A review by stationannie
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

2.0

This book is oh so very slow. At the beginning, it really felt like Ng was forcing her prose, which resulted in an unnatural flow.

For half of the book, I hemmed and hawed about DNFing it. I persevered in the hopes that it would get better. It finally did get better at Part II (around 44%), but then at the 80% mark, I started to get bored again. Then again at the 90% mark, I got back into it.

Since I haven’t read any other Celeste Ng books, I’m not sure if it was just this particular book that was tough to choke down. I’m curious to read her other 2 books to see if I will feel differently. With just this book under my belt, I can’t say that I’m super impressed.

I do like that Ng incorporated current events and historical context of violence again the Asian population. It was difficult at times to read it in the book because of how close to home it hits - especially with the uptick of it in recent years. I’m glad to see that Asian authors are using their platform to bring further awareness around it.

I won’t give up on her yet, but if you’re not a fan of slow-paced books, this book is not for you.