Scan barcode
cocacolor's review
emotional
inspiring
sad
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? It's complicated
4.25
This is a difficult book to review; I was unbelievably excited for it as soon as I heard of it, and certainly part of the disappointment comes from how high my expectations were. It's not Ng's best effort. It's almost too timely; I don't think it'll hold up as well 25 or even 5 years from now (depending on how the political climate goes). And it's a book whose reception depends on the reader being exactly as far left as Ng, and no more. This novel's audience seems to be speaking to a particular demographic, the comfortable "moderate, don't-do-politics" upper middle class, particularly Asian American members; there's an almost cloying expectation that you empathize with Margaret and Bird's discoveries of all that's wrong in the world, because you've gone through a similar wake-up call yourself recently.
Personally, as a Chinese American reader who's probably farther left than Ng, I found it embarrassing. Part of the novel still feels, to me, like an attempt to co-opt the suffering of Black and Indigenous communities, an almost childish, cynical attempt to insist, "Hey, Asian Americans have it bad, too, where's our solidarity?" Eventually my attitude toward the premise mellowed; Ng does make a good-faith effort to acknowledge that if the state using family separation as a tactic is news to you, that's willful blindness on your part, and to include the history of how this violence has been and is still being used against Black and Indigenous families, even if I don't think she goes far enough in that respect to really acknowledge who is actually being subjected to this tactic today.
Beyond the somewhat disrespectful nature of the premise, I found that Ng's writing suffered as well from its clumsy politics. There's none of the complexity of character from LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE or EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU here;Bird and Margaret and Ethan are almost saintly, the resentments disappearing easily, seeming betrayals turning out to be partnership and devotion after all. The sexual violence Margaret experiences at the hands of a cop comes out of nowhere and feels like a cynical, clumsy shortcut to convey how bad the world has gotten--again, de-centering the Black and Indigenous women overwhelmingly affected by this kind of violence.
Still, Ng's half-hearted effort is beyond what most writers could achieve on their best day, and I don't want to hold Ng to a higher standard than I do her contemporaries; if I found OUR MISSING HEARTS to be clumsy or self-centered at times, I'd definitely feel the same and more of the vast majority of writers if they'd tried to write this novel. Her prose is as beautiful as ever, and understanding this novel is meant to be read as a fable about the power of art and narrative turns issues I'd had with the early parts of the book into unexpected joys. Overall, not as good as I hoped but not as bad as I feared. Still eagerly looking forward to Ng's next project.
Personally, as a Chinese American reader who's probably farther left than Ng, I found it embarrassing. Part of the novel still feels, to me, like an attempt to co-opt the suffering of Black and Indigenous communities, an almost childish, cynical attempt to insist, "Hey, Asian Americans have it bad, too, where's our solidarity?" Eventually my attitude toward the premise mellowed; Ng does make a good-faith effort to acknowledge that if the state using family separation as a tactic is news to you, that's willful blindness on your part, and to include the history of how this violence has been and is still being used against Black and Indigenous families, even if I don't think she goes far enough in that respect to really acknowledge who is actually being subjected to this tactic today.
Beyond the somewhat disrespectful nature of the premise, I found that Ng's writing suffered as well from its clumsy politics. There's none of the complexity of character from LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE or EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU here;
Still, Ng's half-hearted effort is beyond what most writers could achieve on their best day, and I don't want to hold Ng to a higher standard than I do her contemporaries; if I found OUR MISSING HEARTS to be clumsy or self-centered at times, I'd definitely feel the same and more of the vast majority of writers if they'd tried to write this novel. Her prose is as beautiful as ever, and understanding this novel is meant to be read as a fable about the power of art and narrative turns issues I'd had with the early parts of the book into unexpected joys. Overall, not as good as I hoped but not as bad as I feared. Still eagerly looking forward to Ng's next project.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Racism, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Police brutality, and Rape
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Misogyny
Minor: Child abuse and Bullying
Rape/sexual violence warning:
More...