mcnaughtreading's review against another edition
5.0
The Yoos, an immigrant family from South Korea, open a medical facility treating patients with hyperbaric oxygen therapy... until a terrible accident kills an eight year old boy and destroys innocent, and not so innocent, lives.
From the moment I opened this stunning story I could not put it down. Beautiful writing, flawed characters, and thought provoking narrative make this so much deeper and emotional than your average courtroom drama murder mystery. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
From the moment I opened this stunning story I could not put it down. Beautiful writing, flawed characters, and thought provoking narrative make this so much deeper and emotional than your average courtroom drama murder mystery. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
samtaters's review against another edition
5.0
This was a great read. This book had three things I LOVE in fiction - dysfunctional families, crime and courtroom drama.
whatsjennareading's review against another edition
5.0
It must be said that the cover of this book is absolutely stunning and is what initially caught my attention. While I came for the cover, I stuck around for Kim’s beautiful writing that held me captive from the opening lines:
"My husband asked me to lie. Not a big lie. He probably didn’t even consider it a lie, and neither did I, at first. It was such a small thing, what he wanted."
I sat down to read a chapter or two before bed, and before I knew it, a few hours had gone by. I have read a number of court room dramas, but never have I felt so much like I was part of the jury–slowly hearing the story as it is revealed bit by bit. With each witness called to the stand, new information came to light, information that completely shifted my ideas about what may have happened, and changed my perspective about the facts that had previously been presented. Kim is an absolute genius and this book is a masterpiece. A courtroom drama it definitely is, but it’s also a thoughtfully plotted mystery and character study that expertly portrays the lengths parents will go to to protect their children.
Kim’s background in law is put to exquisite use in the courtroom scenes that are tense and taut with emotion and I was utterly transported–it was as if I was in the courtroom, holding my breath along with Young, Pak, and Matthew, as more and more of this story unfolded. The characters are flawed and heart breaking and so dynamic they could walk right off the pages. With Elizabeth, Kim has created one of the most realistic portrayals of the complicated nature of what it truly means to be a parent that I’ve ever read. Her entire storyline cracked my heart wide open and left me raw for days after. I typically stay far away from stories that deal with violence towards children. Miracle Creek grapples with some very heavy topics, and at times I found it hard to read, but I’m grateful that I picked it up despite the heaviness.
It’s probably obvious at this point, but I highly recommend Miracle Creek and will not hesitate to read every single book Kim writes in the future. Pick it up if you enjoy gut wrenching stories about parenthood, legal thrillers and whodunit mysteries. Pick it up if you are a fan of Celeste Ng. Pick it up if you just want to be swept up in some really phenomenal storytelling. Just pick it up and read it! Thank you thank you thank you to Sarah Crichton Books for the advanced review copy in exchange for my honest review!
"My husband asked me to lie. Not a big lie. He probably didn’t even consider it a lie, and neither did I, at first. It was such a small thing, what he wanted."
I sat down to read a chapter or two before bed, and before I knew it, a few hours had gone by. I have read a number of court room dramas, but never have I felt so much like I was part of the jury–slowly hearing the story as it is revealed bit by bit. With each witness called to the stand, new information came to light, information that completely shifted my ideas about what may have happened, and changed my perspective about the facts that had previously been presented. Kim is an absolute genius and this book is a masterpiece. A courtroom drama it definitely is, but it’s also a thoughtfully plotted mystery and character study that expertly portrays the lengths parents will go to to protect their children.
Kim’s background in law is put to exquisite use in the courtroom scenes that are tense and taut with emotion and I was utterly transported–it was as if I was in the courtroom, holding my breath along with Young, Pak, and Matthew, as more and more of this story unfolded. The characters are flawed and heart breaking and so dynamic they could walk right off the pages. With Elizabeth, Kim has created one of the most realistic portrayals of the complicated nature of what it truly means to be a parent that I’ve ever read. Her entire storyline cracked my heart wide open and left me raw for days after. I typically stay far away from stories that deal with violence towards children. Miracle Creek grapples with some very heavy topics, and at times I found it hard to read, but I’m grateful that I picked it up despite the heaviness.
