Reviews tagging Sexual assault

Our Missing Hearts, by Celeste Ng

13 reviews

artmuseam's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad 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

3.75

this was my first book to read by celeste ng and i was honestly unsure of what to prepare myself for. while it is a dystopian, “fiction” piece, this felt way too realistic with the anti-asian violence that is sewn throughout the story—and celeste ng does make note of that! however i thought the execution was a bit weak with this concept and the ending made me feel disappointed. maybe it’s my own hope of a happy ending being needed in a story full of loss, violence, and strained love, but i was unsatisfied with how the conclusion turned out. still, this book did make me reflect on the notions of american nationalism and what it means to be a “true” american—something we find so commonly today. i will admit that a couple scenes left me in tears, so prepare some tissues if you crumble at emotional stories about mothers love like me! 
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pphector's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-paced
  • 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

4.0

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darcy_clark's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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vedpears's review against another edition

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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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kshertz's review against another edition

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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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swaanderer's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? No

5.0

Beautiful, heart-wrenching, disturbing, hopeful. And Lucy Liu's audiobook narration was perfect.
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kimveach's review against another edition

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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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muffmacguff's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

This book devastated me. It took me a long time to read because I needed to take breaks to cry very frequently. It is a great speculative fiction book that focuses most heavily on the human suffering that sweeping political gestures can cause. I really recommend reading it but only if you’re prepared to cry a lot. I also thought its focus on the transformative power of art and the vitality of libraries was beautiful and inspiring, and it also made me cry. 
Celeste Ng, your work is batting a thousand for making me cry.
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lindsayerin's review against another edition

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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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sarasreading's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Celeste Ng's beautiful turns of phrase get me every time. The quality of her prose is top notch. This book was a bit stressful to read, as we have been sliding into a similar reality, and so much of it feels possible. 

I didn't connect as strongly to the characters in this one, and for a dystopian book, it's very slow and quiet. But I also couldn't put it down. 

I think the visuals this book created in my head, cats on postcards, quiet dusty places, warm backyards in summertime with a loving mother, will linger for a good long while.
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