Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Miracle Creek

Such a gripping mystery, I couldn’t put it down. Really great court scenes and interesting cultural aspects. I liked reading multiple perspectives. However this was super depressing and I don’t feel great after reading this.

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bookbelle5_17's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

In this legal drama, a medical facility with alternative treatments for those who have "illnesses" such as Autism and Cerebral Palsy explodes. The mother of an Autistic child is accused of using this as a way to murder her son and put on trial.
This book is an amazing read. It's not just legal drama about a woman on trial for murdering her son, but it's also about mother's and the struggles they face with having an Autistic child. There is also a subplot of the Korean family who just immigrated to America and how their story entwines with this case. Both plots provide an emotional and interesting philosophical debate. Autism is on a spectrum of levels where some cases are mere severe than others making parents of Autistic children have strong opinions. The Korean family is trying to fit in with Americans by helping but things go wrong and half the family is unhappy here but they're not accepted. We get perspectives from everyone involved allowing the reader to see everyone's point of view and feelings on the subject. Everyone sees the situation differently and see it from another person at the same time puts a new light on things. You begin to realize things aren't always what you think when you first look at it. This story has twists and turns that will keep you reading for more.

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kry_yang's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I'm a sucker for mystery books with an element of character-psychoanalysis (basically Celeste Ng's books lol), so when I read the description of this book I knew I had to pick it up.

And ohhhhh my godddd this book was INSANE. There were several points who I couldn't stop reading, and at the same time there were chapters that I had to pause because I couldn't possibly stomach what was going on. (TBH there's a ton of really triggering content in this book and I would def check out the trigger warnings before reading because this shit is HEAVY.)

The story touches upon immigration narratives, disability, and parenting. I kinda expected more analysis on Asian-American-ness (it's one of the main reasons I was drawn to the book in the first place). Knocking off 0.5 stars because I honestly found the Yoo family kind of disappointing. I have really high expectations when it comes to fiction that explores ASAM issues, and I felt that some of the backstories of the Korean-American characters felt a bit one-dimensional and cookie-cutter.

The other characters though--Elizabeth specifically--oh my god they ripped by heart out. Elizabeth's story is an incredible exploration of motherhood, and the incredible sacrifices that come with raising a neurodivergent child. Kim really does not hold back; she really digs into the psyches of her characters, and while some characters felt more compelling than others, the book overall was just an incredible(ly difficult) read.

Overall, I'd say this is book shines for its analysis and exploration of disability and parenting--and while POC/immigration/ASAM issues are definitely one aspect of the story, I didn't find that to be the most compelling part of the book.

Kim's language is also relatively straightforward--she does have some more lyrical sentences towards the ends of each chapter, but I found the language really accessible. I almost wish Kim wrote with a bit more *flowery* prose, just to make me ache even more :')

Miracle Creek is a "whodunnit" courtroom drama, blended with a slow-burn character exploration that really digs into each character's backstory and personality. I flew through this book in like 3-4 days and I look forward to reading more from Angie Kim in the future!

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cryptogay's review against another edition

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challenging reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This is a hard one. I didn't really know what this book was about when I checked it out, I'd just heard it was good so I thought I'd give it a try. If I had known, I probably wouldn't have read it, as I generally give anything about autism not written by autistic authors a pass.
Miracle Creek covers a lot of complicated territory. Much of this concerns the experimental medical treatments used on disabled children, especially autistic children. I don't think it handles this aspect of its story very well. A group of protesters against the medicalization of autism are portrayed as unpleasant, invasive, and aggressive. The parents of the autistic children directly involved in the story are written about with compassion despite one of them being revealed to be seriously physically and emotionally abusive to her son, even without getting into the various therapies she sends him to in attempts to "cure" his autism. In contrast, the autistic characters are never really given a voice. Yes, the two featured in the book are children, but autistic adults exist, and quite frankly make up the majority of the movements against the abusive "therapies" that are used on autistic people, primarily children. The fact that no autistic adults ever appear, and the two characters who actually openly speak about these treatments as abuse barely appear and are largely discredited, these things tilt the book towards endorsing this abuse, or at least parts of it. I don't know what Kim's intentions or feelings were with regard to this aspect of the story, but it really wasn't handled well.
Autism isn't a disease or an illness, its a brain structure, and it varies from person to person. It is not something that can be "cured", and it is not caused by vaccines. The therapies that claim to cure or treat autism vary from complete bunk to abuse and manipulation, and acting like they aren't these things is harmful to the children forced to undergo them.

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sglance9's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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ktkncd's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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flordemaga's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

This is a book that took a lot of talent and thought to write. It’s clearly very thought out, all the threads weaving together. The writing is strong. The metaphors work. And it kept me interested.

But I can’t like it. I can’t like the characters, except for Mary, and later on, Young. I can’t like their views, their thoughts. I can’t like Matt in any way possible and can’t imagine anyone liking him.

I’m glad I read it. But I wouldn’t again.

Content Warnings

adriennne's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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