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A review by jesscoast
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I’ma little floored after wrapping up this devastating, complex, horrific book. Yet I’m incredibly impressed by the feat accomplished by Kim in telling this detailed, structured, gripping story.
With elements of horror and family drama woven through the intricate threads of Miracle Creek, it goes further than any courtroom thriller could be expected to do. The character’s back stories, family dynamics, motives and claims all come into question and all play out over an emotional four day trial. The book is not for the faint of heart and I did have trouble coming back to it in the beginning, but I felt a commitment to the characters to see it through to the end. Each new peice of information is a clue and the mystery begins to reveal itself along the many intentions, misguided deeds, web of lies, cover ups, and guilty consciousnesses. Each new discovery makes the reader reposition their theories and redirects the jury, making everyone a suspect and truly playing into the spirit of mystery. The execution of this story, though heartbreaking and gory, is brilliantly designed. The focus on pain and suffering, the tragedy and fall out, deaths and injuries caused by the explosion were all focused on the impact on victims and survivors, parents losing children or children losing patents. The seemingly random decisions and actions that compounded down a path to a deadly accident and the chaos and devastation that followed. This book curable certainly left an impact on me, I’ll be thinking about it for a long time to come. Its heaviness will sit with me, as will the strength of Theresa, Young, and many of the women in difficulty situations, the sacrifice of immigrant parents, and the struggles of mothers of disabled children in this story.
With elements of horror and family drama woven through the intricate threads of Miracle Creek, it goes further than any courtroom thriller could be expected to do. The character’s back stories, family dynamics, motives and claims all come into question and all play out over an emotional four day trial. The book is not for the faint of heart and I did have trouble coming back to it in the beginning, but I felt a commitment to the characters to see it through to the end. Each new peice of information is a clue and the mystery begins to reveal itself along the many intentions, misguided deeds, web of lies, cover ups, and guilty consciousnesses. Each new discovery makes the reader reposition their theories and redirects the jury, making everyone a suspect and truly playing into the spirit of mystery. The execution of this story, though heartbreaking and gory, is brilliantly designed. The focus on pain and suffering, the tragedy and fall out, deaths and injuries caused by the explosion were all focused on the impact on victims and survivors, parents losing children or children losing patents. The seemingly random decisions and actions that compounded down a path to a deadly accident and the chaos and devastation that followed. This book curable certainly left an impact on me, I’ll be thinking about it for a long time to come. Its heaviness will sit with me, as will the strength of Theresa, Young, and many of the women in difficulty situations, the sacrifice of immigrant parents, and the struggles of mothers of disabled children in this story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, Gore, Death, Medical trauma, Body horror, Child abuse, Grief, and Medical content
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship