“I wasn’t destined for greatness; I knew this. But I was figuring out how to steal it from someone stupid enough to relax their grip on it.”

Meet Lillian: Conscientious student. Scholarship kid. Ex-scholarship kid. Lost soul. And...governess to her wealthy best friend’s self-immolating stepchildren. 

Yes, the kids spontaneously catch on fire. What could go wrong? 

Everything, as it turns out, in Kevin Wilson’s zany, singular, and sweet novel about flaming kids, their flaming asshole of a father, and what it really means to be a family. 

Populated by fascinating characters both quirkily heroic and shamefully selfish, Nothing to See Here is a fascinating tale of a couple of misfits finding their place in the world and more importantly, with one another. 

Five very enthusiastic stars for this sweet but not sappy, hilarious, and smart gem of a novel.

This very odd book is getting lots of praise and publicity, but I do not agree with the majority.  Lillian tells the story in first-person, which is a problem for me because I do not care for this character.  She has had a bit of a rough life, with a cold mother and a thoughtless, self-centered friend.  That friend has asked Lillian to take over the care of her two step-children, who have a unique problem - they can set themselves on fire.  This unusual plot twist saves the story for me.  The twins are strongly-drawn characters, as are the other people.  I just could not get into Lillian, so it's only 3 stars from me.  Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC.

What a delightfully quirky and surprisingly heartfelt novel.  Having read the synopsis and Wilson's, "The Family Fang," I thought I knew was I getting into.  I was half right - I knew I would get a unique story but what I didn't realize was just how moved I would be by the relationship that develops between Lillian and the twins.  There is a lot going on here - family dynamics, classism, loyalty, politics, and more - but Wilson does such an exceptional job of balancing all of this things with humor and heart.  I can honestly say I've never read a book like this, and it hands down deserves not just a place on library shelves but in your personal collection as well.

“Nothing to See Here” is laugh out loud funny, heartbreaking, wild and weird—and I was there for every page of it. The premise is, admittedly, strange: When rich and beautiful Madison and her Tennessee senator husband Jasper face a particularly difficult childcare need, Madison knows there’s only one person up to the job—her old boarding school roommate Lillian, who bailed Madison out once before by taking the fall for her over some cocaine. Lillian, who is living a dead-end life in her horrible mother’s attic, takes the job, reasoning, “How hard can it be?” That, however, is before she realizes that her charges, 10-year-old twins Bessie and Roland, spontaneously combust at the most inopportune times—and pretty much any time is inopportune now that their dad is being vetted to become the next Secretary of State.

Crazy premise, as I said, but what grounds this book and makes it so enjoyable is narrator Lillian, who really is one of my favorite characters of any book in recent memory. Foul mouthed, whip smart and straight shooting, Lillian has no experience with kids but soon finds herself fiercely protective of Bessie and Roland, realizing, “They were me, unloved and fucked over, and I was going to make sure that they got what they needed. They would scratch and kick me, and I was going to scratch and kick anyone who tried to touch them. I didn’t love them; I was a selfish person and I didn’t understand people all that well, not enough to really feel an emotion as complicated as love. But I felt tenderness for them, which felt, to my little heart, like a kind of progress.” Watching this relationship develop was one of the great pleasures in reading this book. (The other was the hilarious relationship between Lillian and Carl, the senator’s no-nonsense fixer who is tasked, much to his displeasure, with keeping an eye on Lillian and the kids.) The ending may be a tiny bit predictable (although there is a bolt from the blue moment shortly before it that I did not for a moment see coming and that totally made up for any other predictability) but who cares when the whole thing is just so wonderful and satisfying. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my honest review. Loved every page of it!

My Thoughts:

I liked this book so much more than I expected to.  I tried to read “Ready, Player One” but it just wasn’t for me.  So, Netgalley has sent me “Nothing To See Here” by Kevin Wilson.   I decided to read that one in its place, and I’m so glad I did.  This book made me feel good, sad, angry, and frustrated.  

The Main Characters:
We have Madison – Privileged child growing up and wealthy woman by any standards through her marriage to Senator Jasper Roberts. 

Then we have Madison’s husband Jasper.  He would prefer, of course,  to be addressed as, Senator Roberts???  Jasper is in the midst of being vetted for a high political office.  He is married to Madison and they have one son, Timothy.  

