A New York Times Bestseller • A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!
Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, People, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, TIME, The A.V. Club, Buzzfeed, and PopSugar
“I can’t believe how good this book is…. It’s wholly original. It’s also perfect…. Wilson writes with such a light touch…. The brilliance of … Club, Buzzfeed, and PopSugar
“I can’t believe how good this book is…. It’s wholly original. It’s also perfect…. Wilson writes with such a light touch…. The brilliance of the novel [is] that it distracts you with these weirdo characters and mesmerizing and funny sentences and then hits you in a way you didn’t see coming. You’re laughing so hard you don’t even realize that you’ve suddenly caught fire.” —Taffy Brodesser-Akner, author of Fleishman is in Trouble, New York Times Book Review
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Family Fang, a moving and uproarious novel about a woman who finds meaning in her life when she begins caring for two children with a remarkable ability.
Lillian and Madison were unlikely roommates and yet inseparable friends at their elite boarding school. But then Lillian had to leave the school unexpectedly in the wake of a scandal and they’ve barely spoken since. Until now, when Lillian gets a letter from Madison pleading for her help.
Madison’s twin stepkids are moving in with her family and she wants Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there’s a catch: the twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated, flames igniting from their skin in a startling but beautiful way. Lillian is convinced Madison is pulling her leg, but it’s the truth.
Thinking of her dead-end life at home, the life that has consistently disappointed her, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose. Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other—and stay cool—while also staying out of the way of Madison’s buttoned-up politician husband. Surprised by her own ingenuity yet unused to the intense feelings of protectiveness she feels for them, Lillian ultimately begins to accept that she needs these strange children as much as they need her—urgently and fiercely. Couldn’t this be the start of the amazing life she’d always hoped for?
With white-hot wit and a big, tender heart, Kevin Wilson has written his best book yet—a most unusual story of parental love.
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I really enjoyed this book. It was quick moving, witty, just a fun read. I’m going to read more from Kevin Wilson.
I found this to be a quick and absorbing read. The story is told in first-person narration by our protagonist, Lillian. Her quirky sense of humor and desire to care for these spontaneously-combusting kids offsets a story that could easily have become dark and heavy by its nature. Instead, what emerges is a tale of finding purpose and belonging while navigating through an absurd situation.
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson was an interesting read about two children that combust when they are upset or anxious. Lillian and Madison were high boarding school roommates. Over a decade later they see each other for the first time when Madison needs a governess for her stepchildren who combust.
While I did read the book and very quickly, I had several problems with the characters. First, the relationship between Madison and Lillian was very one-sided. Madison used Lillian constantly and Lillian kept coming back for more. I understand she loved her, but it never felt like it was reciprocated. I couldn’t understand why she kept coming back for more which made it really difficult for me to respect Lillian. I did respect how Lillian stood up for the children when no one else would.
Another thing that bothered me throughout the book is there was no explanation for why these children caught on fire. Just all of the sudden there are two children who mysteriously catch on fire. Why?
What bothered me most of all was the only character I really liked was the maid who was a very secondary character in the book.
Everyone seemed to love Madison and I just did’t see it. I found her selfish and very self-centered, and I didn’t see anything redeeming in her character except when she stood up for her son.
Wilson is a good writer, and it was an easy read, but as much as it was promoted as funny and uplifting I didn’t react to it that way.
This is the story of Lillian and Madison. They went to high school together and when Madison gets caught with cocaine, Madison’s very wealthy dad pays Lillian’s mom so that Lillian will take the fall. Thus begins the two divergent paths that these women take. Until one day when Madison calls Lillian to ask her a favor. She needs her to take care of her twin step children who have a unique ability that needs to be kept private. The children catch fire.
Lillian agrees and becomes the children’s governess. She moves to Madison’s mansion and helps to care for these kids and begins to love them like her own. When a new problem comes to light, Lillian and Madison have to make a decision about their futures and the futures of the children.
This is a really weird book. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but I did find myself rolling my eyes quite a few times at the writing. It was a bit juvenille. And the ending was terrible. I couldn’t stop listening to it because I just had to see where it was going. It was a bit silly and bizarre and a little out there. And somewhat entertaining. But good writing? No.
Who better to care for a set of twins that spontaneously burst into flames than a world-weary young woman who can’t seem to get anything right? With his masterful characterization and effortless storytelling style, Kevin Wilson has a way of making an absurd scenario feel completely plausible. This book was a joy to read, and I can’t recommend it enough.
I listened rather than read this nook, and I found it to be highly entertaining. While the premise is undoubtedly odd, the circumstances really make you think about friendship, nurturing, the universal need to be loved and how we view people different from ourselves. The narrator was superb.
