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lessthelonely's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
4/5 stars
This book took a lot of time to read, and that isn’t to say it was hard to read - at least, not in the sense that I had to force myself to keep reading. Every single time I grabbed this book? I was having a good time. A very entertaining time, in fact. But it’s been hard to find time to read. Or write. Or do anything that isn’t college related.
But I did finish this book, even if I went on Google because curiosity got the best of me and I just wanted to know who the real culprit was - and I’m kind of glad I did this, because the final pages of the book were still just as engrossing even with the huge reveal spoiled. It was still filled with tension and everything I expect from a thriller mystery.
Anyways, Miracle Creek is a book that has been lauded as one of the greatest books of 2019, and it’s been on my radar for quite some time, like a lot of other books. Believe me, if I was a person that reads more than one book at once, I definitely would, but because I’m not, it’s usually really hard to getting around to reading books that I am definitely interested in. But I’m very driven by moods when reading: sometimes I want romance. Sometimes I want something enthralling and twisty to try and figure out all the big reveals before they happen. Sometimes I want smut, pure and simple.
But the truth is, this book delivered on so many fronts and the fact is that it didn’t have to to be as enjoyable as it was... but, somehow, the author did it. You can tell this is a book that was written from experience and not something that was very heavily researched. Heavily researched books tend to ebb a little bit on that I learned this very cool thing and I’m going to explain it with a lot of wonder attached to it. Angie Kim appears to know a lot about most of the things that this book deals with: autism, HBOT, moving to another country. At least, I know she knows a lot about the first two.
What we end up with is a book that you truly can’t put down once it gets down to the wire. I’m going to admit it took me a bit to get into it. And then I read the Goodreads reply by the author herself saying that people tell her it takes a little bit to get into the story. In my case, that was absolutely true. All I needed was for the lawyers to start talking to the judge.
This book has graphic descriptions of incidents that can easily be found triggering, but what triggered me a lot was a lot of perspectives this book manages to get to the core of: on autism, ironically, you get a spectrum of all the possible perspectives of it - positive, negative, mixed? It’s all here. And they always make sense, even when they leave you mad.
At the same time, this book alternates between court scenes (it is labeled as a courtroom drama) and I would say these are the highlight of the book: it’s not that the lawyers are the best characters, but their dialogue is the most interesting. You will be surprised with how easily you can agree with both the accusation and the defense attorneys's points. But then, you have some slower moments with each of the 6 POVs this book has in it. This was the part that was difficult to get into, because it starts slow, but after the first testifying scene? It picks up, and with a lot of moving parts.
It’s a tight, extremely well-written mess, coupled with a lot of detailed and nuanced characterization. And as twists start hitting, each turn starts taking a toll on you, leaving a noticeable mark. There’s a reason why I went on Google to get spoiled: I couldn’t wait to get to the truth, and I knew I wouldn’t have time to read for some days.
Pick this one up. I will definitely get it physically when I can.
This book took a lot of time to read, and that isn’t to say it was hard to read - at least, not in the sense that I had to force myself to keep reading. Every single time I grabbed this book? I was having a good time. A very entertaining time, in fact. But it’s been hard to find time to read. Or write. Or do anything that isn’t college related.
But I did finish this book, even if I went on Google because curiosity got the best of me and I just wanted to know who the real culprit was - and I’m kind of glad I did this, because the final pages of the book were still just as engrossing even with the huge reveal spoiled. It was still filled with tension and everything I expect from a thriller mystery.
Anyways, Miracle Creek is a book that has been lauded as one of the greatest books of 2019, and it’s been on my radar for quite some time, like a lot of other books. Believe me, if I was a person that reads more than one book at once, I definitely would, but because I’m not, it’s usually really hard to getting around to reading books that I am definitely interested in. But I’m very driven by moods when reading: sometimes I want romance. Sometimes I want something enthralling and twisty to try and figure out all the big reveals before they happen. Sometimes I want smut, pure and simple.
But the truth is, this book delivered on so many fronts and the fact is that it didn’t have to to be as enjoyable as it was... but, somehow, the author did it. You can tell this is a book that was written from experience and not something that was very heavily researched. Heavily researched books tend to ebb a little bit on that I learned this very cool thing and I’m going to explain it with a lot of wonder attached to it. Angie Kim appears to know a lot about most of the things that this book deals with: autism, HBOT, moving to another country. At least, I know she knows a lot about the first two.
What we end up with is a book that you truly can’t put down once it gets down to the wire. I’m going to admit it took me a bit to get into it. And then I read the Goodreads reply by the author herself saying that people tell her it takes a little bit to get into the story. In my case, that was absolutely true. All I needed was for the lawyers to start talking to the judge.
This book has graphic descriptions of incidents that can easily be found triggering, but what triggered me a lot was a lot of perspectives this book manages to get to the core of: on autism, ironically, you get a spectrum of all the possible perspectives of it - positive, negative, mixed? It’s all here. And they always make sense, even when they leave you mad.
At the same time, this book alternates between court scenes (it is labeled as a courtroom drama) and I would say these are the highlight of the book: it’s not that the lawyers are the best characters, but their dialogue is the most interesting. You will be surprised with how easily you can agree with both the accusation and the defense attorneys's points. But then, you have some slower moments with each of the 6 POVs this book has in it. This was the part that was difficult to get into, because it starts slow, but after the first testifying scene? It picks up, and with a lot of moving parts.
It’s a tight, extremely well-written mess, coupled with a lot of detailed and nuanced characterization. And as twists start hitting, each turn starts taking a toll on you, leaving a noticeable mark. There’s a reason why I went on Google to get spoiled: I couldn’t wait to get to the truth, and I knew I wouldn’t have time to read for some days.
Pick this one up. I will definitely get it physically when I can.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
nykolereads's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Ableism
Moderate: Grief and Suicide
mollywill's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Suicide and Grief
ticktock's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
pollyflorence's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Suicide, and Sexual assault
ashleysbookthoughts's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I’m trying very hard to write a review of this book and not a rant about ableism and misinformation about autism. If you’re interested in that, please DM me, because this book brought up THOUGHTS. This book will be a very difficult read if you have or love someone who has autism. Angie Kim makes it clear that the opinions presented belong to her characters and aren’t her own, but she doesn’t pull punches. So, even though it’s a huge part of this book, I’m not going to talk about autism here.
Instead, I’ll talk about the excellent pacing, clever plotting, twists and turns, and remarkably complex characters who I simultaneously loved and hated. Miracle Creek is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, an immigrant story, and an attack on the idea of the “Good Mother.” But most of all, it’s a story of consequences. Of how decisions and actions that seem small and inconsequential can cause irreparable damage.
This book made me angry, tense, scared, sympathetic, and devastated. I don’t know that I loved it, but it kept me up at night and when I wasn’t actively reading it, I thought about it constantly. Thats pretty high praise.
CW: ableism, murder, fire, fire death, suicide, chronic illness, sexual assault, assault of a minor, child abuse, racism, child death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Death, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Racism, Suicide, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Medical content, Stalking, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Excrement, and Infertility
Minor: Cancer
zamzamzebra's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide
Moderate: Infertility and Medical content
Misinformation about Autism/ASD PTSDkleaf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Infertility, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Rape
ajf1774's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Child death
maria1085's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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
3.75
A town in Virginia is rocked by an explosion at an experimental treatment facility. A story that is filled with secrets, lies, betrayals, and murder trial, be prepared for a roller coaster ride as you try to figure out who the culprit is. All of our choices have consequences, and can have far reaching effects.
Liked:
- the courtroom drama aspect
- The mystery that kept me guessing at who was behind the explosion
- The different storylines and how they were interconnected
- All the secrets, and some that will change the course of things once they are revealed
- How each chapter featured a different character’s perspective
- Strong character development
⚠️This book is very trigger heavy. Infertility, murder, special needs, controversial treatment, sexual assault, treatment of immigrants.
Disliked:
-At the beginning it was confusing with such a full cast of characters
-The controversial treatment of children with autism. Having worked with the special needs community that part was particularly difficult for me
My book club chose this for March and we were very split on this one. It made for great discussion though. A couple of DNFs, some of us really liked it, and a couple finished but didn’t love it. Overall a great debut book!
#bookstagram #bookclub #bookreview #booknerd #lovetoread #momsthatread
Liked:
- the courtroom drama aspect
- The mystery that kept me guessing at who was behind the explosion
- The different storylines and how they were interconnected
- All the secrets, and some that will change the course of things once they are revealed
- How each chapter featured a different character’s perspective
- Strong character development
⚠️This book is very trigger heavy. Infertility, murder, special needs, controversial treatment, sexual assault, treatment of immigrants.
Disliked:
-At the beginning it was confusing with such a full cast of characters
-The controversial treatment of children with autism. Having worked with the special needs community that part was particularly difficult for me
My book club chose this for March and we were very split on this one. It made for great discussion though. A couple of DNFs, some of us really liked it, and a couple finished but didn’t love it. Overall a great debut book!
#bookstagram #bookclub #bookreview #booknerd #lovetoread #momsthatread
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Infertility, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual assault, Child death, Death of parent, and Suicide