
Fireworks Every Night is a vulnerable and powerful book, an unforgettable portrayal of a collapsed American dream, the (sometimes destructive) bonds of family, and a girl who fights tooth and nail to claw her way out. It's a book I will be thinking about for a long time. Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the early reading opportunity.
August 25, 2023
I don’t understand why Jeanette McCurdy recommended this book.
I’ve never longed for run-on sentences until reading this book. Every chapter, every paragraph was one dull description to the next.
The timeline was confusing.
I enjoyed only small portions of the book. Maybe relating to the trauma/ relationships? Otherwise, I would never read this again.
I do not recommend this book.
I’ve never longed for run-on sentences until reading this book. Every chapter, every paragraph was one dull description to the next.
The timeline was confusing.
I enjoyed only small portions of the book. Maybe relating to the trauma/ relationships? Otherwise, I would never read this again.
I do not recommend this book.
March 4, 2023
Fireworks Every Night by Beth Raymer is a an excellent debut novel, though not one that specifically hit all of my personal preferences.
Some things I loved:
- Beth Raymer is clearly a gifted writer. The prose is poetic while still being readable, dialogue feels true to both characters and how people in Florida in the 1990s actually spoke (source: I was raised in Florida in the 1990s), and the characters and events feel fleshed out and realistic. Additionally, the book was tightly-plotted in a way that a lot of debuts are not; everything that needed to happen did without any wasted words.
- Vivid descriptions brought the places — including the wildness of Loxahatchee, in contrast to Palm Beach, so close and yet so far away — to life.
What I liked a lot less:
- This book is depressing, almost unremittingly so. I would have loved a moment of levity, personally. However, if you're someone who likes books that embrace the fact that sometimes realism means the bad times never end for some people? This book is probably your jam, and that's great!
- It's perhaps realistic that C.C. sees how toxic her upbringing, family, and mindset are, and still refuses to fix them and hold on to good things in her life instead. That being said, I found this ending very frustrating, and it's not what I prefer to see.
Ultimately, this wasn't a five star read for me, but I would definitely recommend it to be people. It might just be a five star read for you!
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
Some things I loved:
- Beth Raymer is clearly a gifted writer. The prose is poetic while still being readable, dialogue feels true to both characters and how people in Florida in the 1990s actually spoke (source: I was raised in Florida in the 1990s), and the characters and events feel fleshed out and realistic. Additionally, the book was tightly-plotted in a way that a lot of debuts are not; everything that needed to happen did without any wasted words.
- Vivid descriptions brought the places — including the wildness of Loxahatchee, in contrast to Palm Beach, so close and yet so far away — to life.
What I liked a lot less:
- This book is depressing, almost unremittingly so. I would have loved a moment of levity, personally. However, if you're someone who likes books that embrace the fact that sometimes realism means the bad times never end for some people? This book is probably your jam, and that's great!
- It's perhaps realistic that C.C. sees how toxic her upbringing, family, and mindset are, and still refuses to fix them and hold on to good things in her life instead. That being said, I found this ending very frustrating, and it's not what I prefer to see.
Ultimately, this wasn't a five star read for me, but I would definitely recommend it to be people. It might just be a five star read for you!
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
June 11, 2023
If a reader wants to see life in a dysfunctional family, this is a great book to read. It is horrifying and intriguing at the same time.
Our main character is a little girl named CC. She is named after her father's favourite drink, Canadian Club. Who does that? She seems to be the only “normal” person in the family. She fights to keep it that way though, of course, her mental health is affected by it into adulthood.
Every aspect that one would expect to see in a dysfunctional family is highlighted in the story. Alcohol, drugs, abuse, mental games and more. It is eye opening. It makes the reader think about getting caught in a vortex.
It's hard to describe the characters. Other than CC, no one in the family is likeable. Flawed would be a good word.
There are two time lines, CC's growing up years and CC as an adult, a young married woman. The early years are painful to read, her adult years show a bit of hope but it's obvious that her formative years have left a huge impact on her. But, despite this, she loves her family and wants the best for them. The family bond is strong.
The publisher's blurb describes this book as “deeply funny” and “dark comedy”. I could not disagree more. It is Dark and Disturbing. While humour is subjective, I think that most readers who pick this up expecting a laugh will be disappointed. But, definitely, well written and compelling.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
Our main character is a little girl named CC. She is named after her father's favourite drink, Canadian Club. Who does that? She seems to be the only “normal” person in the family. She fights to keep it that way though, of course, her mental health is affected by it into adulthood.
Every aspect that one would expect to see in a dysfunctional family is highlighted in the story. Alcohol, drugs, abuse, mental games and more. It is eye opening. It makes the reader think about getting caught in a vortex.
It's hard to describe the characters. Other than CC, no one in the family is likeable. Flawed would be a good word.
