omgmkg's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
It was also a compelling exploration of motherhood (but almost all of it is super dark, at least at first…)
Spoiler
the book really started to work for me when Young began to investigate and put the pieces of the puzzle together herself. Then, any obfuscation was by others for a REASON (they didn’t want her to find out the truth) rather than casually just not mentioning things or making them purposefully mysterious just for the reader. Her third person but limited perspective also worked for me here. And the book fully gelled into something pretty fantastic once the whole family knew the truth and disagreed about what to do next. That was really great writing and a super compelling challenge. It is where the heart of the book truly lies. I’m not sure how the author could have gotten there without at least some of the parts that didn’t work for me, but I wish there had been less purposeful misdirection and more focus on Young and her family.Graphic: Death, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Child abuse, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicide
Moderate: Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Excrement, Medical trauma, Sexism, Medical content, and Alcohol
moniipeters's review against another edition
- 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
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
betsygrace's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Blood, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual content, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Violence
katrinarose's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
The author does an incredible job making fully developed characters. Reading her writing makes me feel justified for every complaint I’ve made for other books not having good character development, because THIS is what good character development looks like (and I’m not just picky, although maybe I am that too.) Kim definitely puts you on an emotional rollercoaster - you begin hating a character from another character’s viewpoint but then you get humbled once you get the other character’s perspective, backstory, emotions, and motivations. It truly is a study of “there’s two sides to every story”, and I think it gives the reader a lot to think about, not just in the book, but how we interact with the stories told every day by people we know and especially online.
The storyline itself was very engaging; it was very hard to put the book down. I really enjoyed all the POVs, for the reasons listed above but also for how it propelled the story along. I’m in awe of how she kept the mystery going even when we did get the the perspectives of the one(s) who committed the crime. I like a court procedural style. The back and forth was very satisfying to me, and reminded me a little of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. I think it was believable but I think that’s because I found the characters so believable, and I understand a few criticisms of the crime plot’s unbelievability. However I don’t think it was enough to ruin or even affect my reading experience.
I’m in love with Kim’s writing style too. She gives her characters such grace while not shying away from the dark things they do too. In my opinion she is a master of similes, never before have I seen them used so often with such strong effect.
I feel like I could talk about this book forever but I’ll leave it at that. I can’t think of anyone I wouldn’t recommend this book to, except maybe minors due to some tough subjects. It’s a new favorite.
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Grief, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Suicide, Sexual content, and Xenophobia
apiora215's review
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Sexual violence, Ableism, Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Vomit
lessthelonely's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book took a lot of time to read, and that isn’t to say it was hard to read - at least, not in the sense that I had to force myself to keep reading. Every single time I grabbed this book? I was having a good time. A very entertaining time, in fact. But it’s been hard to find time to read. Or write. Or do anything that isn’t college related.
But I did finish this book, even if I went on Google because curiosity got the best of me and I just wanted to know who the real culprit was - and I’m kind of glad I did this, because the final pages of the book were still just as engrossing even with the huge reveal spoiled. It was still filled with tension and everything I expect from a thriller mystery.
Anyways, Miracle Creek is a book that has been lauded as one of the greatest books of 2019, and it’s been on my radar for quite some time, like a lot of other books. Believe me, if I was a person that reads more than one book at once, I definitely would, but because I’m not, it’s usually really hard to getting around to reading books that I am definitely interested in. But I’m very driven by moods when reading: sometimes I want romance. Sometimes I want something enthralling and twisty to try and figure out all the big reveals before they happen. Sometimes I want smut, pure and simple.
But the truth is, this book delivered on so many fronts and the fact is that it didn’t have to to be as enjoyable as it was... but, somehow, the author did it. You can tell this is a book that was written from experience and not something that was very heavily researched. Heavily researched books tend to ebb a little bit on that I learned this very cool thing and I’m going to explain it with a lot of wonder attached to it. Angie Kim appears to know a lot about most of the things that this book deals with: autism, HBOT, moving to another country. At least, I know she knows a lot about the first two.
What we end up with is a book that you truly can’t put down once it gets down to the wire. I’m going to admit it took me a bit to get into it. And then I read the Goodreads reply by the author herself saying that people tell her it takes a little bit to get into the story. In my case, that was absolutely true. All I needed was for the lawyers to start talking to the judge.
This book has graphic descriptions of incidents that can easily be found triggering, but what triggered me a lot was a lot of perspectives this book manages to get to the core of: on autism, ironically, you get a spectrum of all the possible perspectives of it - positive, negative, mixed? It’s all here. And they always make sense, even when they leave you mad.
At the same time, this book alternates between court scenes (it is labeled as a courtroom drama) and I would say these are the highlight of the book: it’s not that the lawyers are the best characters, but their dialogue is the most interesting. You will be surprised with how easily you can agree with both the accusation and the defense attorneys's points. But then, you have some slower moments with each of the 6 POVs this book has in it. This was the part that was difficult to get into, because it starts slow, but after the first testifying scene? It picks up, and with a lot of moving parts.
It’s a tight, extremely well-written mess, coupled with a lot of detailed and nuanced characterization. And as twists start hitting, each turn starts taking a toll on you, leaving a noticeable mark. There’s a reason why I went on Google to get spoiled: I couldn’t wait to get to the truth, and I knew I wouldn’t have time to read for some days.
Pick this one up. I will definitely get it physically when I can.
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition
- 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
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 😬
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
savvyrosereads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Rating: 4/5 stars (boosted 0.5 stars from my original rating)
Told through the frame of a murder trial, Miracle Creek is a literary courtroom mystery centered on the fallout from an explosion and fire at “Miracle Submarine,” a hyperbaric oxygen treatment center owned by a Korean immigrant family and primarily catering to children with special needs. The mother of one of the patients stands accused of murdering her son…but everyone has secrets, and the trial just may reveal them all.
I generally shy away from courtroom thrillers because, frankly, they’re rarely well-done or realistic, and, as a lawyer, they can be downright painful to read. Fortunately, Miracle Creek is written by a former trial attorney, and the courtroom scenes are realistic, riveting, and the absolute best I’ve come across in a book to date. This second read managed to impress me even more, because the many heartbreaking but beautiful moments of the narrative really shone through on a reread, including insights into the immigrant experience, parenthood, and surviving trauma.
I want to flag that this is by no means an easy read, and you should absolutely check content warnings before diving in. But it is memorable and beautifully written, and I’m so glad I read it twice.
Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: courtroom dramas; first generation immigrant stories; literary thrillers.
CW: Ableism; child abuse; child death; murder; fire/fire injury; sexual assault, suicide.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Ableism, and Adult/minor relationship
emeraldelephant's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Infertility, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, and Car accident
gabbo's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Sexual content, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, and Child death
Minor: Suicide, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse