This story is being told a year after the events, so first the actual day is being ‘relived’ in court. After that we follow the story of found evidence being discussed, and flashback of the different characters related to this evidence.I really enjoyed this was of telling. Since really soon in the story we know what happened, and you can really start to figure things out yourself!
Within the first 2/3 chapters there were like 10 characters introduced, who all had a play in the story. So in the beginning I struggled a bit with figuring out who was who, and what their connection was with each other. And since we didn’t know the characters really well the flashbacks are a bit hard to follow in the first 100 pages or something.
But even though the beginning was confusing, the story really grabbed my attention. I really wanted to know who did it with what reason. In the beginning there are definitely a certain amount of people possible suspects, all with good reasons, so that made it a bit difficult to figure out. And that was nice, I don’t like it if the offender is found really quickly.
I do think that some of the flashback were a bit too much. Like it was important for the story that Janine and Matt had fertility problems, but I didn’t need a 4 page description of what they all tried to get pregnant. Also Theresa described how happy she was having no ‘duties’ for the first time in forever, but again I didn’t need 3 pages..
But overall I really enjoyed the story. I liked the Korean aspect as well, seeing how it was for them to move to America! I’m not going to day more, since for mysteries it is better if you don’t know too much!

The first thing that struck me upon my reading of Miracle Creek is how fearless Angie Kim is as a writer. The structure of her novel is intricate and complex, weaving through the lens of multiple characters, offering different viewpoints of a particular event/incident. She keeps most of the narration in the third person, which is a smart move. It also lends itself well to the setting of the courtroom, allowing us to take in the testimony and not be distracted by a first person account of inner angst. The only first person narration we are given is at the beginning in the epilogue, the moments just before the fire and the outside view of the barn after the flames have started their song and dance.

Through the testimony we are invited into the inner space of the submarine, with investigations pointing to Elizabeth Ward, mother of Henry Ward, one of the victims in the fire. Elizabeth has been seeking treatment for her autistic son in the HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy). Her strange behaviour on the day in question, as well as her location outside the submarine instead of inside it with her son, is what drenches her with culpability. She was also found with the cigarettes and matches that caused the blaze.

This doesn’t mean that our search for the assailant is over. Elizabeth’s mute demeanour in court does not reveal much, though most who look at her believe they see a guilty person. I found myself on the fence, acknowledging that Elizabeth must have at times felt overwhelmed in dealing with Henry’s autism, but uncertain as to whether a mother could allow herself to take her child’s life for that reason.

Among the complicated mother-child relationships is Young and her daughter Mary. Young doesn’t understand why there is a distance between them. What she doesn’t know is that Mary resents her for her silent acquiescence to the move to America, despite being strongly against it. She detests her mother for her obedience, for not asserting herself in things that matter. As a result, Mary starts to align herself with her father Pak, the man in charge of the Miracle Submarine, who was noticeably missing from the site when everything went down. Often we see the two in cahoots, trading secrets about the day in question, so much lies and secrets permeating the air that we no longer know what to believe anymore.

As a reader, we sympathise with both Young and Mary. A mother would want the best for a child, even if that means a life away from anything familiar. Mary’s position as an outsider displaces her from everything she knows about herself. Even her name has to change – all these efforts for increased assimilation that only result in further estrangement.

My favorite thing about this book is the dismantling of the saintly mother archetype that has become a social expectation. Mothers feel like they need to show how much they are doing for their children, to paint over their struggles with pink glow and stardust, to pretend everything is okay when it really isn’t. Kim’s focus here is on mothers who care for children with disabilities, the exhaustion that comes from doing a mountain of tasks, oftentimes with nothing to show for it. Every mother just wants their child to fit in and belong, but it is difficult for these kids when they are marked as different. There is much vulnerability here as these mothers bare their souls to us, their hurt and quiet despair radiating the oblivion that surrounds them always. It is an oblivion they constantly step away from because of their roles as mothers.

The characters in Kim’s novel are not bad people, merely good people with very human thoughts. Sometimes these thoughts take on a tangible form, becoming mistakes that develop into fires, destroying in minutes everything that has been so agonisingly build up.

Miracle Creek is about human relationships and human choices, and how we sometimes choose to hide and cloak in secret what we should instead be sharing with those closest to us. Lies and secrets have consequences, so do mistakes. It is these consequences we have to contend with, recognising that truth and morals should always be things to strive for, yet there is great difficulty in accepting those paths. It is the support of those around us that gives us strength to pursue what is right. They help to cushion our fall against the hard reality of life, allowing us to accept and take in our stride our follies and errors, with the hope to do better next time.

Miracle Creek - Pub date April 16, 2019

I tore through this courtroom drama in less than 2 days. There is a TON going on here, and yet none of it feels ancillary or unnecessary. Every character we meet has purpose, and has a life much more complex than meets the eye. It can be tricky to tell a story this nuanced with multiple narrators and keep the reader from getting confused, but I was gripped by each account, each character's perspective and perception of the tragic events around which this story centers. There are some controversial elements at play here; non-traditional medical procedures, mothers of autistic children being honest about how hard their lives are and fantasizing about what things would be like with "normal" children, inappropriate conduct with a minor - and yet Kim doesn't pass judgment or make commentary on any of it. This helps ground the narrative itself, and leaves much to the reader. One of my favorite books I've read all year so far.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows the mystery of an arson case on an experimental medical facility. We learn about the events through the court proceedings a year after the fire, where one suspect is on trial. There are many twists and turns as we try to piece together what really happened. I liked this book and appreciated the representation it offered for characters not always written about in fiction- children with disabilities, their parents who struggle to know the best way to care for their children, and an immigrant family. Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for sharing an e-copy of this book with me in exchange for an honest review.

Immigrant hardships, convoluted mystery, family drama, courtroom antics, and absolute heartache—this five-star amazing debut novel from author Angie Kim has it ALL. This book almost had me in tears towards the end and as a bookbitch I rarely cry over my fiction. Thank you so much to @netgalley and the publisher for this special read.

The book focuses on the aftermath of a fiery explosion in a medical oxygen chamber that leaves two dead and more injured. Throughout the legal courtroom battle to find someone guilty and flashbacks to the day of, characters continually reveal more and more of the truths they’ve been hiding from themselves and others to move the plot along. The writing here is tight, the characters are full-fleshed and flawed.

Sometimes it’s irritating when a writer ties every loose thread together in the end, but Kim finds a satisfying way to resolve her multiple plot points without oversimplifying the story. There’s a lot going on here, but Kim binds it all together with a focus on lies. The secrets we keep from our loved ones and the lies we tell ourselves have so much power to harm. This novel explores the damage that they do and the healing powers of love.

Rating: 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars

In this debut book, Angie Kim, pulls together a story with many seemingly disparate threads. Per her Goodreads Author page, I understand that she has personal experience in most of the different areas the books explores. “Miracle Creek” blends stories about a family’s immigration experience from South Korea to the USA; living with and trying to treat autistic and disabled children; and solves a mystery that unfolds as part of a courtroom drama. The story is told in alternating chapters by many of the book’s protagonists.

We meet the Yoo family as the beginning of the book. Pak (the father), Young, (the mother), and their teen-aged daughter Mary, have recently set up the Miracle Submarine business just off Miracle Creek in rural Virginia. The “submarine” is actually a pressurized oxygen chamber which people use hoping that it will help with, or cure, various forms of physical ailments. Horrifically, something goes terribly wrong during a group ‘dive’ and the chamber explodes, killing two of its occupants.

Most of the story is then told in dual storylines from the current day courtroom trial, and the various experiences from all concerned about what lead up to the explosion. While trying to solve the mystery we encounter family deceptions; marital deceptions; teenage angst; immigration assimilation issues; quite a bit of information about various therapies in used trying to treat autism among young children; as well as the hurdles faced in families that have a child with disabilities.

I’ve given this book 3.5 stars, but rounded up to 4 stars. At first I was going to round down to 3 stars, but over the last few days I’ve thought more and more about the plot of the story, the empathy and skill with which the storylines were told, and the book’s ultimate outcome. The fact that those elements were all well communicated made me change my mind and bump up the rating to 4 stars. This author convinced me that she knew her subject matter, and has honed her writing craft in order to tell a story that is compelling, educating, and entertaining.

‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, Sarah Crichton Books (Farrar, Straus, Giroux); and the author, Angie Kim; for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Whew! What a convoluted web Kim has constructed to describe the trial of a mother whose autistic son was killed during hyperbaric oxygen therapy. It is a complex labyrinthine construction that left me in awe of Kim's writing prowess. There are a number of people who are involved in this tangled web, with chapters devoted to each character. What emerges is the lies and deceptions that occur when not willing to commit to the truth. But packed within this are issues of trust, immigration, loneliness, anger, autism and infertility. However, the field never feels crowded and the peeling of the onion layers leaves one breathless with Kim's cultivation of her craft. It is a book I could read again and again.

It took me a little while to get into this book, in the beginning it was a little difficult to figure out all the characters and their roles in the story. But then it started to fall together and held my interest for the rest of the book.
I found myself learning about hyperbaric oxygen chambers, and seeing what happens when things go wrong, accidentally or by design.

The patients range from moms and their special needs kids, and also a medical doctor; and the operators are recent Korean immigrants. There is a very serious explosion with the chamber and two people are killed, and several others injured. The incident is determined to have been deliberately set by a likely subject and goes to trial. The book goes on to describe the trial, and details the various interactions among the characters, and it keeps you guessing as to what actually happened. It's well worth reading, and it touches deeply on many areas - race and immigration, special needs kids and their moms, people who protested the chamber's existence, marriages, and a criminal trial.

This fascinating debut novel covers all the bases - family drama, mystery, courtroom drama. A Korean couple opens an alternative health clinic that provides HBOT - hyperbaric oxygenation, which is supposed to help with autism, infertility, CP and other health problems. On a day that protesters have gathered outside the facility, it explodes. The same day one of the mothers chooses not to accompany her autistic son into the chamber. The same day the couple are both away from the controls of the chamber. So, who exactly is to blame when all the participants are either killed or injured? Who could be that much of a monster?

Told from multiple points of view, we get to see both the day of the “accident”, their lives prior to it and the ensuing court case when the mother is charged with murder. The multiple points of view are extremely effective. “Teresa hadn’t expected an exact match between his memories and hers - she watched Law and Order; she wasn’t that naive- but still the difference was unnerving.”

We are taken into the world of parenting autistic children; the anguish and the hardships but also the bliss of a small achievement.

Some of the scenes described are gruesome. They’re also so incredibly well described you feel like you’re there. The image of a child’s adult teeth exposed above the baby teeth will stay with me for ages.

OMG, I loved these characters. They all seem to have something to hide, they all are so achingly imperfect. So often thinking that their one little omission doesn’t matter. Kim uses these omissions to keep the reader guessing. Every time I thought I had figured out who the murderer was, Kim would throw a wrench into the mix and it would all be up for grabs again.

And the writing is spot on perfect. Not necessarily lush, but so descriptive. I found myself repeatedly nodding my head in agreement. There are some fascinating philosophical issues raised here. This would make a great book club selection. Highly recommend!

My thanks to netgalley and Farrah, Stroud and Giroux for an advance copy of this book.

A fire burns down a medical facility at Miracle Creek, leaving two dead and some injured. The book guides the reader through the courtcase that follows. With each new witness the story takes another turn. Was it really an accident?

It took me a while to absorb this book. Its many twists and turns, white lies and indepth background stories on all characters involved making it slow-going.
Miracle Creek is a beautifully written, intense, well crafted courtroom drama that kept me guessing till the end.

Thank you Netgalley and Farrer Straus Giroux for the ARC

Heart breaking and suspenseful! Reminded me of Jodi Picoult or Celeste Ng! Court room drama about a woman accused of killling her autistic son by enrolling him in an scientific experiment. Fascinating and thought provoking.

If Big Little Lies were a courtroom drama, this would be it. Angie Kim weaves together multiple characters and flashbacks with engaging courtroom scenes to create a truly unique story. The honest, emotional response of the parents whose children suffering from autism (and cerebral palsy) was heartbreaking and realistic. I tired of the characters as the book dragged on, and thought some of it could've been a bit more concise. I also didn't understand the constant lying by literally every character; it made me want to yell at the book sometimes. Still, I thought the writing was fantastic, and I think this would be a great book for discussion.

A thrilling debut novel for Angie Kim about how far we’ll go to protect what is dear to us and the consequences.

This book was a most exciting, touching, heartbreaking and very well written experience. This is the kind of fiction book I love most: A real story, a "drama" - not as in "genre" and not as in "soap opera", but as in: a story of everyday, real people, with real problems, people with faults and flaws, people who keep secrets, have shameful thoughts, make mistakes - and try to do their best. Sometimes, they suceed, other times, they don't. Sometimes, the actions lead to heartbreaking conequences.

The story: The titular Miracle Creek is a little village/town, home of the Yoo family, who immigrated from South Korea in the hope for a better future for their daughter. They run a treatment facility, known as "Miracle Submarine", a chamber for an treatment with pressurized oxygen which is supposedly the answer to many issues, infertility and autism among them. But the unthinkable happens: The chamber catches fire, two people die, more are injured. Who is to blame? A courtroom drama unfolds.

The writing: The characters are all well developed and growing throughout (one character I inititally disliked, then they broke my heart) - yes, it is quite a cast, but Kim introduces her readers gently and shapes her creations with great care. The POV is switching with every chapter- It's always 3rd person, with focus on the POV, sometimes switching back and forth in time, when the narrating character is remembering things. And there's a lot to remember. The courtroom scenes were super exciting and filled with tension throughout, I loved the back and fourth between the prosecutor and the laywer, giving the backstory a thrilling spin.

The themes: The incident with the blown up chamber happened a year before the central courtroom drama, and the people who'd undergone the treatment had become a close knit group (they did the one hour treatment twice a day, for more than a month). Most of them were mothers with their children who suffered from autism or disabilities. The question of being a caregiver to an "forever" child is one of the huge moral issues raised in this book. How much do you have to do? What is too little, what it too much? At what point does "caring for my child" switches to overbearing, maybe even abuse? And what happens if there's a day you feel like you can't go on anymore? All these moral and ethical questions as well as the sensitive topics were handled with great care by the author. Yet she didn't shy away from making points that hurt: hearing them, reading them, imagening the described situation.

Another strong theme is family/family loyalty/loyalty in general: what secrets do you keep in order to protect the ones you love (or yourself)? When becomes a secret a lie and if a lie has no consequences, why not tell the truth? Next theme: immigration and cultural identity. Not only reprensented in the Yoo family and their personal story, but also within the mixed couple Matt and Janine, who also struggle with their cultural identities, their ideas of marriage and family and their own families' expectations.

It's hard to believe this is a debut novel, the way Angie Kim brings her characters alive as real persons with all their faults and flaws feels like she's been doing it for years. From what I gather, she could get back to lots of personal experience for this one: she practiced as a trial lawyer and underwent the oxygen treatment that's such a central part of this book with one of her sons. It'll be interesting to see where her next novel will lead her and how she'll handle a topic maybe "newish" to her - I'll be there to read it sure enough ;)

This book has been compared to Celeste Ng's "Little Fires Everywhere", which I also loved, and I could also see the similarities. Both books feature awesome characters and characterisations. Both books deal, to some extent, with similar themes and styles (immigration, settling into a new culture, big cast, multiple POVs, secrets and lies, often in order to protect the ones you love). Both book also had a certain moral issue concerning parenting (adoption in "Fires", children with a disability in "Creek") and both, in a way, featured and "unusual extra character" (the town of Shaker Heights in "Fires", the Miracle Submarine in "Creek"). I loved both books and am pretty sure that if you enjoyed either, you'll also like the other one.

Tl;dr: This is so well executed throughout. Spot on characters, really moving (heartbreaking) story with many issues to think about. A perfect book club read and strong contender for one of my favourite novels this year.

This story was easy to read, interesting but overall none of the characters really interested me. I didn't have anyone I was rooting for, I wasn't invested. But it sure was a fast one!

What an incredible, moving story that I was unable to put down! The characters were the most realistic I've read in years. From the honesty shown by the moms of special needs children, to the teenage girl rebelling against her parents, to the infertility of a young couple...

And I was completely flabbergasted by the ending. Although all the characters had parts to play in the horrible tragedy, the story unfolded in a way I would never have guessed. The "court drama" is only a small piece woven into the overall struggle of these families.

I strongly recommend this book! Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Miracle Creek is not only a murder mystery. It is a study of morality, who is right, and who can judge. Every person involved with the Miracle Submarine had a reason to feel guilty and a reason not to trust the others. Every character had good qualities and dirty secrets. Nothing was black and white. The discussions about treatments for autism were especially hard. How far is too far? Would be a great bookclub read!

I was just thinking the other day that I haven't read a book in awhile that made me want to stop everything and just read. Miracle Creek did that. It was incredible. I couldn't put it down because every page helped to further unwrap the mystery of this crime.

Where should I begin? How can I even start talking about this perfect, PERFECT NOVEL. Miracle Creek is an intricate and soulful tale that will challenge the way we see humanity: its relationships, its sense of justice, and the consequences of our actions no matter how big or small.

First impressions: the book has given me strong Celest Ng + Jhumpa Lahiri + John Grisham vibes from the beginning. But the author Angie Kim’s writing skills is also a brand all her own. The author understands and succesfully portrays the intricacies of human emotions and motivations. She knows how to spin a good mystery and drama with not a single word wasted. Only a highly skilled author can make something as complex and nuanced like this novel.

On the surface we have an immigrant story, a courtroom drama, a story about special needs children, interracial relationships, alternative medical treatments and a whodunnit. We meet a bunch of flawed characters that may not be all that lovable, but certainly understandable and relatable in their humanity. Indeed this novel shows humanity in its best and worst forms. The story also explored the complexities of the justice system and the concept of guilt vs. innocence. It teaches us that redemption always lies in the truth.

One of the reasons why I read is so that I can live various lives and learn from it, and I learned so much from Miracle Creek—how to love, to be happy, to be contented, to appreciate all the little things— the normalcy and the mundanity of our daily lives. Through this story, the author made me see my “hardships” as a “normal” mom seem so trivial and at the same time so special in its normality. She reminded me how really blessed I am, and how grateful I should be everyday.

In the end, this book made me cry. It has honestly been too long since I experienced this kind of intense emotion. I thought everything was so hopeless at the ending, but the author surprised me again. I am left with the comforting thought that there’s always a bright light at the end of even the darkest of tunnels.

This is the kind of book I would push everyone to read. Thank you, Angie Kim. You are a MIRACLE.

Miracle Creek – Come for the tricky mystery and courtroom drama, stay for the characters

I’m not sure that any review from me will do this book justice because it absolutely blew me away! I can’t believe this is a debut novel because it’s just so well constructed and written. This is a complicated, detailed story and there is not a thread dropped or an improbable potential suspect in the bunch. The author has done such a great job with the mystery that I was suspicious of everyone at some point and was still surprised by the final reveal. I was sure I knew who set the fire but then changed my mind over and over. The story is revealed piece by piece in courtroom scenes and flashbacks. I don’t know about you but when I see “courtroom scenes” I automatically think “boring.” That is definitely not the case here as the testimony triggers memories and confessions and it is exciting to see the real story through the lies. As the truth comes out we see just how many secrets are held in this small group of seemingly perfectly normal and rather good people.

While the story is amazing this book really shines through its characters. They felt like they were real and my heart broke for them so many times. This is not a particularly happy story and a lot of awful stuff happens. These characters and their relationships are the heart of the book and it is an emotional and touching story. The basic premise of treating autistic children in a hyperbaric chamber was something I wasn’t aware of, although I know it is used for many different conditions. I think my exposure to other media has given me the impression that people with autism are often geniuses and can live fairly normal lives, as authors, doctors, detectives. My eyes have been opened to the reality of the condition in children. It is much more difficult than I ever imagined. It is all portrayed so authentically and I see in her bio that the author has a child that undergoes “submarine” treatment. She knows what she is talking about and it shows. There is never any preaching but I sure learned a lot through this story. The caretakers of children with disabilities or autism deserve a medal for their selflessness and seemingly endless patience.

This emotional roller-coaster will haunt me for a long time and I think it has ruined oxygen therapy for me forever.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for review.