Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Our Missing Hearts

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.

Content Warnings

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional sad slow-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? Yes

3.0

Bird has never known a life without PACT (Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act). It is effects every part of his life. At 12, he lives with his white father, who works at the university's library. His mother, a Chinese American poet, disappeared 3 years ago. One day he receives a drawing from her in the mail. This drawing leads him to discover her whereabouts.

After reconnecting, Margaret shares her story with Bird and the reason why she had to leave. Margaret is faced with such a difficult choice, wanting to be with her son but also wanting to fight for all the stolen children. In the end she chose to fight for the children and sacrificed herself.

I am glad we eventually got Ethan's POV, because the whole time Bird was with his mom, I kept thinking about how frantic his father must have been.

This book dives into many social issues and there is a clear parallel between events in this book and many real world events.
-With PACT, anything deemed anti-american is destroyed (drawing a parallel to the Nazis)
-Children are removed from homes with parents who are deemed sympathizers or unamerican (ie. residential schools, migrants)
-Racism and prejudice of Chinese Americans (ie. Japanese during WW2)
-Margarets parents just wanting to blend with their white neighbours
-Riots, protests, police brutality

Though this book discussed some very pressing issues, it felt a little flat for me. The pacing was very slow and the characters felt a little one dimensional. I was hoping to be hit with this incredible dystopian world, but I never felt fully emersed into it. Everything felt very detached from our main character, all of these things were happening around him, but he was never really a part of anything, never really experiencing anything.

Content Warnings

celestialg's review

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Didn’t speak to me as much as her previous books, but still an important read. Explores the ideas of a dystopian future but also, the dystopian happenings of now and of the past. A must read for someone hoping to read more racially diverse stories.

Content Warnings

vedpears's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

I think this may be my favorite book I read all year.
This should be considered an instant classic and to me is on par with 1984 and Animal Farm. Cautionary tales warning us all of the potential consequences if politics and media, and thus culture, continues on a certain trajectory.
It is incredible how many parts of Ng's book became reality while she was writing it. So many moments in this book have clear parallels in reality now, unfortunately. I hope we can turn American culture around and stop accepting the blind hate being paraded as patriotism.

I do have a favorite quote from this book - ""...unity required a common enemy. One box in which to collect all their anger. One strawman to wear the hats of everything they feared." This has been a worry of mine for a long time. Growing up here, it seemed really obvious to me that Americans need an enemy outside of us to focus on in order to come together and see one another as neighbors, or else we turn on each other. That is how our nation was born, so I suppose it makes sense that it is really hard for us to break away from that and learn healthier relationship skills, as a nation.

I feel this should be required reading.
Celeste Ng has solidified herself as my favorite modern day author.

Content Warnings

kirkspockreads's review

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.5

Content Warnings

laurenkimoto's review

Go to review page

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Dear Ms. Ng,

Why did you have to emotionally destroy me?

Regards,

A distraught reader

Only complaint is the lack of quotation marks but in this book I can understand stylistically why it was done

Content Warnings

More...