Reviews with content warning for Child death - Miracle Creek

Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

115 reviews

nataleaf's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

all of the topics in this book are handled really well. at the end of the day, the mystery aspect is what fell flat for me because

i just don’t believe that Mary would commit arson. I don’t think we were given enough time from her perspective to understand; despite everything she went through we didn’t get to hear how hurt she was in her own words

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muddymind's review against another edition

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dark reflective 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

3.25

It’s written very well and the multiple POVs kept me engaged & interested. I really enjoyed how motherhood is explored in a such honest way that I haven’t seen too often.
The climax was a bit lackluster & I would have liked to see the ‘why’ explained a bit more. The motives were clear but didn’t feel as real as other components of the story.
Check trigger warnings because they sneak up on you in this one.

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lottiegasp's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-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

3.0

The mystery unfolds in a compelling way. The ending wasn't particularly exciting, but the threads came together in a logical way.

The novel explores the experience of being a mother to a child with disabilities. While it's valid to recognise how difficult it can be for those mothers, largely due to a lack of spousal and structural support, I didn't feel like any of the children with neurodivergences were seen as fully formed characters, only vehicles for the story. Since there were multiple perspectives, it would have been nice to have the perspective of an Autistic person or a person with Cerebral Palsy. None of the protesters who were against people trying to cure Autism were Autistic adults, they were all also parents of Autistic children (and we didn't even get any of their perspectives). It was presented as a bit of a "both sides" argument, where the parents trying to cure Autism were given more sympathy than the proud parents of Autistic kids.

I recommend reading Unmasking Autism by Devon Price, a non-fiction book, to learn more from the perspectives of Autistic people.

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skbat's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

The mystery was intriguing and kept me hooked. Horribly graphic though. The treatment of autism and disability was acidic, portraying flawed mothers pushing their children towards "normalcy" at any cost.

The worst offender realizes this is a mistake far too late.

No perspective from any of the actually autistic people - Happiness Falls is much better in that regard. The reveal was satisfying enough, but I'm sad for all the characters and a little scarred.

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ellenewt's review against another edition

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fast-paced

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

1.0

Ableist, anti-vax, sympathetic toward adult who sexually assaults a minor, far too graphic

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sparklefarm's review against another edition

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dark 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

2.5

I'm glad I read Happiness Falls before this one because I did not enjoy this read. Some small quibbles, but enough serious concerns that I do not recommend. Thoughts in no particular order below.

Could have done without the entire
Matt-Mary
storyline. It's not like it was portrayed in a good light, I just prefer my books without that kind of yuck.
Relatedly I never want to hear the word
penis
again.
In general this book felt overwritten. So. Many. Similes.
The writing on autism felt borderline offensive. So much talk about wanting kids to be ~normal~ and the only characters who had a different outlook were vilified. I did not get this sense from Happiness Falls, which also deals with autism, so I hope there has been some learning in the meantime.
Incredible audio narration.

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taylor_a_boyd's review against another edition

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4.5

This is a complicated but excellent book. A bit hard to follow the characters at the beginning. A really interesting perspective on family, motherhood, health. I’ll be reading more by the same author

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amberjackonski's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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

4.0

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smagzisreading's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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ariana3's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

I wanted to like this book, but it took me a while to get into it. It didn't capture my attention right away, as I could tell this was sort of a whodunnit mystery but it was a slow-moving pace. Overall I really did like the ending! It's bittersweet and resolves itself entirely.
Plot summary:

The Yoo family moved feom Seoul, South Korea to the US for a better life for their daughter Mary. But Mary hated the US, felt alone and alienated from her peers and her parents. Her parents eventually open a HBOT (hyperbaric oxygen treatment) center to help treat all sorts of patients. In this case, the patients are centered around a doctor, Matt, whose wife is obsessed with having a child and claims he's infertile (he's the only adult being treated), Teresa's daughter with cerebral palsy, Kitt's son with autism, and Elizabeth's son, Henry, also with autism. A fire breaks out at the center, which also happens to be on the Yoo's property, and Kitt and Henry both die. Matt's hand becomes deformed, Mary is scarred, and Pak is paralyzed. A trial begins for who set the fire, and all eyes are on Elizabeth. Prosecutors say she intended to kill Henry because she couldn't deal with life as a mother to a child with autism. It was hard and robbed her of herself. The evidence is seemingly staggering against her. The story of the characters plays out, and turns out she's totally innocent. However, she becomes convinced throughout the trial process that she's a terrible mother and she decides to end it all by committing suicide. She drives her lawyer's car off a cliff. Now the real story comes down to Matt. His marriage wasn't great, and he started spending time with Mary who was 16 at the time. On her 17th birthday, he forces himself on her - a misunderstanding/accident on his part, but definitely assault....his wife thinks Mary is basically stalking Matt, so she confronts her and says she's a whore and to leave Matt alone. In a fit of rage, Mary sets the fire by the barn to hopefully make it so that their family can leave this terrible place and go back to Seoul. Her dad had put cigarettes and matches near the oxygen tank to frame some protestors but he put it out just to make it appear to be a stopped fire. She doesn't know this, doesn't know that people were inside, and it's too late when she finds out. The bittersweet part is that her mother convinces her to confess. To help clear her conscious, deal with the consequences of her actions, rather than let it slide and place blame elsewhere just so she can avoid jail time. In the end, the money from Elizabeth's will goes to fund a daycare/camp for special needs and autism kids. So it's a terribly tragic and sad story, but has a somewhat slightly feel-good ending.

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