Reviews with content warning for Classism - Our Missing Hearts

This was a near-future novel, with a VERY possible future, featuring an economic crisis that's blamed on China and in turn, brutalizes the AAPI community and their children. It's a lyrical book and a devastating subject matter. Some parts leaned too far into direct moralizing which got a little corny and took me out of the story, but it's such an important moral, anyway, and I hope people read this. It really hits home that children for ages have been forcefully taken from their loving families. Which I know but now I KNOW.

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kappafrog's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

How eerie reading this in between seeing headlines about book bans in Florida. This was a compelling dystopian novel. I agree with other reviewers that the second half struggled at times compared to the first half.

The conceit of Margaret narrating her whole life to Bird didn't always work when she was going into intimate details which were great for the reader but made less sense as dialogue with her son. I was also disappointed in the lack of information about the aftermath of Margaret's plan. We got a few flashforward glimpses but no information on the political fallout.

The writing was really beautiful. I liked seeing the world through Bird's eyes, a child's perspective in a novel aimed at adults. I enjoyed the use of folktales, etymology, and gardening through out. There were many horrifying bits in the book. I can tell it will stay with me for a long time.

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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? No

3.75

Title: Our Missing Hearts
Author: Celeste Ng
Genre: Dystopian
Rating: 3.75
Pub Date: October 4, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Contemplative • Forceful • Moving

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in Harvard University's library. Bird knows to not ask too many questions, stand out too much, or stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve "American culture" in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic-including the work of Bird's mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old.

Bird has grown up disavowing his mother and her poems; he doesn't know her work or what happened to her, and he knows he shouldn't wonder. But when he receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he is drawn into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York City, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I had been hesitating on picking up Our Missing Hearts since it's release last fall, mostly because dystopian novels aren't ones I typically gravitate towards. And while, I don't regret reading it, it is certainly my least favourite of Celeste Ng's books.

I must start off by saying, as always, Celeste's writing is absolutely beautiful! It's complex, layered and deeply evocative. And while, this book tackles a lot - including themes of family and sacrifice, as well as library resistance, racially motivated injustice, and the removal of children as a means of political powers - this dystopian novel tis an ode to motherhood.

When it comes to the characters, I'd have liked significantly more character development. Each of the characters felt very one dimensional, verging on young adult. Additionally, I didn't necessarily connect with the mother at all, even though I found her sacrifice to be selfless. I did have a soft spot for Bird as he'd gone through so much at such a young age.

When it comes to style, one of my biggest pet peeves is when no quotation marks are used, which was the case here. I know this is a stylistic tool used by authors, but it's just one I cannot get behind as I find it disrupts the flow of my reading. For this reason, I had to switch to mainly the audio (where you don't notice this fact), and the audio is very well done.

At the end of the day, Our Missing Hearts verged on being a little too political for me at this point in time. It is a beautiful reflection on motherhood, and a book to spark discussion and shift perspectives. Overall, the premise was certainly intriguing, but the execution was lacking. And yet, I'll continue to read everything Celeste Ng writes simply because her writing is a gift.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers who enjoy stories of motherhood
• Celeste Ng fans
• bookclubs

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"If we fear something, it is all the more imperative we study it thoroughly."

"Who ever thinks, recalling the face of the one they loved who is gone: yes, I looked at you enough, I loved you enough, we had enough time, any of this was enough?"

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bambooboy's review

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

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dionnesims's review

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I read 3/4ths and skimmed the last 1/4th because it moves very slowly. It's a lot of storytelling within the storytelling, if that makes sense. So there isn't really a deep plot, mostly reflection on why the characters are in their current states. I don't really enjoy that kind of story but I'm sure some folks will!

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