Reviews tagging Death

Our Missing Hearts, by Celeste Ng

10 reviews

whatwentsent's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Gore, Death of parent, Police brutality, Racism, Xenophobia, Deportation, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Injury/injury detail, Child abuse, Classism, Violence, Death, Rape, and Forced institutionalization

vedpears's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I think this may be my favorite book I read all year.
This should be considered an instant classic and to me is on par with 1984 and Animal Farm. Cautionary tales warning us all of the potential consequences if politics and media, and thus culture, continues on a certain trajectory. 
It is incredible how many parts of Ng's book became reality while she was writing it. So many moments in this book have clear parallels in reality now, unfortunately. I hope we can turn American culture around and stop accepting the blind hate being paraded as patriotism. 

I do have a favorite quote from this book - ""...unity required a common enemy. One box in which to collect all their anger. One strawman to wear the hats of everything they feared." This has been a worry of mine for a long time. Growing up here, it seemed really obvious to me that Americans need an enemy outside of us to focus on in order to come together and see one another as neighbors, or else we turn on each other. That is how our nation was born, so I suppose it makes sense that it is really hard for us to break away from that and learn healthier relationship skills, as a nation. 

I feel this should be required reading. 
Celeste Ng has solidified herself as my favorite modern day author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Xenophobia, Violence, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Racism, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Police brutality, Injury/injury detail, Death, Stalking, Bullying, Classism, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Confinement, Gun violence, and Sexual assault

atomicbritt's review against another edition

dark informative sad 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? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Violence, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Death of parent, and Death

kshertz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This dystopian novel is only slightly dystopian at this point. Bird lost his Chinese mother because she was a poet whose poem was picked up to resist taking children away from their family and jailing anyone protesting. He goes on a quest to find her. She is fighting PACT, which feels like all the immigrant hating laws I’ve seen passed as well. I love that librarians again have to come in and try to save the day. This book is our future if we don’t protest and change. I couldn’t put it down. It was sad but necessary. It makes us remember what’s at stake. Read it

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Violence, Classism, Death, Deportation, Grief, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexual assault

rorythebean's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Death and Violence

kimveach's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

This dystopian novel will have you contemplating many ideas:  race, class, patriotism used as a weapon, and the history of children being taken from their parents in the United States.  I found the book to be slower than her previous books due to the storyline only focusing on a few people.   The writing is stunning.  While I normally prefer books that are more about the plot, I did like this character-centered book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Blood, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Police brutality, Bullying, and Classism

lindsayerin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Police brutality, Death, Animal death, and Grief

Minor: Sexual assault

internationalreads's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, War, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Classism, Death of parent, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, and Trafficking

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Dear Ms. Ng,

Why did you have to emotionally destroy me? 

Regards,

A distraught reader 


Only complaint is the lack of quotation marks but in this book I can understand stylistically why it was done

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Classism, Cultural appropriation, Antisemitism, Bullying, Gaslighting, Murder, Cursing, Death, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Trafficking, War, Blood, Confinement, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, and Gun violence

caseythereader's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Thanks to PRH Audio for the free copy of this book.

 - I'll admit I was a bit uncertain when I heard OUR MISSING HEARTS was speculative fiction, but I should have known to trust Celeste Ng. I found myself taking extra walks and doing extra chores just to get more time with this audiobook. Lucy Liu is unsurprisingly a superb narrator.
- This book is a new entry in the canon of dystopias that are terrifying because they're only a step removed from our reality. In an author's note, Ng lists real life events and people she drew on, and the list is long.
- This book is also a love letter to libraries and librarians, painting them as both the last line of defense and the first line of offense when it comes to knowledge and the public good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Racism, Bullying, and Murder