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kry_yang's review against another edition
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Suicide
cryptogay's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Racism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Car accident, Confinement, Excrement, Infertility, Physical abuse, Stalking, Violence, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
sglance9's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, Infidelity, and Suicide
ktkncd's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Infertility, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, and Xenophobia
Minor: Car accident
flordemaga's review against another edition
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.
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
Graphic: Child death, Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Car accident, Gore, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Forced institutionalization and Confinement
halcyonkathryn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Medical content
Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs
vgdavies03's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
This was masterfully done. The way the author wove the story together was intriguing and very powerful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, Child death, and Adult/minor relationship
adriennne's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Chronic illness, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape
Moderate: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia
Minor: Car accident
gloriazthompson's review against another edition
emotional
fast-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? No
4.25
4.25. Really enjoyed this one. I liked the cast of characters and how to events unfolded.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Death, and Infertility
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Rape, Racial slurs, Murder, Mental illness, and Infidelity
syllareads's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
I struggled over how to rate this book for a long while and I think I've finally arrived at a conclusion I can somewhat explain.
Warning: This entire review has mild to bigger spoilers for this book so if you do not want to read about that, please just get the book now - or don't. It's up to you~
What I liked:
The entire setting was very intriguing - setting up a mystery case by going from everyone in a courtroom being absolutely sure about who the bad guy is to the entire thing growing more and more convoluted and complicated as each person in the courtroom recalls memories that lead the reader up a false road....I really enjoyed that part! I've never read anything quite like it, and I have to agree with other reviewers in that it's apparent Angie Kim has real-life experience with the courtroom; it really shone through every carefully arranged scene. Some things had a pretty dramatic touch which overall fit the theme of the book quite well.
One of the characters, Mary Yoo, is in a pretty similar situation to the author herself - a Korean girl who moved to America in her preteens and had to completely assimilate to a different culture that was downright hostile to her at times. The entire Yoo family and the background they all carried around, as well as Janine (another Korean woman married to Matt, an American doctor) and her insecurities about herself and her position in this world, were beautifully, if painfully, explored and I'm sure I'm not just talking out of my ass when I say that Angie Kim got at least partially inspired by her own life and wrote it into words. It felt raw and messy and flawed and utterly, painfully human and it struck a chord even in me who will never fully understand what it means to be a stranger in your own country.
Overall, flawed and messy characters seem to be the author's absolute strong suit and I highly enjoyed that asepct even though it made me downright uncomfortable at times.
What I didn't like:
But, Sylla, you might ask: why give this book such a bad rating if you enjoyed the human messiness of it all? Well, sadly: there's a pretty good reason for that, and it's how Autism is handled in the entire novel and is made the center of attention without centering autistic characters at all.
(CW: Child Abuse, Ableism)
The entire novel hinges on the fact that an HBOT facility (which stands for "hyperbaric oxygen therapy") blows up in the middle of a dive and kills two of the people inside, a mother (Kitt) and another mother's autistic child, Henry. Now the first sign of alarm for people somewhat versed in the medical field (and what I had to look up): HBOT is actually not even fully approved for the "treatment" of autistic children because the data is inconclusive. There is just not enough evidence to support claims of these kids being "healed" by spending a while in a pressurized chamber with 100% oxygen delivered to them via a diving helmet. But that is, sadly, not all and definitely not the thing I disliked the most.
I started this book without really knowing what I was getting into and at first, I was simply reading and puzzling along about whether or not Elizabeth, mother to the deceased Henry mentioned above, was actually the person to set the fire or not. I started getting uncomfortable at some point (and couldn't really put my finger on it) because while the book and its characters focus a lot on their respective autistic or otherwise disabled children, none of them ever gain their own voice in the process.
And while I somewhat understand that I guess, the fact that most of these mothers and their pain was centered when it came to their disabled kids was just downright disgusting to me the more I thought about it. Is it hard to be a mother? Well, obviously, but to constantly center the pain of everyone around a child in need of more support for whatever reason is just really not the way to go about it in my opinion.
Also, I was just very uncomfortable with the fact that every one of these characters believes that their autistic kids can be "cured", while the only people to oppose the HBOT thing (a bunch of protesters of which only one gets a name) and the search for a "cure" for autism are only superficially described and serve as antagonists for basically the entire novel.
One of the main characters is also shown having to come to terms with the fact that she did abuse her child since she just told herself, "But I didn't hit him so it's not abuse, right!"
Obviously, this is something people do have to face and I have to say I'm glad she did because the things described were enough to make me feel sick to the stomach and empathy for her poor son. It nonetheless left a bad taste in my stomach, especially compared to everything I said above.
TL;DR: I feel like I have to give this book a 2-star rating because the portrayal of autism while just depicting how much parents of autistic kids suffer is not something I want for autistic people to read; I can only imagine the hurt it would cause. It's a well-written book with a highly interesting premise and set-up but overall, I just couldn't enjoy it for these reasons and I cannot recommend it exactly for those as well.
Warning: This entire review has mild to bigger spoilers for this book so if you do not want to read about that, please just get the book now - or don't. It's up to you~
What I liked:
The entire setting was very intriguing - setting up a mystery case by going from everyone in a courtroom being absolutely sure about who the bad guy is to the entire thing growing more and more convoluted and complicated as each person in the courtroom recalls memories that lead the reader up a false road....I really enjoyed that part! I've never read anything quite like it, and I have to agree with other reviewers in that it's apparent Angie Kim has real-life experience with the courtroom; it really shone through every carefully arranged scene. Some things had a pretty dramatic touch which overall fit the theme of the book quite well.
One of the characters, Mary Yoo, is in a pretty similar situation to the author herself - a Korean girl who moved to America in her preteens and had to completely assimilate to a different culture that was downright hostile to her at times. The entire Yoo family and the background they all carried around, as well as Janine (another Korean woman married to Matt, an American doctor) and her insecurities about herself and her position in this world, were beautifully, if painfully, explored and I'm sure I'm not just talking out of my ass when I say that Angie Kim got at least partially inspired by her own life and wrote it into words. It felt raw and messy and flawed and utterly, painfully human and it struck a chord even in me who will never fully understand what it means to be a stranger in your own country.
Overall, flawed and messy characters seem to be the author's absolute strong suit and I highly enjoyed that asepct even though it made me downright uncomfortable at times.
What I didn't like:
But, Sylla, you might ask: why give this book such a bad rating if you enjoyed the human messiness of it all? Well, sadly: there's a pretty good reason for that, and it's how Autism is handled in the entire novel and is made the center of attention without centering autistic characters at all.
(CW: Child Abuse, Ableism)
The entire novel hinges on the fact that an HBOT facility (which stands for "hyperbaric oxygen therapy") blows up in the middle of a dive and kills two of the people inside, a mother (Kitt) and another mother's autistic child, Henry. Now the first sign of alarm for people somewhat versed in the medical field (and what I had to look up): HBOT is actually not even fully approved for the "treatment" of autistic children because the data is inconclusive. There is just not enough evidence to support claims of these kids being "healed" by spending a while in a pressurized chamber with 100% oxygen delivered to them via a diving helmet. But that is, sadly, not all and definitely not the thing I disliked the most.
I started this book without really knowing what I was getting into and at first, I was simply reading and puzzling along about whether or not Elizabeth, mother to the deceased Henry mentioned above, was actually the person to set the fire or not. I started getting uncomfortable at some point (and couldn't really put my finger on it) because while the book and its characters focus a lot on their respective autistic or otherwise disabled children, none of them ever gain their own voice in the process.
And while I somewhat understand that I guess, the fact that most of these mothers and their pain was centered when it came to their disabled kids was just downright disgusting to me the more I thought about it. Is it hard to be a mother? Well, obviously, but to constantly center the pain of everyone around a child in need of more support for whatever reason is just really not the way to go about it in my opinion.
Also, I was just very uncomfortable with the fact that every one of these characters believes that their autistic kids can be "cured", while the only people to oppose the HBOT thing (a bunch of protesters of which only one gets a name) and the search for a "cure" for autism are only superficially described and serve as antagonists for basically the entire novel.
One of the main characters is also shown having to come to terms with the fact that she did abuse her child since she just told herself, "But I didn't hit him so it's not abuse, right!"
Obviously, this is something people do have to face and I have to say I'm glad she did because the things described were enough to make me feel sick to the stomach and empathy for her poor son. It nonetheless left a bad taste in my stomach, especially compared to everything I said above.
TL;DR: I feel like I have to give this book a 2-star rating because the portrayal of autism while just depicting how much parents of autistic kids suffer is not something I want for autistic people to read; I can only imagine the hurt it would cause. It's a well-written book with a highly interesting premise and set-up but overall, I just couldn't enjoy it for these reasons and I cannot recommend it exactly for those as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship