So, the premise of this book is weird but simple - a young aimless woman named Lillian is contacted by her old high school friend (who went from wealthy to super-wealthy in the years after they graduated) with a request to help take care of her two step-children, both semi-feral and have this weird thing where - whether accidental or purposefully - they spontaneously combust if they get too worked up about, well, anything. But don't worry, they'll be fine.

I'm a bit of a sucker for a little magical realism in my stories, and this one executed it flawlessly. The character's emotional journeys were built up by strangeness, and the world they lived in felt like this one - like anything is possible. This novel and its characters made me laugh out loud inappropriately and often. I don't want to give too much more away - just read it, you'll love it.

Thanks to HarperCollins and Netgalley for the ARC, which has no bearing on my review here - I promise I loved it for real!

This book might sound like The Sound of Music: it is the story of a woman adrift in the world and unsure of what her future holds, who agrees to be governess to children in a household run by a wealthy but distant father who is influential in politics.
Except instead of singing pleasant tunes, the children catch fire. LITERALLY THEY CATCH FIRE.
This premise could be played for easy laughs, but Wilson refrains from cheap thrills. His signature wit and humor is present, but there is also an incredible amount of heart. The book becomes a meditation on attachment, parenting, and how children deal with and heal from trauma (without ever going to an overly graphic place). It is easy for me to give this 4 stars, possibly more. I enjoyed it just as I did his previous books such as Perfect Little World.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this book. I loved Family Fang but sadly Nothing to See Here fell flat for me.
I just had a hard time connecting to the story and characters. Kevin’s writing was amazing and I look forward more from him.

Well that was lame. Thanks Netgalley.

I really enjoyed the Family Fang when it came out some number of years ago but have since not been able to get into another Wilson book. This started off promising with our protagonist, late 20's sort of going nowhere Lillian who likes to swear and has a humorous personality that I thought could carry the book but no.

Here's the set up: Lillian, who lives in her mother's attic working a dead end job has stayed in touch with Madison her old high school friend who is beautiful and wicked rich and everything that Lillian wants to be. They are roommates and close and Madison gets caught with drugs and about to be expelled from the prestigious high school when her father intervenes and offers Lillian's mother 10,000 dollars to take the fall.

Which she does because what else is she going to do, her mother has already spent it. But Lillian and Madison write letters back and forth over the years and when Madison writes asking for Lillian to come visit (at her gigantic mansion where she lives with her political mega rich husband) Lillian doesn't know what Madison wants but definitely wants to see her.

It's not a spoiler that Lillian is being asked to watch Madison's husband's second wife's kids (his name is Jasper, imagine what kind of douche he is). And because Lillian is being given everything she could want and being paid etc of course Lillian is going to say yes because it's Madison asking a favor and for some reason Lillian is under some spell and will say yes to anything. But there's a catch- the kids spontaneously catch on fire which doesn't hurt them at all but it is fire so it will catch their clothes and anything else around them and Jasper is being considered for the Secretary of State position and if the general public catches wind of this - aside from his already sketchy past- they will not want to elect him. So Madison. who is like Jasper's manager needs everything to look perfect.

Lillian accepts and the story get's ridiculously boring from there. No character development. WE never learn much about Lillian or Madison, why she's the way she is. Nothing seems reasonable, flammable children aside and I was just bored to tears. I only finished the book because i have had a string of DNF's lately and told myself that I needed to finish something. Thank god I have Dark Matter on deck to redeem the act of reading.

I do not recommend this. But hey, you might like it. It starts off fun enough. I liked Lillian as a character for about 15 pages and then it's like she was never there. The writing is that terrible. Kevin Wilson seems to be just about trying to write quirky weird stories but a reader can sense this which takes all the fun out of the painfully obvious quirk. He misses the mark. Maybe he phoned it in. I dunno.

Weird premise but terrific book! At first I disliked our main character because of how uncaring and aimless she was...then she becomes more interesting with every interaction she has. To be truly needed for who you are by children who have unique sets of problems
Thank you netgally at Harper Collins for the arc in return for an honest review

Sorry, but the plot was just too weird for me. The book initially intrigued me, but when the author introduces the rare condition that plagues the twins, I was lost.

I know I don’t like books with anything that doesn’t make sense, or smacks of science fiction. So, I am uncomfortable rating this novel since it is so far outside my wheelhouse.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review this, but I wish I had understood how much smacks of unreality.