It’s probably obvious at this point, but I highly recommend Miracle Creek and will not hesitate to read every single book Kim writes in the future. Pick it up if you enjoy gut wrenching stories about parenthood, legal thrillers and whodunit mysteries. Pick it up if you are a fan of Celeste Ng. Pick it up if you just want to be swept up in some really phenomenal storytelling. Just pick it up and read it! Thank you thank you thank you to Sarah Crichton Books for the advanced review copy in exchange for my honest review!
readingnookreviews's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars rounded up to 5!
A complex and intricate story with multiple perspectives and pieces that are so beautifully woven together, creating a fascinating story! All the characters were so real and unique and I fell in love with this book! I couldn’t believe all the different pieces and points of view worked together and actually made sense at the end. This book shows that no one is entirely innocent and that secrecy causes a mess of everything. In the end I would definitely recommend this legal drama for its emotional themes and slowly-unfolding trial that caused me to question every single character!
A complex and intricate story with multiple perspectives and pieces that are so beautifully woven together, creating a fascinating story! All the characters were so real and unique and I fell in love with this book! I couldn’t believe all the different pieces and points of view worked together and actually made sense at the end. This book shows that no one is entirely innocent and that secrecy causes a mess of everything. In the end I would definitely recommend this legal drama for its emotional themes and slowly-unfolding trial that caused me to question every single character!
theoriebubble's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Death, Rape, and Child abuse
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Bullying
jenna_cross's review against another edition
4.0
This book floored me during the first 3/4 of it. I was in awe of the author’s ability to make a courtroom drama-whodunnit so enthralling. Realistically, the perpetrator could have been any of the characters until there was only 1/4 of the book left. The pieces were unfolded from different points of view like a puzzle. The ending lost 1 star from me, even though it was good. I will definitely read the author’s next book.
ariisbooked's review against another edition
4.0
I was stuck between a 3.5-4 stars for this book. While I did find some parts of the book difficult to push through, I never considered DNFing it.
This was my first court room “thriller”. I put thriller in quotations because I wouldn’t necessarily classify this book as a thriller. Is contemporary mystery a sub genre? Because if so, that’s what I’d classify this book as.
I loved reading Young’s chapters the most and idk why because I can’t relate to her struggles as a mother, immigrant or wife but she was so easy to love as a character. For me at least.
Finding out the mystery wasn’t jaw dropping for me cause I guessed it pretty early on, but I wasn’t necessarily disappointed by it. At first I thought I was, but the more you think about it, and the more you analyze the character, it makes better sense.
This isn’t going to be a edge of your seat book, in my opinion. But it was still enjoyable, and Angie Kim’s writing is beautiful and so descriptive that it was one that kept me going.
Would I recommend this to everyone? No. I definitely would recommend it to someone that’s willing to put pre conceived notions about thrillers aside and truly try to understand the major characters in this book.
Overall, 4 stars. I enjoyed the story and I’m not disappointed that I pushed through, but I wouldn’t say it’s a new favorite.
This was my first court room “thriller”. I put thriller in quotations because I wouldn’t necessarily classify this book as a thriller. Is contemporary mystery a sub genre? Because if so, that’s what I’d classify this book as.
I loved reading Young’s chapters the most and idk why because I can’t relate to her struggles as a mother, immigrant or wife but she was so easy to love as a character. For me at least.
Finding out the mystery wasn’t jaw dropping for me cause I guessed it pretty early on, but I wasn’t necessarily disappointed by it. At first I thought I was, but the more you think about it, and the more you analyze the character, it makes better sense.
This isn’t going to be a edge of your seat book, in my opinion. But it was still enjoyable, and Angie Kim’s writing is beautiful and so descriptive that it was one that kept me going.
Would I recommend this to everyone? No. I definitely would recommend it to someone that’s willing to put pre conceived notions about thrillers aside and truly try to understand the major characters in this book.
Overall, 4 stars. I enjoyed the story and I’m not disappointed that I pushed through, but I wouldn’t say it’s a new favorite.
laura2u's review against another edition
2.0
I seriously debated between 2 & 3 stars. I went with 2 because I would not recommend this book to anyone. Every single character, without exception is so messed up. There’s so many of them, it’s hard to follow and that’s made harder by the fact that there’s not one likable one in the bunch. At the 25% mark, I wanted to bail and just flip to the end to see who did it. Should’ve. Could have saved a few hours of my life. So messed up.