Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

7 reviews

moniipeters's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Xenophobia, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Sexism, Violence, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

funsizesteffi1104's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

This was a unforgettable story follows what desperate people can do when faced with desperate situations, The characters are diverse, flawed and real. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Infertility, and Mental illness

kleaf's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Infertility, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Rape

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

i'm impressed
hot take, i'm not that big a fan of Shakespeare because so many of his plots (at least, his tragedies) are like, if any one thing in this series of unfortunate events had gone differently then we wouldn't be in these tragic circumstances, except the series of unfortunate events is ridiculous and arbitrary. best example: in Hamlet (spoilers), when Hamlet stabs and kills Polonius, who was eavesdropping behind a curtain, because Hamlet thought he heard a rat. that's just undeniably stupid for a major plot point. Miracle Creek has the same concept—if anything had gone differently we could have avoided tragedy—but pulls it off expertly. Shakespeare could never??
could this be considered southern gothic? it's set in Virginia, nearly everyone is a grotesque character, and there's some truly disturbing content, plus themes of racism, sexism, and poverty.
this review has been completely shaped by my English class experience
cover design review: ★★★★½. love the colors, the scenery, and the burn holes, but it starts to feel crowded with the addition of glitter and stars. not a big fan of the typeface, makes me think of Papyrus 😬

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Ableism, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child abuse, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Abandonment, Cursing, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Confinement, Excrement, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Stalking, and Vomit

kry_yang's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I'm a sucker for mystery books with an element of character-psychoanalysis (basically Celeste Ng's books lol), so when I read the description of this book I knew I had to pick it up.

And ohhhhh my godddd this book was INSANE. There were several points who I couldn't stop reading, and at the same time there were chapters that I had to pause because I couldn't possibly stomach what was going on. (TBH there's a ton of really triggering content in this book and I would def check out the trigger warnings before reading because this shit is HEAVY.)

The story touches upon immigration narratives, disability, and parenting. I kinda expected more analysis on Asian-American-ness (it's one of the main reasons I was drawn to the book in the first place). Knocking off 0.5 stars because I honestly found the Yoo family kind of disappointing. I have really high expectations when it comes to fiction that explores ASAM issues, and I felt that some of the backstories of the Korean-American characters felt a bit one-dimensional and cookie-cutter.

The other characters though--Elizabeth specifically--oh my god they ripped by heart out. Elizabeth's story is an incredible exploration of motherhood, and the incredible sacrifices that come with raising a neurodivergent child. Kim really does not hold back; she really digs into the psyches of her characters, and while some characters felt more compelling than others, the book overall was just an incredible(ly difficult) read.

Overall, I'd say this is book shines for its analysis and exploration of disability and parenting--and while POC/immigration/ASAM issues are definitely one aspect of the story, I didn't find that to be the most compelling part of the book.

Kim's language is also relatively straightforward--she does have some more lyrical sentences towards the ends of each chapter, but I found the language really accessible. I almost wish Kim wrote with a bit more *flowery* prose, just to make me ache even more :')

Miracle Creek is a "whodunnit" courtroom drama, blended with a slow-burn character exploration that really digs into each character's backstory and personality. I flew through this book in like 3-4 days and I look forward to reading more from Angie Kim in the future!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Suicide

gloriazthompson's review

emotional fast-paced

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

4.25

4.25. Really enjoyed this one. I liked the cast of characters and how to events unfolded.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Death, and Infertility

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Rape, Racial slurs, Murder, Mental illness, and Infidelity

emakay's review

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Infertility, Medical content, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Racism