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apiora215's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Sexual violence, Ableism, Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Vomit
brookey8888's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Suicide, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Violence, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Infertility, and Death of parent
ashleysbookthoughts's review against another edition
- 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
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
kleaf's review against another edition
- 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
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
annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
hot take, i'm not that big a fan of Shakespeare because so many of his plots (at least, his tragedies) are like, if any one thing in this series of unfortunate events had gone differently then we wouldn't be in these tragic circumstances, except the series of unfortunate events is ridiculous and arbitrary. best example: in Hamlet (spoilers), when Hamlet stabs and kills Polonius, who was eavesdropping behind a curtain, because Hamlet thought he heard a rat. that's just undeniably stupid for a major plot point. Miracle Creek has the same concept—if anything had gone differently we could have avoided tragedy—but pulls it off expertly. Shakespeare could never??
could this be considered southern gothic? it's set in Virginia, nearly everyone is a grotesque character, and there's some truly disturbing content, plus themes of racism, sexism, and poverty.
this review has been completely shaped by my English class experience
cover design review: ★★★★½. love the colors, the scenery, and the burn holes, but it starts to feel crowded with the addition of glitter and stars. not a big fan of the typeface, makes me think of Papyrus 😬
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Ableism, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child abuse, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Rape
Moderate: Abandonment, Cursing, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Confinement, Excrement, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Stalking, and Vomit
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Rating: 4/5 stars (boosted 0.5 stars from my original rating)
Told through the frame of a murder trial, Miracle Creek is a literary courtroom mystery centered on the fallout from an explosion and fire at “Miracle Submarine,” a hyperbaric oxygen treatment center owned by a Korean immigrant family and primarily catering to children with special needs. The mother of one of the patients stands accused of murdering her son…but everyone has secrets, and the trial just may reveal them all.
I generally shy away from courtroom thrillers because, frankly, they’re rarely well-done or realistic, and, as a lawyer, they can be downright painful to read. Fortunately, Miracle Creek is written by a former trial attorney, and the courtroom scenes are realistic, riveting, and the absolute best I’ve come across in a book to date. This second read managed to impress me even more, because the many heartbreaking but beautiful moments of the narrative really shone through on a reread, including insights into the immigrant experience, parenthood, and surviving trauma.
I want to flag that this is by no means an easy read, and you should absolutely check content warnings before diving in. But it is memorable and beautifully written, and I’m so glad I read it twice.
Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: courtroom dramas; first generation immigrant stories; literary thrillers.
CW: Ableism; child abuse; child death; murder; fire/fire injury; sexual assault, suicide.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Ableism, and Adult/minor relationship
missbear's review against another edition
- 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
I found Miracle Creek to be pretty compulsively readable (and I was reading it alongside Man's Search for Meaning, which though short, is a bit dense, so it was an enjoyable diversion.) I read a bit more about Angie Kim after reading this book and I learned that she had firsthand experience with many of the elements of this story (the HBOT treatment, being a parent to a child suffering from a longterm illness, being an immigrant to America). I think her experience, passion, and familiarity with the topics really did come through in her writing to good effect.
My main issue is that I am not particularly fond of a particular trope seemingly common in mystery/thriller novels, where the story is told from the perspective of characters who "keep secrets" from the reader. I don't mean unreliable narrators, exactly, because in this case the characters are not narrators - it's just that we're in their heads, being told their feelings and thoughts, except for certain key feelings and thoughts that would reveal the mystery. It just bothers me, though I will happily concede that this was not as egregious a problem in Miracle Creek as it has been in some other similar books I've read (like Jodi Picoult's novels).
Graphic: Sexual assault, Child death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Suicide
cryptogay's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
adriennne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
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
- 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
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