There are two time lines, CC's growing up years and CC as an adult, a young married woman. The early years are painful to read, her adult years show a bit of hope but it's obvious that her formative years have left a huge impact on her. But, despite this, she loves her family and wants the best for them. The family bond is strong.
The publisher's blurb describes this book as “deeply funny” and “dark comedy”. I could not disagree more. It is Dark and Disturbing. While humour is subjective, I think that most readers who pick this up expecting a laugh will be disappointed. But, definitely, well written and compelling.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
June 14, 2023
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
My Selling Pitch:
Do you want a character study of a girl in Florida being neglected and emotionally abused by her parents?
Pre-reading:
I got sent this ARC by the publisher since I liked Sam so much, so I have ridiculously high hopes for this book.
Thick of it:
lanai
Guayaberas
A New England girlie (Except not really. She’s a Florida girlie.)
So which is it? Is she miserable and needy or is she a fighter?
Oh, something bad happened to that girl.
Poor Lorraine.
rebar
Euchre
Oh Bestie, we do not let men push us.
If she fucks her boyfriend I swear-
Banyans
Stigmata
I knew it, but like fuck.
How do you climb out of that? Like you’re just stuck in the abuse and poverty.
While I’m enjoying the book and I sense some realism to it, the characters don’t exactly feel like real people. They’re too non-reactive.
The thing about the drones is made up. There are so many actual horrifying facts about conservation. I feel like you could’ve done a smidge of research and thrown in a real one that would’ve had equal weight and snark.
Do you know what makes these characters feel so inauthentic? They don’t want anything for themselves. They have no motivation, no drive to do anything. They’re just existing. And while that works thematically for the story, it kind of disengages you as a reader because you’re like oh, this is exaggerated to make me feel something, but I don’t actually connect with them.
Book mentions Bundy cliché.
See, like that doesn’t make any sense. You’re neglected your whole childhood, but you didn’t learn how to cook, so now you’re making pizza rolls on a heating pad for menstrual cramps. But she has a microwave. She worked as a waitress. She’s smart enough to write copy for a zoo. Like it just doesn’t make sense. It’s done for dramatic effect but it’s like that didn’t or wouldn’t actually happen. It comes across a bit as gratuitous or trauma porn.
Post-reading:
I want to like this more than I do.
Listen, I love a character study. A book about nothing but people feeling feelings, always down. The problem is that in this book, the feelings get cut off before we get to any real depth. The characters don’t feel like real people. I don’t know how much of this book is taken from the author’s own life experience, and how much she pulled out of her ass. Some of it feels like trauma porn, and that sort of rubs me the wrong way.
A 17-year-old character not knowing how to cook despite being neglected her whole childhood and working in a restaurant fundamentally makes no sense. I’m not asking for her to go on Masterchef, but I don’t think it would occur to anyone to use a cramp heating pad to cook on. It just feels like the author is trying to inauthentically convey how bad this character’s situation is. She’s poor. She’s not stupid. Similarly, using old drug needles to inject alcohol into oranges to sell them at school just doesn’t make sense. It makes the novel feel cheap. It makes it feel gratuitous.
Most frustratingly, it has nothing to say. Sure it’s got themes that people are just trying to survive and get through life rather than actually live it, but I don’t buy that. Characters should still want things. They still need motivation for something. Anything! That’s missing in this book.
Such a major plot point of the novel is the main character trying to reconcile her messy upbringing with her husband’s privileged family, but we never get told how they meet. How did they find each other? (Sure, we get told that they met when his car broke down, but what were they both doing with their lives then?) How did that relationship even happen? Where does she go after she starts selling cars? There are too many gaps.
So it’s a character study. With underdeveloped characters. And time gaps. And that’s not enough.
Who should read this:
Character study fans
Florida white trash girlies
Do I want to reread this:
No
Similar books:
* Sam by Allegra Goodman-coming of age novel, abused and neglected angry sad girl book
* I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness by Claire Vaye Watkins-girl who grew up in poverty and neglected by her parents
* Social Engagement by Avery Carpenter Forrey-poor girl marries into a wealthy family
* Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley-girl in poverty tries to survive
* The Seaplane on Final Approach by Rebecca Rukeyser-girl neglected by parents, inappropriate romance
* Educated by Tara Westover-memoir of a girl being raised in poverty and getting out
* Uncultured by Daniella Mestyanek Young-memoir of a girl raised in poverty and a cult and getting out
Unhinged Summary:
Girlypop’s dad burns down their family’s used car dealership in an insurance scam to give them the money to move to Florida. He’s a drunk. Her mom is some sort of emotionally compromised. Toxic af home life. Girlypop says ball is life. She loves basketball. Well, loves is a strong word. Girlypop has no strong feelings in this entire novel. We flash back and forth between her childhood and her life as an adult.
As an adult, she’s marrying into a rich family. Their money makes her uncomfortable. She wants to be able to pay her own way. She writes copy for a zoo. She has no contact with her mother. Her father is homeless and begs her for money. She enables him. This pisses off her trust fund boy.
Back in the past, her sister runs away from home back to her extended family in Ohio. She gets raped by a friend of the family. She gets sent back to Florida and struggles with drugs. Understandably. She has no support system. Girlypop gets a boyfriend. She gets a job as a waitress. Her parents’ marriage dissolves. Her mother moves into her bedroom and makes her daughter quit her job so she can be the milf at work. Her sister’s shitty drug-addict boyfriend overdoses. Her sister goes back to Ohio and has a baby. Her family initially refuses to visit and help with the baby. Girlypop’s mom decides to take her and her boyfriend to Ohio on Spring break because it will piss off her husband. Her mom fucks her boyfriend. Her dad has been tapping the phone. He tells his daughter about the affair and starts pulling petty abusive shit like messing with the temperature and groceries. He decides that in order to be able to get a divorce and not have to pay his wife alimony, he’s going to go bankrupt. Then he escalates it even more and gets his wife put on an involuntary psychiatric hold. Her mother then abandons the family. Her dad threatens to commit suicide and then also abandons the family. Girlypop is still in high school, so she attempts to finish the year on her own and go to college by getting a basketball scholarship, but she gets suspended from school instead. She reads the newspaper and notices that her dad’s repossessed car is being sold at a police auction so she goes to see it. After she has a bit of a menty b in front of the winning bidder, he offers her a job selling cars.
In her adult life, Girlypop’s marriage has failed, and they are going through a divorce. Her sister has been sent to jail and her niece has been lost to the foster care system. Her sister is mentally handicapped from her drug use. She tracks down her mom who is now back in Ohio working retail and continuing to have horrible relationships with men. Her dad is bouncing around homeless shelters. She decides to put her sister into an assisted living home and gets a job writing copy for the Florida Zoo. That is literally the end. Do you see how nothing happens and it’s basically just mindless trauma porn now?
My Selling Pitch:
Do you want a character study of a girl in Florida being neglected and emotionally abused by her parents?
Pre-reading:
I got sent this ARC by the publisher since I liked Sam so much, so I have ridiculously high hopes for this book.
Thick of it:
lanai
Guayaberas
A New England girlie (Except not really. She’s a Florida girlie.)
So which is it? Is she miserable and needy or is she a fighter?
Oh, something bad happened to that girl.
Poor Lorraine.
rebar
Euchre
Oh Bestie, we do not let men push us.
If she fucks her boyfriend I swear-
Banyans
Stigmata
I knew it, but like fuck.
How do you climb out of that? Like you’re just stuck in the abuse and poverty.
While I’m enjoying the book and I sense some realism to it, the characters don’t exactly feel like real people. They’re too non-reactive.
The thing about the drones is made up. There are so many actual horrifying facts about conservation. I feel like you could’ve done a smidge of research and thrown in a real one that would’ve had equal weight and snark.
Do you know what makes these characters feel so inauthentic? They don’t want anything for themselves. They have no motivation, no drive to do anything. They’re just existing. And while that works thematically for the story, it kind of disengages you as a reader because you’re like oh, this is exaggerated to make me feel something, but I don’t actually connect with them.
Book mentions Bundy cliché.
See, like that doesn’t make any sense. You’re neglected your whole childhood, but you didn’t learn how to cook, so now you’re making pizza rolls on a heating pad for menstrual cramps. But she has a microwave. She worked as a waitress. She’s smart enough to write copy for a zoo. Like it just doesn’t make sense. It’s done for dramatic effect but it’s like that didn’t or wouldn’t actually happen. It comes across a bit as gratuitous or trauma porn.
Post-reading:
I want to like this more than I do.
Listen, I love a character study. A book about nothing but people feeling feelings, always down. The problem is that in this book, the feelings get cut off before we get to any real depth. The characters don’t feel like real people. I don’t know how much of this book is taken from the author’s own life experience, and how much she pulled out of her ass. Some of it feels like trauma porn, and that sort of rubs me the wrong way.
A 17-year-old character not knowing how to cook despite being neglected her whole childhood and working in a restaurant fundamentally makes no sense. I’m not asking for her to go on Masterchef, but I don’t think it would occur to anyone to use a cramp heating pad to cook on. It just feels like the author is trying to inauthentically convey how bad this character’s situation is. She’s poor. She’s not stupid. Similarly, using old drug needles to inject alcohol into oranges to sell them at school just doesn’t make sense. It makes the novel feel cheap. It makes it feel gratuitous.
Most frustratingly, it has nothing to say. Sure it’s got themes that people are just trying to survive and get through life rather than actually live it, but I don’t buy that. Characters should still want things. They still need motivation for something. Anything! That’s missing in this book.
Such a major plot point of the novel is the main character trying to reconcile her messy upbringing with her husband’s privileged family, but we never get told how they meet. How did they find each other? (Sure, we get told that they met when his car broke down, but what were they both doing with their lives then?) How did that relationship even happen? Where does she go after she starts selling cars? There are too many gaps.
So it’s a character study. With underdeveloped characters. And time gaps. And that’s not enough.
Who should read this:
Character study fans
Florida white trash girlies
Do I want to reread this:
No
Similar books:
* Sam by Allegra Goodman-coming of age novel, abused and neglected angry sad girl book
* I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness by Claire Vaye Watkins-girl who grew up in poverty and neglected by her parents
* Social Engagement by Avery Carpenter Forrey-poor girl marries into a wealthy family
* Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley-girl in poverty tries to survive
* The Seaplane on Final Approach by Rebecca Rukeyser-girl neglected by parents, inappropriate romance
* Educated by Tara Westover-memoir of a girl being raised in poverty and getting out
* Uncultured by Daniella Mestyanek Young-memoir of a girl raised in poverty and a cult and getting out
Unhinged Summary:
Girlypop’s dad burns down their family’s used car dealership in an insurance scam to give them the money to move to Florida. He’s a drunk. Her mom is some sort of emotionally compromised. Toxic af home life. Girlypop says ball is life. She loves basketball. Well, loves is a strong word. Girlypop has no strong feelings in this entire novel. We flash back and forth between her childhood and her life as an adult.
As an adult, she’s marrying into a rich family. Their money makes her uncomfortable. She wants to be able to pay her own way. She writes copy for a zoo. She has no contact with her mother. Her father is homeless and begs her for money. She enables him. This pisses off her trust fund boy.
Back in the past, her sister runs away from home back to her extended family in Ohio. She gets raped by a friend of the family. She gets sent back to Florida and struggles with drugs. Understandably. She has no support system. Girlypop gets a boyfriend. She gets a job as a waitress. Her parents’ marriage dissolves. Her mother moves into her bedroom and makes her daughter quit her job so she can be the milf at work. Her sister’s shitty drug-addict boyfriend overdoses. Her sister goes back to Ohio and has a baby. Her family initially refuses to visit and help with the baby. Girlypop’s mom decides to take her and her boyfriend to Ohio on Spring break because it will piss off her husband. Her mom fucks her boyfriend. Her dad has been tapping the phone. He tells his daughter about the affair and starts pulling petty abusive shit like messing with the temperature and groceries. He decides that in order to be able to get a divorce and not have to pay his wife alimony, he’s going to go bankrupt. Then he escalates it even more and gets his wife put on an involuntary psychiatric hold. Her mother then abandons the family. Her dad threatens to commit suicide and then also abandons the family. Girlypop is still in high school, so she attempts to finish the year on her own and go to college by getting a basketball scholarship, but she gets suspended from school instead. She reads the newspaper and notices that her dad’s repossessed car is being sold at a police auction so she goes to see it. After she has a bit of a menty b in front of the winning bidder, he offers her a job selling cars.
In her adult life, Girlypop’s marriage has failed, and they are going through a divorce. Her sister has been sent to jail and her niece has been lost to the foster care system. Her sister is mentally handicapped from her drug use. She tracks down her mom who is now back in Ohio working retail and continuing to have horrible relationships with men. Her dad is bouncing around homeless shelters. She decides to put her sister into an assisted living home and gets a job writing copy for the Florida Zoo. That is literally the end. Do you see how nothing happens and it’s basically just mindless trauma porn now?
January 3, 2023
“In America, people have dreams. They take chances. They make strides. Then they get hit by a car. They get cancer. They have a nervous breakdown. They don’t age with the dignity they thought they would, and their kids step up.” - Fireworks Every Night
Do you know how I know that Beth Raymer’s coming-of-age debut, Fireworks Every Night, is an excellent book? Because it is real. I felt - deeply felt - everything written on these pages and related on another level to narrator CC. I am her and she is me. The daughters of families steeped in dysfunction, stepping up where their parents fail, CC and millions of young women like her know how it feels to be in a codependent familial relationship, desperately trying to control the chaos and narrative. Daughters of dysfunction, this book is for you.
When CC’s father, a charismatic used car salesman, moves his family to Florida after his dealership in Ohio burns down under suspicious circumstances, it is both the beginning and the end of their family. Settling into the Florida swamps in the 1990s, CC; her father; mother, a flailing housewife completely dependent on her husband; and sister Lorraine, a few years away from a serious drug addiction; don’t yet know how drastically their family unit will change over the coming years, becoming something unrecognizable to themselves.
Told alternatively from past to present, CC narrates this story of her upbringing, inviting us to view the airing of her family’s dirty laundry through her eyes. CC is an astute, ever watchful daughter, not missing a beat as her family comes apart at the seams. Fireworks Every Night wades into the unraveling of this family and shows how a series of events and choices can completely change our lives.
Fireworks Every Night highlights the relationship between the codependent child and their parents, showing how it is often the children of dysfunctional families who keep all of the plates spinning and in the air when the adults forget to act like adults. This novel also tenderly shows how adult children too often become the keeper of their parents when hopes and dreams fail us.
Plot aside, Raymer’s writing is sharp and observant. She unfolds this story across the pages in such a way that you don’t see the next thing coming, but aren’t surprised by it either - it just feels like the necessary progression of a family that can’t find its way out of its own toxicity. Raymer brilliantly captures what it is like to be a young adult growing up in an environment that is spinning out of control, yet loving your family too much to put yourself first. Raymer is a master with words and emotion, and she had me feeling everything as I got lost in this story. This book is therapy and let me know that I am not alone in trying to navigate the confusing world of codependent family relationships.
Highly recommended to anyone who grew up in a family that was less than perfect.
Do you know how I know that Beth Raymer’s coming-of-age debut, Fireworks Every Night, is an excellent book? Because it is real. I felt - deeply felt - everything written on these pages and related on another level to narrator CC. I am her and she is me. The daughters of families steeped in dysfunction, stepping up where their parents fail, CC and millions of young women like her know how it feels to be in a codependent familial relationship, desperately trying to control the chaos and narrative. Daughters of dysfunction, this book is for you.
When CC’s father, a charismatic used car salesman, moves his family to Florida after his dealership in Ohio burns down under suspicious circumstances, it is both the beginning and the end of their family. Settling into the Florida swamps in the 1990s, CC; her father; mother, a flailing housewife completely dependent on her husband; and sister Lorraine, a few years away from a serious drug addiction; don’t yet know how drastically their family unit will change over the coming years, becoming something unrecognizable to themselves.
Told alternatively from past to present, CC narrates this story of her upbringing, inviting us to view the airing of her family’s dirty laundry through her eyes. CC is an astute, ever watchful daughter, not missing a beat as her family comes apart at the seams. Fireworks Every Night wades into the unraveling of this family and shows how a series of events and choices can completely change our lives.
Fireworks Every Night highlights the relationship between the codependent child and their parents, showing how it is often the children of dysfunctional families who keep all of the plates spinning and in the air when the adults forget to act like adults. This novel also tenderly shows how adult children too often become the keeper of their parents when hopes and dreams fail us.
Plot aside, Raymer’s writing is sharp and observant. She unfolds this story across the pages in such a way that you don’t see the next thing coming, but aren’t surprised by it either - it just feels like the necessary progression of a family that can’t find its way out of its own toxicity. Raymer brilliantly captures what it is like to be a young adult growing up in an environment that is spinning out of control, yet loving your family too much to put yourself first. Raymer is a master with words and emotion, and she had me feeling everything as I got lost in this story. This book is therapy and let me know that I am not alone in trying to navigate the confusing world of codependent family relationships.
Highly recommended to anyone who grew up in a family that was less than perfect.
July 5, 2023
Now I love a good dysfunctional family book but this one was way too dysfunctional for even me. Add in some randomly interspersed climate change diatribes and……no. 🤷♀️
April 2, 2024
Wow, this left me kind of breathless. I listened to the audiobook on CloudLibrary narrated by Rachel Jacobs (I had to listen to it on 1.2x speed since she's a bit slow but otherwise, excellent reader). It started off with me selfishly feeling better about my own family but then devolved into realizing this was past simple family dysfunction. CC is such a relatable character and deals with a lot in the book. I love a good coming-of-age read with all the nostalgic and wistful feels they provide and this one did not disappoint. The ending was confusing -it sort of lost my attention and then the book was over before I knew it. But other than the ending, I'll be thinking about this book over the next couple of days for sure.
July 18, 2023
Bless this young lady and her younger self- as we meet each one through alternating timelines, we can’t help but say that. CC, named after her dad’s favorite bourbon, doesn't realize as a child that things aren’t normal. She doesn’t know any different. But things are far from normal, and her survival can be credited to her optimistic attitude and resilient sense of humor.
CC is the youngest of two girls. Her dad is a car salesman, her mother is a beauty queen wanna-be. Their dealership, which includes their trailer home, burns to the ground. Dad loads them in a car, gets lost, ends up at a new subdivision site, and is told if he doesn’t mind the rattlesnakes (while the man has a dead rattlesnake under his shovel), the place would be perfect for raising kids. Sold. Just like that. In record speed, they build a fancy home, complete with a swimming pool, hot tub and slide. All from the insurance payouts for what may have been arson. But CC doesn’t see all of that. She sees the turquoise of the pool. Her entire life is seen through these shaded glasses. Even though she is learning that life was wrong, unfair, brutal to her sister, tough for her, and all because she was born to horribly dysfunctional parents, CC still perseveres.
This book is about growing up in unfathomable living conditions, but you’ll still snicker and smile as you see life through CC’s eyes. You’ll want to cry for her, but she won’t let you quit smiling.
Thanks to Random House Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date was June 27, 2023.
CC is the youngest of two girls. Her dad is a car salesman, her mother is a beauty queen wanna-be. Their dealership, which includes their trailer home, burns to the ground. Dad loads them in a car, gets lost, ends up at a new subdivision site, and is told if he doesn’t mind the rattlesnakes (while the man has a dead rattlesnake under his shovel), the place would be perfect for raising kids. Sold. Just like that. In record speed, they build a fancy home, complete with a swimming pool, hot tub and slide. All from the insurance payouts for what may have been arson. But CC doesn’t see all of that. She sees the turquoise of the pool. Her entire life is seen through these shaded glasses. Even though she is learning that life was wrong, unfair, brutal to her sister, tough for her, and all because she was born to horribly dysfunctional parents, CC still perseveres.
This book is about growing up in unfathomable living conditions, but you’ll still snicker and smile as you see life through CC’s eyes. You’ll want to cry for her, but she won’t let you quit smiling.
Thanks to Random House Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date was June 27, 2023.
March 5, 2023
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC. I can't say enough good things about Fireworks Every Night. It is one of the best books I've read so far this year and the best work of fiction I've read about being a young person in Florida. I would know - I was brought to Florida as an elementary school child and wasn't happy about it - and I'm still not. For those who have never visited Florida or live here, the story might be far-fetched but I can assure you, it is not. CC is nine years old when she and her 11 year old sister are hauled off from relatives in Ohio by their father and mother. Their father was a auto dealership owner whose entire lot and property burned down under suspicious circumstances, possibly arson. CC's father builds a big Florida McMansion and gets a job at a local car dealership. Things start to unravel from there. Fireworks every night is an incredible coming of age story - a young woman trying to navigate her way in what could be called no-man's land. The descriptions of the people, the places, the weather, the scenery are all vidid and all too accurate. I feel as if pages of my life story were taken and placed into this incredible novel.
February 4, 2023
This is a bittersweet debut novel that touched my heart and had me weeping in parts. CC grows from a young girl to a woman in a dysfunctional family with sister, Lorraine and two very odd, often pathetic parents. Dad is a car salesman and mom tries to get by but so many circumstances prevent them from ever becoming a happy family. The proverbial sex, drugs, rock & roll all figure into this book as we alternate in time from childhood to adulthood and see depression, addiction, and ultimately resiliency in these flawed but very human characters.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
June 28, 2023
Thank you NetGalley andRandom House Publishing Group - Random House for the copy of Fireworks Every Night by Beth Raynor. I really liked the writing style and the book started out great so I had really high hopes for the rest of the book. The family was so dysfunctional it was hard to read about and even though the dysfunction was really described well, it was like uncomfortably spying on a family’s dirty secrets. I guess that’s a tribute to the good writing, but it wasn’t the right fit for me because I wasn’t prepared for such a depressing book, especially one with such a beautiful title.
July 4, 2023
This is my favorite book of the year. It will stay with me for a long time. I wanted something different. It was a dark coming of age story about a girl trying to survive her upbringing. I related so much this character as I was raised in a home with an alcoholic mother. I have a difficult time as an adult trying to have a relationship with my mom and also keeping healthy boundaries. I understood and related so much to this book. It was beautiful and moving.
August 20, 2023
I read this whole book. I don't really even know what happened besides trauma after trauma. It seemed like a fictionalized version of Educated but it didn't seem to go anywhere. Maybe I was too deep into hating it to pay attention properly.
August 5, 2023
So well-written and incredibly interesting. I'm not usually big on coming-of-age stories but this one had me in it's grasp. I hope the author writes more soon!
September 29, 2024
OVERVIEW:
Confusing. Sad. Disjointed. Not darkly comic or funny at all. Almost a Southern Gothic, but without the atmosphere, also no scenery or house as a character. This is a tragic story of a family going down in flames.
THE GOOD:
- I guess it’s a tale of being a survivor. CC made a success of herself, and ends up supporting her dad and sister, even if from a shadowy distance. However, I don’t feel the author established her case on that.
- I liked C.C. She tries to maintain optimism, even through her struggles. Although she doesn’t always make the right decision.
THE BAD:
- The novel goes back and forth from a current timeline to C.C.’s childhood and teen years. However, these are not labeled in any way, which can be very bewildering when you change timelines and don’t realize it. I finally figured out the current timelines included a harp logo at the beginning, the earlier timelines an orange.
- The current timeline where C.C. is married seems superfluous; they could have been removed completely and not affect the story at all.
- Many loose ends. Why was Lorraine’s rape never addressed? What happened after C.C. took the car salesman training? What happened with the bankruptcy and foreclosure? How did C.C. end up
in Maine? How did C.C. meet her husband? Why did she divorce him?
- The ending feels severely unfinished.
- And what is this babble in the book blurb about “coming up against the structural and cultural challenges of growing up in poverty”? The author didn’t show her work on that one either. (Some psychobabble bullshit right there.)
Confusing. Sad. Disjointed. Not darkly comic or funny at all. Almost a Southern Gothic, but without the atmosphere, also no scenery or house as a character. This is a tragic story of a family going down in flames.
THE GOOD:
- I guess it’s a tale of being a survivor. CC made a success of herself, and ends up supporting her dad and sister, even if from a shadowy distance. However, I don’t feel the author established her case on that.
- I liked C.C. She tries to maintain optimism, even through her struggles. Although she doesn’t always make the right decision.
THE BAD:
- The novel goes back and forth from a current timeline to C.C.’s childhood and teen years. However, these are not labeled in any way, which can be very bewildering when you change timelines and don’t realize it. I finally figured out the current timelines included a harp logo at the beginning, the earlier timelines an orange.
- The current timeline where C.C. is married seems superfluous; they could have been removed completely and not affect the story at all.
- Many loose ends. Why was Lorraine’s rape never addressed? What happened after C.C. took the car salesman training? What happened with the bankruptcy and foreclosure? How did C.C. end up
in Maine? How did C.C. meet her husband? Why did she divorce him?
- The ending feels severely unfinished.
- And what is this babble in the book blurb about “coming up against the structural and cultural challenges of growing up in poverty”? The author didn’t show her work on that one either. (Some psychobabble bullshit right there.)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2023
I bought this quickly after I saw Jennette McCurdy (I’m Glad My Mom Died) recommend it. Beautiful and heartbreaking. I was captivated.
June 27, 2023
For better or for worse, our families shape us. We take those little (and not-so-little) moments that often came with no intention of making a lasting impression and find they've become the foundation of our behaviors. Like many of us, C.C., the protagonist in Fireworks Every Night, is working through how to live with these imprints left by her unique upbringing. With C.C.'s lifetime of expertise analyzing her environment to make sure she has a safe space to live, it's no wonder that C.C. becomes a passionate environmentalist at her job at a floundering local zoo.
When C.C. moved to Florida with her family, she was sure they finally made it. They'd left their midwestern town that seemed to eat everyone alive for their shiny new life in the Sunshine State. It was barely worth mentioning that she'd heard whispers about the insurance money her father got from the fire that destroyed his used car dealership and the trailer they lived in on the lot. It was even easier to forget when their custom home was finished and her father landed a salesman job—his specialty—at another car dealership.
Unfortunately for C.C., the good fortune didn't have lasting power. A horrible incident sends C.C.'s quiet sister into a spiral that makes her nearly unrecognizable and leaves C.C. alone to navigate their parents tumultuous relationship. C.C. is consumed with the careful balancing act of choosing the "right" side between her parents escalating war, being there for her family, and finding out how to make her own way without being crushed by unbearable guilt.
Fireworks Every Night opens with present-day C.C. in a state of shock after her well-meaning, almost in-laws surprise her with news that her mother has RSVP'd to her wedding. C.C.'s relationship with her mother has always been complex, but at this point, they've been estranged for the better part of C.C.'s adult life. Imagining her mother at her wedding completely washes her in fear.
Raymer's winds through C.C. past and present to color a full picture of C.C.'s dysfunctional upbringing, giving the reader the sensation of processing its events alongside C.C. as she reckons with their lasting effects on her present day reality. While much of this was effective in the end, I found the flow unbalanced; something with the spacing and length of the time jumps didn't serve the narrative quite as well as it could have. Regardless, Fireworks Every Night is a very readable story with characters that are...rubberneck-worthy, to say the least. Finding redeeming qualities in C.C.'s family is challenging at times, but she's an honest, relatable port in the throes of her own personal storm.
When C.C. moved to Florida with her family, she was sure they finally made it. They'd left their midwestern town that seemed to eat everyone alive for their shiny new life in the Sunshine State. It was barely worth mentioning that she'd heard whispers about the insurance money her father got from the fire that destroyed his used car dealership and the trailer they lived in on the lot. It was even easier to forget when their custom home was finished and her father landed a salesman job—his specialty—at another car dealership.
