Reviews

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

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threegoodrats's review against another edition

4.0

What an interesting premise, and so well executed. I had barely begun and was just fascinated by how every single person was lying. The mystery that slowly unfurled about who was lying about what kept me pretty riveted. There’s so much to unpack here about the relationship between parents and their children, about parenting kids with disabilities, not to mention the controversies about autism and various therapies. Really super interesting. This would be great for a book group.

trin's review against another edition

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3.0

The courtroom drama aspects of this book were excellent: vivid and captivating and as real as an author can make them without adding the tediousness of reality. You can tell Kim is a lawyer. I struggled more with her depiction of autism and how throughout the book it's only ever discussed as something parents of children with autism need to deal with. I know the mothers are very much the focus here, but the lens of the novel nevertheless sort of erases autistic people as people, rather than a problem to be solved. (See also: the protestors representing the alternate point of view being depicted mostly as crazy and wrong.) I also didn't like that Kim uses

Spoiler

suicide

as a device to hasten the end of the novel; that's a narrative cheat I particularly hate. I would love to read more legal thrillers from her, but had some major issues with this one.

kgentry4's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I like the concept here, and I was really into it at the start, but overall, this book was a bit arduous. It just draws on and on, and by the end, I pretty much hated all but one character. Three stars for a solid storyline, but that's the best I can do, as I had to keep making myself pick it up.

mariaologist's review against another edition

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2.75

I read because I loved the author’s book Happiness Falls. It was standard to be in terms of enjoyment. I don’t think court room thrillers are my preference. I can see the connection between the research done for this novel and Happiness Falls. But I’d say skip this one and read the other.

michaelbereading's review against another edition

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informative mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

In rural Virginia, Young and Pak Yoo operate the Miracle Submarine, a pressurized oxygen chamber used for experimental and controversial autism treatments. When the chamber explodes, killing two people, a murder trial shakes their community and suspicions arise about whether the explosion was intentional or not. As secrets are uncovered during the trial, the community begins to unravel.

I don't read a ton of legal dramas because oftentimes I find the courtroom scenes to be long and drawn out, and while this book felt that way at times, mostly it didn't get too bogged down in repetitive legal terminology. Angie Kim did a great job of diving into the challenging topics of xenophobia, racism, autism, and experimental medicine while creating an engaging and complex mystery. At times I felt like this could have been edited down a bit, but I loved the ending and overall I really enjoyed this and would recommend it!

awesomejen2's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

haf666ia's review against another edition

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5.0

This story was unfolded in such a great way! I loved the multiple POV narrative, it adds tension but also gave so much insight into the inner lives of the characters. The way Kim writes about the mothers in this story is incredible, the power dynamics as well. This story focuses on many topics and I think it does a great job at all of it. It’s so much more than a courtroom drama, this is such a humanizing story, you really empathize with the characters as you begin to understand why they did what they did

except Matt, nope, nope, nope

I loved this book. The audiobook was amazing as well. Need more from Kim!