Then we come to the protagonist, Lillian.  Lillian is an impoverished child who grew up without wealth or affection.  As she reaches adulthood, things haven’t changed much.  She is working as a cashier at two different grocery stores and living in her mom’s attic.
  
I would be remiss in failing to mention Carl.  He’s a jack of all trades for the Senator.  He runs errands and basically does whatever he is called on to do.  This includes babysitting at times. 
 
Then we have the twins, Bessie and Roland.  Ten years old and children of Jasper and the late Jane who committed suicide.  Oh yes, one important thing about Bessie and Roland is that when angered or upset, they spontaneously combust.  They are unharmed but the fire is read.  Yes, you read that right. 
 
 Lillian and Madison, best friends in high school until Lillian leaves abruptly after a scandal ensues.  They have not communicated much past an email or text message now and again in the past 15 years.  
Lillian receives a letter from Madison asking for help in a very delicate situation in the form of a job.  She sends money for a bus ticket to her home.  Lillian boards a bus and arrives at the Senator’s mansion.  The “job” is acting as governess to Jasper’s twins who are now his responsibility since their mother’s death.  Lillian accepts, after all how hard could it be?  Lillian and the twins are housed in an elaborate “guest cottage” on the huge estate.  

After they are settled into the guest house, several incidents take place that are, at the least, disturbing.  I loved the way Lillian interacted with the twins and the steps she took to make their life as normal as possible including homeschooling them.  The children loved her.  But alas, another incident occurs and the result of that is Lillian fleeing with the children to her mother’s attic.
  
This story is wonderful.  I wish there was a sequel to this book to find out what everyone is doing today.  If there ever is one, I will be first in line to buy it.  Highly recommended as an easy read and positive subject matter.

Thank you NetGalley for ARC. 4.5 stars for a highly original and engaging fast read. Loved the narrator and the twins!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco Books for providing me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. 

Kids that catch on fire….what?!  I thought this book was going to be too far “out there” to truly enjoy.  Boy was I wrong.  This book made me laugh and pulled at my heart strings at the same time.  It’s a book about hope and finding a place and people with whom you belong.  It tells a tale of how blood doesn’t always define family and belonging.

Lillian and Madison met while in boarding school as young teens.  They became the best of friends and pushed each other on the basketball court.  Their closeness became Lillian’s downfall and demise at school when her mother made her take the fall for something Madison did forcing her to leave school as she was just starting to realize her potential.  She became what society expected of her and her “problemed” nature.  Madison, on the other hand, prospered in life, ultimately marrying a US Senator.  A Senator who is divorced and has twin children.

The mother of the Senator’s children passes away and for reputation sake, he moves them to his home.  Madison calls on her childhood friend Lillian to come in and take care of the twins…who just happened to combust when they get agitated.  The timing impeccable as the Senator is being vetted to become the next Secretary of State, so the importance of a low profile is conveyed to Lillian.

Lillian is someone who has shut herself off from society and receiving love based on her lackluster relationship with her parents growing up.  She has learned to survive on her own.  She wasn’t prepared to provide love and care for kids she has a lot in common with.  The natural instincts to fight for the twins best interest and provide them the love, affection and protection that she did not received kick in.  

This story was such a wonderful surprise to me.  I couldn’t put it down and would recommend it.

This book is outside of my normal realm but I enjoyed it. There was humor and wittiness that I enjoyed. The storyline is unique and not overdone.

Both hilarious and heartbreaking, Nothing To See Here is a terrific read.  Quirky characters combined with a fresh plot make this book a winner.  I truly enjoyed it from beginning to end!

I really enjoyed this interesting book. I found the writing to be very witty, the characters were realistic with eccentricities and the story to be very interesting. It is also a quick read that kept my attention. I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

Kevin Wilson’s most recent novel, Nothing to See Here, is a wonderfully eccentric offering that will appeal to misfits and outcasts of all flavors-flaming or otherwise.  Lillian, the books first-person narrator, is a wholly original character whose sardonic wit and self-deprecation are instantly endearing and compelling.  She is asked by her wealthy and glamorous friend to come work as a caretaker for her husband’s children by a previous marriage.  His previous wife has died, and the twins are now being placed into his unwilling custody.  It seems that the ten-year-olds are a bit of a burden, since they burst into flames whenever they become agitated or upset. Acknowledging that this attribute may complicate his prospects for becoming Secretary of State, it is incumbent upon Lillian to keep them hidden from the public view but still appropriately cared for.  Lillian has a history of sacrificing for her friend, and her deep love for Madison (and lack of any other prospects) compels her to take on the position despite her lack of experience or ability.  Lillian’s propensity for mishap and her lackadaisical attitude turn out to be exactly what is needed in this absurd situation, and the novel depicts her attempts in ways both hilarious and touching.  Wilson is asking a lot of his readers by requiring them to suspend disbelief with a pair of children that can experience spontaneous combustion while remaining unscathed, but it becomes easy with his skillful guidance.  Nothing to See Here is almost cartoonish in its madcap action, and its short length is perfect for a plot that could not be sustained for very long.  From start to finish, the book is laugh-out-loud enjoyable as well as thought-provoking. At its heart, Wilson’s novel entertainingly addresses an issue that all parents face: No one really knows what they are doing when rearing children, and sometimes the best approach is to just experiment with the best of intentions-trying not to self-immolate along the way.

Thanks to the author, ECCO and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Nothing to See Here is a quirky, fun read about about the adventures of Lillian and her spontaneously-combusting wards. A book about children who catch on fire could be really silly, but this works because everyone is in on the joke. I really loved Lillian's voice and her sarcastic dark humor. My big complaint was I read the book too fast, so it felt too short. Or maybe it was too short? There's a lot of unanswered questions at the end.

This is truly an odd, funny, poignant book about finding a place and people with whom you belong, and how family can spring from the strangest of situations.

"How did people protect themselves? How did anyone keep this world from ruining them?"

Lillian has always accepted that she won’t accomplish much in life. For a brief moment in her teenage years, however, she attended a private high school and befriended Madison, a beautiful but quirky rich girl, and Lillian started to believe she had potential. But Lillian had to leave school in the wake of a scandal and everything went back to the way it used to be. And that’s the way her life went for a number of years until Madison, now the wife of a U.S. senator with greater ambitions, summons her with a proposal.

Madison’s young stepchildren have lost their mother and the right thing to do for appearances’ sake is for them to move home. But these children have been raised horribly, mistreated, all because of one thing—they spontaneously combust when they get agitated and flames ignite their skin without harming them. Is this something they can control? No one has ever really tried to figure it out.

Lillian agrees to serve as the children’s governess of sorts and keep them out of harm’s (and the media’s) way for a while. It is expected that Madison's husband will be nominated as Secretary of State, so the children need to keep a low profile through the confirmation process.

Lillian doesn’t count on how observant and desperate for love and approval the children are, and she doesn’t count on how much she has needed to be needed. She works on winning their trust, making them believe her feelings are true, which Lillian has to believe, too. Fighting for the children’s best interests—no mean feat given how the deck is stacked against them—awakens feelings of love and protectiveness she never imagined she’d feel.

This is a quirky book but it’s one that definitely worked its way into my heart. The characters aren’t sympathetic in many ways but I devoured this. Kevin Wilson, who also wrote The Family Fang, really created a moving story.

NetGalley and Ecco Books provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

Lillian, a scholarship girl, and Madison, a rich girl, become best friends at an illustrious boarding school. Until Lillian takes the blame for Madison in an incident that gets her kicked out.
They lose touch after that.
Lillian seems to just drift through her life, working at a grocery store, still living at home and smoking too much pot.
Meanwhile Madison is living her charmed life, married to a distinguished senator, mother to young son Timothy.
Madison contacts Lillian, offering her a job as a governess to the senator's twins, ten year old Bessie and Roland, from his previous marriage.
It is a sensitive job, Lillian will need to be tactful. The twins have a tendency to spontaneously combust and burst into flames when agitated or upset! It doesn't hurt them, but it can be dangerous to who is around them and potentially very embarrassing for the senator.
As Lillian starts building trust with the children, she begins to find herself, and the true meaning of what a family really is.
I enjoyed the author's writing style and how he effortlessly swept me right up into the story. A charming, quirky and delightfully funny book.
I have two other books by Kevin Wilson, Perfect Little World and The Family Fang, that I am looking forward to reading.
Thank you to HarperCollins Publishers for the e-ARC via NetGalley.

