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A review by lottiegasp
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
mysterious
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
3.0
The mystery unfolds in a compelling way. The ending wasn't particularly exciting, but the threads came together in a logical way.
The novel explores the experience of being a mother to a child with disabilities. While it's valid to recognise how difficult it can be for those mothers, largely due to a lack of spousal and structural support, I didn't feel like any of the children with neurodivergences were seen as fully formed characters, only vehicles for the story. Since there were multiple perspectives, it would have been nice to have the perspective of an Autistic person or a person with Cerebral Palsy. None of the protesters who were against people trying to cure Autism were Autistic adults, they were all also parents of Autistic children (and we didn't even get any of their perspectives). It was presented as a bit of a "both sides" argument, where the parents trying to cure Autism were given more sympathy than the proud parents of Autistic kids.
I recommend reading Unmasking Autism by Devon Price, a non-fiction book, to learn more from the perspectives of Autistic people.
The novel explores the experience of being a mother to a child with disabilities. While it's valid to recognise how difficult it can be for those mothers, largely due to a lack of spousal and structural support, I didn't feel like any of the children with neurodivergences were seen as fully formed characters, only vehicles for the story. Since there were multiple perspectives, it would have been nice to have the perspective of an Autistic person or a person with Cerebral Palsy. None of the protesters who were against people trying to cure Autism were Autistic adults, they were all also parents of Autistic children (and we didn't even get any of their perspectives). It was presented as a bit of a "both sides" argument, where the parents trying to cure Autism were given more sympathy than the proud parents of Autistic kids.
I recommend reading Unmasking Autism by Devon Price, a non-fiction book, to learn more from the perspectives of Autistic people.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Rape, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Suicide