Unfortunately for C.C., the good fortune didn't have lasting power. A horrible incident sends C.C.'s quiet sister into a spiral that makes her nearly unrecognizable and leaves C.C. alone to navigate their parents tumultuous relationship. C.C. is consumed with the careful balancing act of choosing the "right" side between her parents escalating war, being there for her family, and finding out how to make her own way without being crushed by unbearable guilt.
Fireworks Every Night opens with present-day C.C. in a state of shock after her well-meaning, almost in-laws surprise her with news that her mother has RSVP'd to her wedding. C.C.'s relationship with her mother has always been complex, but at this point, they've been estranged for the better part of C.C.'s adult life. Imagining her mother at her wedding completely washes her in fear.
Raymer's winds through C.C. past and present to color a full picture of C.C.'s dysfunctional upbringing, giving the reader the sensation of processing its events alongside C.C. as she reckons with their lasting effects on her present day reality. While much of this was effective in the end, I found the flow unbalanced; something with the spacing and length of the time jumps didn't serve the narrative quite as well as it could have. Regardless, Fireworks Every Night is a very readable story with characters that are...rubberneck-worthy, to say the least. Finding redeeming qualities in C.C.'s family is challenging at times, but she's an honest, relatable port in the throes of her own personal storm.
October 28, 2024
This was a strange book, in that it read like a non-fiction memoir. (No joke -- I checked three times to make sure this was a novel, and not someone's life story.) It was very short (I finished it in maybe 4 sittings), prioritized feelings and dialogue over plot, skipped logistics in favor of dramatics (literally how did the main character survive living alone at age 17? Where did she go to college in order to get her much-coveted zoo job? Where in the world did she meet her incredibly rich fiancé, and what did they have in common in order to make a bond?!), and was subjective and decisive about which pieces of the story readers were allowed to see (through a relatively unreliable narrators' eyes). Also, much like memoirs, the first half was fairly mundane; I found myself wondering, "What's the hook, here?" But then boy oh boy, did things turn bonkers quickly. And then, it just sort of... ends.
Which is not to say it was a bad story. Having grown up in a household touched by alcoholism and glanced at by poverty, I appreciated the premise of a young girl's attempt to survive her abusive, immature, selfish parents. But this novel feels undeveloped and short-changed. Considering this is Raymer's first novel (her other book was -surprise!- a memoir), I'm willing to give her some leeway. But I was ultimately pretty disappointed, because the story and its heroine have such potential.
Which is not to say it was a bad story. Having grown up in a household touched by alcoholism and glanced at by poverty, I appreciated the premise of a young girl's attempt to survive her abusive, immature, selfish parents. But this novel feels undeveloped and short-changed. Considering this is Raymer's first novel (her other book was -surprise!- a memoir), I'm willing to give her some leeway. But I was ultimately pretty disappointed, because the story and its heroine have such potential.
July 17, 2023
In my mind, the millions and millions of Americans who grow up in dysfunctional families have two choices — let it break you, or fight like hell to survive. That’s the journey C.C. is on as she tries to hold it all together not just for her damaged sister, but for her broken mother and grifter-type father as well. All of them put her dead last so it’s interesting that as she tells this story via flashback as an adult, she has far more compassion for her family than she does her husband. He is treated with a degree of coldness as C.C. learns how to live on her own terms.
But this book really isn’t about survival, it’s about empathy, love and forgiveness, all told by Beth Raymer with beautiful writing and a deep understanding of human nature.
But this book really isn’t about survival, it’s about empathy, love and forgiveness, all told by Beth Raymer with beautiful writing and a deep understanding of human nature.
February 26, 2023
My first thought of this book was how much I related to it almost immediately. It was raw and addressed a lot of issues relevant to lives of lower/middle-class families and anyone who had a dysfunctional childhood. Seeing people living the same lives can come out of it and experience things very differently. This is easily moving to one of my top books of the year!
June 18, 2023
I want to laugh and cry and dissect it and leave it alone all at once.
Love a thinker of a book that's still entertaining even if you just stick to the surface level.
Also emotionally wrecking.
Great debut novel. Kudos. 👏🏻
Love a thinker of a book that's still entertaining even if you just stick to the surface level.
Also emotionally wrecking.
Great debut novel. Kudos. 👏🏻
July 13, 2023
This book just never got going for me. I listened to the audiobook and the various timelines were sometimes hard to track. Lacked narrative tension despite all the terrible things that happened then it just ended.
September 15, 2023
A Jenette McCurdy Book Club pick. I've tried so hard to like this book. I even read it twice. I even watched the author's biography adaptation of Lay the Favorite starring Rebecca Hall. The premise of the story is believable but the execution was a fail.
March 23, 2024
This was such a moving story, yet the writing style felt almost comforting in a way. Although I do agree with other reviews that say the ending didn’t wrap things up, I loved the flow of the story and would be super interested in reading more novels by this author 💜
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