What a book! Completely original, hilarious just about the entire time, heartwarming - what gets better than that? The plot was slightly bland, but made up for by everything else happening. The fact that "fire children" is really just a footnote to the story is one of the ways this book is amazing. The sarcasm was so good, so dry and funny and consistent - not forced at all!

A great story.

Lillian is in her late twenties and is stuck in a very aimless and unsatisfying life. She lives with an unpleasant, diffident mother, works at a job she hates and has no social life. One day, she is contacted by her best friend from high school, Madison, a fabulously rich socialite, who has married an up and coming senator. They had a falling out but had stayed in touch, over the years. Madison has a job offer for Lillian: to care for her husband's 10 year old twins, from his previous marriage. Sounds like an easy gig, right? Well, it turns out these twins, have issues-they can burst into flames when angry or upset. Okay, I hope my fellow readers are not fleeing the room, and grabbing any other book, they can get their hands on. I agree the premise sounds pretty fantastic, but damn it, it works and I ended up loving it, on several different levels. Wilson is a sharp observer, with a dry with and a fondness for outcasts. He has also created characters, that will stick with you for awhile, especially Lillian. I hope you give this one a chance.

Lillian Breaker is working a dead-end job in her home town, when she gets a frantic letter from her former roommate pleading for her help.  Lillian’s dreams of a better life for herself were cut short when her roomie Madison got caught with drugs at their exclusive high school, and Madison’s father paid off Lillian’s mother to get Lillian to take the rap for Madison.  Lillian was expelled and her mother spent the money on cigarettes, booze, and partying.

Fifteen years later, Madison Billings Roberts is married to a much older man, a U.S. senator, and they live on a palatial estate with their son Timothy.  But Senator Roberts has two children from his first marriage, Roland and Bessie, who (to say the least) have special needs:  if they get upset, they spontaneously burst into flames.  And these are two angry kids.  Madison and the senator need a nanny to look after the children in a special guest house on the estate, away from the main house since there is no predicting when these incidents might occur.  What if there were witnesses!  Imagine the negative publicity!  What if they burn the house down!  Think of what would happen to the Roberts’ perfect image!  The senator’s career would be down the tubes!  You can substitute any disability for “spontaneous human combustion” and the reaction of adults would be the same.

Lillian is the only person that Madison trusts enough with her secret.  The salary that Madison is offering is really good, too, so Lillian takes on the job of looking after the two near-feral children.  There are themes of friendship, forgiveness, disability, family, loss, and unexpected love.  And yet this is an uplifting feel-good book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ecco for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

The pitch for this book (woman signs up to act as governess for a friend's children that have a tendency to spontaneously combust) peaked my interest, and this was a breezy, fun read.  The premise is just out there enough to be believable, and the book manages to get surprisingly deep on some ideas about what makes a family and what money lets you get away with.  The plot moves along quickly and never overstays its welcome, even if a few of the beats it's going to hit are fairly easy to spot.  I came looking for fun after a few deeper noon-fiction reads and I got what I came for.

Hi. Come closer. We need to talk about #NothingToSeeHere for a minute. Like, where the HELL did this book come from!? Or, why are there not more posts and glowing #bookstagram reviews about this furiously funny and intimate story about female friendship? Also, why did you pick #TheWaterDancer* as your #BOTM book when you should have picked one of the most grounded and bizarrely interesting books of the year…a book that just happens to feature children that spontaneously light on fire? And I’m so curious why there aren’t more of us trying to convince others that this hidden gem might be one of the best books of the year. It’s hilarious and heartbreaking and an interesting exploration of family and inheritance (genetically, physically, emotionally). And if you don’t believe me, check out the NYT review by #FleishmanIsInTrouble author Taffy Brodesser-Akner…the opening line is literally “Good Lord, I can’t believe how good this book is”.
⠀⠀
Anyway, that’s all I have to say about that.

What would you do if you were in a seat of power and you had children that happened to spontaneously combust often? They never got hurt from it and there is no doctor that has knowledge of this phenomenon. Loved this story so much! I wish it wasn't so short though and I'm hoping for a sequel to be honest. Non cliche read, and very original. However, if cussing is not something you approve of, then it probably isn't for you unless you can skip around it.