crownoflaurel's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Xenophobia and Racism
Minor: Hate crime, Death of parent, and Police brutality
dananana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Police brutality, Hate crime, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Deportation
c_serpent's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I loved how Ng handled familial love in this. In that same vein, I love that even though Bird's mother and father were separated, they were in love. I think it would have been easier to write tension and resentment in there, and Ng didn't, and I love her for that. Sometimes, people are in love, and circumstance doesn't destroy that.
I love that Ng touched on the tensions between Asian and Black communities historically in the USA. I found her world believable, maybe too believable, but her writing was beautiful beautiful. I wanted this book to end differently than it did. I like a story with a purely happy ending, which isn't what this was, although it remained hopeful, and for that it retains almost all stars.
One half star has been removed because ? It was very good, but it isn't a book I want to rate five stars, and these ratings are arbitrary. One star for yarn bombing, one star for Sadie, and two for Bird.
Total score: 4.5/5 stars
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Hate crime, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Police brutality
Minor: Deportation
cocacolor's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Personally, as a Chinese American reader who's probably farther left than Ng, I found it embarrassing. Part of the novel still feels, to me, like an attempt to co-opt the suffering of Black and Indigenous communities, an almost childish, cynical attempt to insist, "Hey, Asian Americans have it bad, too, where's our solidarity?" Eventually my attitude toward the premise mellowed; Ng does make a good-faith effort to acknowledge that if the state using family separation as a tactic is news to you, that's willful blindness on your part, and to include the history of how this violence has been and is still being used against Black and Indigenous families, even if I don't think she goes far enough in that respect to really acknowledge who is actually being subjected to this tactic today.
Beyond the somewhat disrespectful nature of the premise, I found that Ng's writing suffered as well from its clumsy politics. There's none of the complexity of character from LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE or EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU here;
Spoiler
Bird and Margaret and Ethan are almost saintly, the resentments disappearing easily, seeming betrayals turning out to be partnership and devotion after all.Spoiler
sexual violence Margaret experiences at the hands of a copStill, Ng's half-hearted effort is beyond what most writers could achieve on their best day, and I don't want to hold Ng to a higher standard than I do her contemporaries; if I found OUR MISSING HEARTS to be clumsy or self-centered at times, I'd definitely feel the same and more of the vast majority of writers if they'd tried to write this novel. Her prose is as beautiful as ever, and understanding this novel is meant to be read as a fable about the power of art and narrative turns issues I'd had with the early parts of the book into unexpected joys. Overall, not as good as I hoped but not as bad as I feared. Still eagerly looking forward to Ng's next project.
Graphic: Hate crime, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Racism, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Police brutality, and Rape
Moderate: Injury/injury detail, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Misogyny
Minor: Child abuse and Bullying
Rape/sexual violence warning:Spoiler
Margaret remembers a cop demanding sexual favors from her in exchange for leaving her alone;autiedragon's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Racism and Hate crime
Moderate: Police brutality
kimmag92'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Hate crime, Violence, and Police brutality
kelly_e'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? No
3.75
Author: Celeste Ng
Genre: Dystopian
Rating: 3.75
Pub Date: October 4, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Contemplative • Forceful • Moving
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in Harvard University's library. Bird knows to not ask too many questions, stand out too much, or stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve "American culture" in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic-including the work of Bird's mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old.
Bird has grown up disavowing his mother and her poems; he doesn't know her work or what happened to her, and he knows he shouldn't wonder. But when he receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he is drawn into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York City, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I had been hesitating on picking up Our Missing Hearts since it's release last fall, mostly because dystopian novels aren't ones I typically gravitate towards. And while, I don't regret reading it, it is certainly my least favourite of Celeste Ng's books.
I must start off by saying, as always, Celeste's writing is absolutely beautiful! It's complex, layered and deeply evocative. And while, this book tackles a lot - including themes of family and sacrifice, as well as library resistance, racially motivated injustice, and the removal of children as a means of political powers - this dystopian novel tis an ode to motherhood.
When it comes to the characters, I'd have liked significantly more character development. Each of the characters felt very one dimensional, verging on young adult. Additionally, I didn't necessarily connect with the mother at all, even though I found her sacrifice to be selfless. I did have a soft spot for Bird as he'd gone through so much at such a young age.
When it comes to style, one of my biggest pet peeves is when no quotation marks are used, which was the case here. I know this is a stylistic tool used by authors, but it's just one I cannot get behind as I find it disrupts the flow of my reading. For this reason, I had to switch to mainly the audio (where you don't notice this fact), and the audio is very well done.
At the end of the day, Our Missing Hearts verged on being a little too political for me at this point in time. It is a beautiful reflection on motherhood, and a book to spark discussion and shift perspectives. Overall, the premise was certainly intriguing, but the execution was lacking. And yet, I'll continue to read everything Celeste Ng writes simply because her writing is a gift.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers who enjoy stories of motherhood
• Celeste Ng fans
• bookclubs
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"If we fear something, it is all the more imperative we study it thoroughly."
"Who ever thinks, recalling the face of the one they loved who is gone: yes, I looked at you enough, I loved you enough, we had enough time, any of this was enough?"
Graphic: Xenophobia, Bullying, Violence, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, and Hate crime
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Abandonment, Classism, Child abuse, and Kidnapping
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Sexual assault
pollyflorence's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Hate crime, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Abandonment, and Violence
krys_kilz'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? No
4.5
This novel was definitely more of a slow burn and the dystopian elements are very close to what has happened and is happing in the united states today as she acknowledges in the Author's Note at the end. I really loved imagining an underground resistance network of librarians!
I also really appreciate the slightly ambiguous and unhappy ending. If things had worked out perfectly and everything had been neatly wrapped up, it would have felt disingenuous and hollow. Instead Margaret's actions proclaim that even if we don't know the outcome, that does not mean we should not still fight back. We may never know the true scope of the seeds we've planted, but at least we planted them.
I look forward to continuing to read Celeste Ng's work in the future!
"PACT, its proponents insisted, would strengthen and unify the nation. Left unsaid was that unity required a common enemy. One box in which to collect all their anger; one straw man to wear the hats of everything they feared."
"Bird. Why did I tell you so many stories? Because I wanted the world to make sense to you. I wanted to make sense of the world, for you. I wanted the world to make sense."
Graphic: Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Police brutality, and Racism
amydunning'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? No
4.25
Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, and Hate crime
Moderate: Police brutality and Forced institutionalization