Set in a dystopian society with laws that promote the perseverance of "American culture", Bird Gardner is a 12 year-old who lives with his father in dorms after Bird's mother, Margaret a Chinese American poet, disappeared. Authorities have taken to "relocating" children of Asian origin with parents who are classified as dissidents to the American ideals, libraries have been forced to remove books labeled as "unpatriotic," and violence has rippled throughout the country. After receiving a cryptic letter, Bird is drawn to through a network of librarians in search of his mother, which takes him to New York City.
Told from Bird's POV with flashbacks to Margaret's past, this novel tells of a dystopian future - maybe even an alternate reality? - where a crisis has torn the country (and the world) apart and has been rebuilt upon the foundation of bias, white supremacy, and racism towards Asian-Americans. This is a powerful narrative of the dangers that vitriolic rhetoric in politics have on society. Taken from true historical events, Celeste Ng creates a world that, at some point in our recent history, does not seem so far-fetched: violence, protests, unprovoked racial attacks, disappeared children. Ng also highlights the importance of art during times of unrest and this is such a meta form of the heavy themes in her novel. Absolutely thought-provoking, terrifying, and yet, somehow, hopeful.

Celeste Ng has such a way with family ties and all the nuance involved with relationships of many kinds that it’s insane. She does it yet again with Our Missing Hearts.

Books and libraries are other themes in the book, both of which are close to my heart. Ng addresses book bans in an interesting way through Bird and his father.

This didn’t hit quite as hard for me as Little Fires Everywhere, but Our Missing Hearts was a moving, layered read that would be an excellent book club pick. 4/5 for me!

I liked this book, but I couldnt say I loved it. After reading her previous books, I felt I didnt connect with this one as much. I felt that it was a bit too political for my liking and thats one topic I dont like.

Beautiful, chilling, profound. One of the best books of the year and one that I keep returning to over time.

This is good, but it's just too dark with the world being such a mess it is right now. Perhaps if I read it at a different time, I would like it more, but it's really hard to finish. It's truly dystopian & shows a dark vision of the future in the United States. I did like how the librarians in this book were the rebels who helped save people.

Reads like a YA novel, rather than adult. Does not seems to be very original and would not recommend it, despite the popularity of the author.

I will read anything Celeste Ng writes. This was a beautifully written book and I enjoyed every moment.

The story was topical, original, and well-plotted. The dystopian premise hit too close to home for me, and I found it troubling; but that is the fault of me, the reader, and not a comment on the talent of the prolific and gifted author.

We're in the world after the "crisis" where loyalty to America must be maintained without question and sympathizing with China is simply put, contrary to being a true American. Bird/Noah is living with his father after his mother Margaret, a Chinese American, leaves them one evening because she is being pursued by the authorities. The initial story of Bird/Noah trying to find out more about his mother and where she has gone moved a little slow for me but by mid-book it's all speed ahead. This has the feel of a cautionary tale about what can happen when prejudice and turning a blind eye can allow things to spiral out of control. It was troubling, uplifting and heartbreaking.

This book was a hard read because while being a dystopian fiction story it hits way too close to the current climate in the United States. It was a scary read but I felt like the ending was just too rushed and felt a lack of depth to the story - I wanted more. I guess wanting more of a story is a good thing.

This book feels too close to home given the current political climate. Although in my opinion to make these points the flow and tone of the book went a little juvenile and lost the overall strong characters and flow. Very good for book club discussions.

This was an amazing book. I couldn’t put it down! Compelling, thought-provoking— there were parts that made me wrestle with hard topics. And this is why I will automatically read ANYTHING that Celeste Ng writes.

One match to start a fire. One accusation creates hate toward a community. One poem to start a revolution. One of many souls to say, “enough.”

In this dystopian world, everyone is eyeing China complaining about how they look so rich and comfortable. Everyone started to blame the Chinese for all of the problems.

Sounds familiar? Then don’t let it happen.

Heartbreaking and beautifully written. I expected no less from this literary author.

Trigger alert: Sinophobia, Xenophobia, physical assault against elderly

Bird lives with his father because his mother, Margaret Mui, and Chinese American poet has disappeared. He doesn't know what happened to her. Then he receives a mysterious letter filled with drawings and it is the start of his journey to find his mother. This journey takes him to a network of underground librarians and finally to New York City where her learns the truth about what happened to his mother. Suspense and frightening at times.

This book was extremely slow and at times I found it a bit confusing. I felt like nothing was really happening and I kept waiting for it to get better but it didn't I had higher hopes.

This was slow moving for me, and I could never fully get into it. This will be a favorite for futuristic dystopia fans.

This is a beautifully written book that hauntingly warns us about our possible future. In this dystopian setting we get to know characters and their love, their loss, and a mother's love. This book reminds the reader of Farenheit 451, but in this case books are recycled rather than burned. It reminds of the Handmaid's Tale in that under PACT, children of parents considered culturally or politically subversive are “re-placed” in foster families. This is a page-turner of a novel that everyone should read.

Bird lives with his father after his mother, a Chinese American poet, left the family when he was nine years old. Bird is told to not ask questions and draw attention to himself. Their lives have been governed by PACT (Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act) to preserve the "America Culture". People are arrested for questioning the PACT and children are taken away from their "unpatriotic " parents. One day, Bird receives a mysterious letter and he believes that it's from his mother. He embarks on a dangerous journey to find her.

Celeste Ng is one of my favorite characters so I was over the moon when this book came out. It's beautifully written and the characters are compelling. This book covers important issues such as historical revisionism, book banning, racial discrimination, and a lot more. It also shows how powerful stories and words are. Our Missing Hearts is a dystopian novel but it felt so close to reality and it's frightening. There are some heartbreaking scenes that left me in tears. I thought the ending was perfect. This was a thought-provoking and a very important read.

I am in the minority again on this one. I loved Little Fires Everywhere. This dystopian novel was thought-provoking and political. I preferred Ng's earlier two novels, which used family drama to explore racism and prejudice. This book's storyline felt too much like the author intended to transfer her political feelings about race issues in the US into her readers' minds instead of constructing fascinating characters and plot. The plot was mostly told through discourse about past events, which left me indifferent. I couldn't connect with the plot since the characters told it sparsely. Despite the horrible tragedies in this dystopian future and many real-world places, I couldn't feel it. I felt disconnected and found the plot boring. Despite Ng's lovely style and exquisite vocabulary, I wouldn't say I liked this as much as her previous two works.

NetGalley and the publisher for this book are thanked for this honest review.

After reading and loving Everything I Never Told You and Little FIres Everywhere, Celeste Ng has become an auto-read author for me.

Our Missing Hearts is a deviation from her previous contemporary novels centering around family drama. OMH is a dystopian novel that takes place in the U.S. in the aftermath of societal chaos and upheaval. The U.S. government’s response to this political and economic unrest is the tyrannical Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act (PACT), laws that allow the government to relocate children whose parents are deemed a threat to American culture.

Ng does a wonderful job weaving timely contemporary events (book banning, police brutality, protesting, undocumented immigrants being separated from their children, anti-Asian hate crimes, etc.) into an eerily plausible dystopian setting. I was immersed in this unsettling world. While slow to get moving, the second half of this book is full of tension and foreboding, which had me frantically turning the pages to see how this story was going to pan out.

One issue I had with OMH is the way in which Ng chose to tell the story, entirely in 3rd person. On one hand, the 3rd person perspective gave the reader a more broad scope, which suited the tone of the story well. On the other hand, the 3rd person perspective hindered me from fully connecting to the characters. This would be my only criticism of the book, that the characters felt very detached. I would have loved to see this story through Bird’s eyes, which I feel would have helped me connect to him as a character.

I’d recommend this book for fans of dystopian stories such as The Handmaid’s Tale and The Giver. This would also make for an excellent book club selection.