Funny easy read. Loved it
Ever since she took the fall for her friend back in high school, Lillian’s life has gone nowhere. Stuck living with her mother and working dead-end jobs, she’s in a rut she can’t find her way out of. Worse yet, the friend she’d protected has gone on to a life of luxury as the wife of a particularly important politician. When Madison contacts her out of the blue, Lillian thinks it’s a joke. She’s prepared for failure again, but she’s not prepared for what she actually gets.
Our narrator, Lillian, is a potty-mouthed take-no-prisoners sort of gal and I loved her tough, ‘bring it on’ attitude. Even though she wasn’t excited about this job, she embraced it and promised to do her best to see it through. Watching her come to not just like the twins, but love being with them, was amazing. Probably the best characters in the book though were the twins. They knew they were weird, they knew that they’d not had a good life, but they kept on moving forward every chance they got. The way the author handled the twins’ spontaneous combustion was great, too. He made it seem like all kids burst into flames the second they got agitated and I stopped thinking it was weird after the first couple times. I think that the way Lillian downplayed the spectacle helped a lot in that regard.
The version I picked up was the audiobook and the narrator nailed it. She has this smooth, soothing voice that lulls you into a comfortable place. She tricks you into thinking that there really is nothing to see here, despite the fact she’s talking about two ten-year-olds currently burning – literally – with rage. The deadpan and mellow way that the narrator delivered such crazy scenarios really made the experience for me.
Everything about this book drew me in. From the crazy cover with a cartoon child in flames to the idea of kids that spontaneously combusted, it was right up my alley. I’d gone in expecting a humorous look at parenting and left with what was not just one of the funniest books I’d read all year, but one of the most heartwarming as well. Lillian’s transformation from ‘I’m just here because I’m getting paid’ to honestly, earnestly wanting to help these kids, made my motherly heart ache in the best way possible.
I am so glad I took a chance and listened to this book! It was promoted by the What Should I Read Next podcast and is only 6+ hours long. Though there is profanity, it is character appropriate. The story is built around to children who burst into flames when they are emotionally upset. Odd, yes, but also sweet. The novel addresses such timely topics like emotional abuse, child neglect, and class advantage. I enjoyed this read.
Terrible. Contrived.
Good read. I liked the characters.
Loved it. So different.
Author’s attempt at a woman’s perspective was a big swing and a miss. I tried but could only get through half before it just became annoying.
Really enjoyed this book – great easy read
Such an amazing, uplifting novel about friendship and motherhood. Loved it!
It’s an easy to read, fast paced book with an interesting premise. I have to say I really didn’t like any of the characters much other than the kids and the bodyguard. I found it mildly amusing in places but not laugh out loud funny.
Inspires introspection on parenting attitudes. Strangely satisfying, bizarre personality traits of characters.
A quirky story about two kids who once agitated light on fire; burst into flames. Nothing happens to the kids, they are unharmed when it happens. This book has a gentle pressure that pulls you through the text and keeps you turning the pages. I did not think I would like it but, ended up enjoying it a great deal. Its more about relationships, old and new. How Lilian melds with the two children almost like an Old Yeller kind of story (that’s a bad example but that’s what it felt like). I laughed out loud in several places, the wry sense of humor in situational comedy. I also found it easy to buy into the premise. I think it was because Lilian (the point of view character) didn’t make a big deal about it when it was explained to her, almost like, “Oh, the kids just light on fire.” Since she bought into it so easily (and I already knew her well before this occurred and trusted her judgement) I went along for the ride. It was weird how I dropped into the story and believed it. That wonderful, ever elusive, “Fictive Dream” I’m always on the hunt for is definitely present in this book. I love a story that can evoke this kind of emotion. One bit of criticism, I think the often-overused F-bomb didn’t have a place here. I’m not a prude by any stretch but the book would have had such a stronger impact without it. And it might have had a better chance of becoming a timeless kind of story. This is a four-and-half-star book and I would recommend it.
David Putnam the author of the Bruno Johnson series.
I came SO close to missing out on this one!!
Just like all of you, I’d seen the great reviews for this book but I wanted nothing to do with a story about kids who burst into flames. It just sounded too…weird, unbelievable, fantastic.
No thanks.
Then my GR friend, Michelle, with whom I almost always agree, read and reviewed this and she loved it. I had to give it a go.
So I did…and I LOVED it.
Do the kids explode? Yes. Is it weird, unbelievable and fantastic? Yes.
But it all works because our narrator makes some of the most hilarious and true observations I’ve read in a long time. I found myself cracking up as I listened even though I have been quarantined with my family for going on four weeks. (You KNOW that shit is funny…)
Don’t miss this one, it’s short, funny and pure escape…
hilarious!! would highly recommend