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kleaf'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: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
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, Child death, Infertility, Sexual assault, Suicide, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder
alicelalicon's review against another edition
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Excrement
annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
5.0
i'm impressed
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 😬
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 😬
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Excrement, Car accident, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Stalking
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- 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
First read in 2019; review based on my April ’22 reread!
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
pamshenanigans's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
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
4.5
I really loved the writing. The story is told in various POVs that will make you question who to really side with. But the beauty of it is how it plays with your emotions and elicits really strong feelings towards every character and the things they’re going through.
I think my favorite thing about Miracle Creek is the characters and how their flaws and ugly truths are presented as just them being humans. Humans who would do anything to protect themselves and their loved ones. Humans who get frustrated, hateful, envious, and do really shitty things.
In the end, i found the book satisfying and conclusive. There are just other people that I hope were held accountable, but it’s a great book overall. An enraging and gripping story about the beauty and the ugly in us humans and how unfair the world really is.
Trigger/Content Warnings: arson, murder, sexual assault, suicide
I think my favorite thing about Miracle Creek is the characters and how their flaws and ugly truths are presented as just them being humans. Humans who would do anything to protect themselves and their loved ones. Humans who get frustrated, hateful, envious, and do really shitty things.
In the end, i found the book satisfying and conclusive. There are just other people that I hope were held accountable, but it’s a great book overall. An enraging and gripping story about the beauty and the ugly in us humans and how unfair the world really is.
Trigger/Content Warnings: arson, murder, sexual assault, suicide
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Suicide
Moderate: Murder
missbear's review against another edition
mysterious
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? Yes
2.75
I'll preface this by saying that this kind of courtroom thriller is not my preferred genre - it's not that I don't enjoy them at all, but that I rarely find them memorable enough or personally appealing enough to rate them more than 3 stars. So essentially, by my standards for this genre, Miracle Creek was a quite enjoyable example for me.
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).
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).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Suicide
emeraldelephant's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Infertility, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Medical content, and Car accident
theresablue's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
This book is incredibly ableist against autistic people. It perpetuates harmful stereotypes and promotes abusive behavior towards autistic children, framing it as 'a mother's love'. It also perpetuates the myth that vaccines cause autism and promotes the use of autism 'cures' like Miracle Mineral Solution (BLEACH). Both autistic characters within this book are young boys, one of whom is killed in a incredibly horrific way, the other's defining characteristics are that he smears his shit everywhere and ends the book institutionalized. None of this is substantially addressed in narrative and the book continually perpetuates the idea that autistic children are a burden to their parents, that the parents of autistic children are somehow special and worthy of admiration for loving and caring for their children despite them not being 'normal' and that autism can and should be cured.
I think the one redeeming factor of this book is the mother/daughter relationship between Young and Mary, but beside that, even ignoring the harmful and offensive ableism, this book's plot and characters are boring and repetitive. I don't know why it's so popular or why so many reviewers are so blind to the ableism within it.
I think the one redeeming factor of this book is the mother/daughter relationship between Young and Mary, but beside that, even ignoring the harmful and offensive ableism, this book's plot and characters are boring and repetitive. I don't know why it's so popular or why so many reviewers are so blind to the ableism within it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide
emmareadseverything's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-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
5.0
Wow. This book was incredible, and what a way to start 2022!
I have a thing for books where the characters share thoughts that society deems inappropriate. Similarly to The Push, this novel takes these incredibly raw characters and emotions and puts them in vulnerable, high pressure situations. What is created is so powerful.
If you want a breakdown of what I love about this novel, checkout my review of The Push, as I love this story for all the same reasons.
This is what Where the Crawdads Sing wishes it could be.
I have a thing for books where the characters share thoughts that society deems inappropriate. Similarly to The Push, this novel takes these incredibly raw characters and emotions and puts them in vulnerable, high pressure situations. What is created is so powerful.
If you want a breakdown of what I love about this novel, checkout my review of The Push, as I love this story for all the same reasons.
This is what Where the Crawdads Sing wishes it could be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Racism and Murder
Minor: Suicide