“...we all have our moments. But they’re just moments, and they pass.”

Miracle Creek is a story about those moments...the myriad forms they take, the time they take until they pass—if they ever pass—and mostly, it’s about the people who live in those moments. Miracle Creek is a human story. Each character lovingly written to be complex and flawed...to be human. Miracle Creek is about prejudice and rivalry and lust and love and pride (blinding pride that has the power to warp moments into something that lasts so much longer). Miracle Creek is about lies—some big, others small—that shape moments into barbed things. Miracle Creek is about consequence and grief and here, that’s the most human moment of them all.

Told as an unfolding courtroom drama (one of the better I’ve read) through multiple points of view, Miracle Creek doesn’t give up its secrets easily. Readers will work for them and enjoy doing so.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for this fantastic ARC provided in exchange for honest review.

3.75 ⭐

Brilliant debut novel about a mother accused of killing her autistic son. This story was full of secrets & little reveals that kept me engaged from the start.
This wasn't just your typical courtroom drama; it explored in details the immigrant experience (the hard work, the sacrifices), Korean culture & what living with a disabled child is like.

Miracle Creek was an amazing read from beginning to end. It is a courtroom drama that takes place a year after a tragic accident has changed the course of life for several characters. I love novels that give us a chance to glimpse the perspectives of different characters. The different narratives allow you to see the same story from different angles and it makes you realize that not everything is as black and white as it appears. Angie Kim was amazing in providing solidity to each of her characters, we got to see into their minds and uncover their most twisted thoughts. It made them so human. As a reader you get to take a journey unlike any other. You get a behind the scenes look at a tragic event and the consequences and after effect of one single action. Reading this story led me to a chain of thoughts similar to stepping on a butterfly. So many actions from different players can lead to a single action and it leads to the question, who is truly to blame? Is it really that simple to assign blame? It’s so hard to see what someone is doing in the moment but then you take a look back at the chain of events that lead to one single action and it is insane how many players contributed to that one event. Trust me, this book is one that you won’t want to put down. There will be twists and turns that will lead you to unexpected places, you will find your heart strings pulled and a part of yourself may also be uncovered. I think this book will have you uncovering a different layer of empathy than what we are used to. If you are looking for a courtroom drama, if you are “literary voyeur”, and if you are a fan of following a chain of event from its inception then this is the book for you.
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Thank you to Netgalley and FSG books for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to read it. Thank you to Angie Kim for your excellent Vogue article. It gave me the extra insight to understand this book and to realize what experience she was bringing to it. It made it deeply personal and I am so grateful that she shared this with us. The insights into immigrants coming into this country, the feelings that I could have never thought to realize they go through, it allowed me to look at my parent’s journey in a different way. I was deeply touched by it. I also appreciated her honesty in showcasing the disadvantage of being a different race, of having an accent can have on the witness stand. How this could affect the way the testimony was seen from the jury. This book was just so jam-packed with so many different themes that I know so many of you will come out with something from this reading experience.

A multi layered, fast paced court room drama with multiple POVs. I was totally absorbed in this debut novel from the first chapter until the very last page.
Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC.

I first heard about this book on the Read More Women Podcast with their most anticipated books of 2019, and I was intrigued: a courtroom drama, whodunit, with themes centring around immigration struggles, motherhood, special needs children, alternative medical therapies, and how far we will go to protect those we love.

This is such a well-written novel! Kim's attention to detail and slow reveal of each of the central characters' secrets, lies, and motivations keep the mystery twisting and pages turning until the very end. It's a complicated puzzle of a story, there are many threads to the web of lies that makes up Miracle Creek. As a lover of mysteries, it's not often that a book can keep me guessing almost the whole way through--but Miracle Creek, with its tight plot and shifting perspectives unspinning the web and tangling it back up again certainly did.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

More Than Five Stars!!!
Thank you to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for the review copy.

Every once in a while, a really special book comes along, a book that is just perfect for you in so many ways, and for me this is one of those books. Miracle Creek is a delectable combination of medical fiction, mystery, courtroom drama, and immigrant story all tightly woven into a fast paced and wonderfully readable novel.

The story centers on the Yoo family who have recently immigrated from Korea. In an effort to support themselves and their teenage daughter, Mary, Pak and Young open a business offering hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in a submarine shaped chamber they call “the miracle submarine.” Patients drive long distance to undergo this experimental treatment with the hopes this will be the one that finally makes a difference. Elizabeth brings her autistic son, Henry, who has been improving more slowly than she would like. No stranger to alternative treatments, Elizabeth hopes this will be the one that changes Henry into a normal childl. Kitt bring her youngest child, TJ, who is severely autistic, constantly banging his head, and only calming when Barney the purple dinosaur is on screen. Teresa comes with Rosa, her teenage daughter who developed cerebral palsy after a viral illness, and Matt, whose Korean wife is family friends with the Yoos, hopes to improve his sperm function to cure their infertility. Within the close confines of the submarine, these strangers develop a forced intimacy over the long hours of the “dives,”, a sort of makeshift dysfunctional family. When a horrific tragedy occurs—someone sets fire to the chamber with patients inside, leading to the death of Henry and Kitt and the serious injury of Matt, Pak and Mary—the riveting story is set in motion. I couldn’t stop turning the pages to figure out who set the fire and why.

Kim utilizes an interesting structure to tell the story. The first chapter, entitled, “The Incident,” is told from Young’s first person point of view on the day of the fire and all of the following chapters are in third person close point of view one year later when Elizabeth has been put on trial for arson, rotating among all of the characters who survived the tragedy. Every character has a plausible motive to commit the crime and a compelling storyline. Sometimes with so many narrators, I find some more interesting than others, but in this case Kim does a commendable job creating story arcs for every character that are all believable and interesting.

Kim’s writing is lyrical, seamless, and articulate. I often found myself stopping to highlight a beautiful turn of phrase or unique description. Within the gorgeous prose, Kim also addresses many important topics and themes, including the difficulty of raising a child with special needs, the challenges of immigrating to a country where you don’t speak the language or know the customs, and the problems that arise in an interracial marriage.

So many elements of Miracle Creek come from the author’s own experience. She immigrated to America from Korea as a preteen, she experienced HBOT first hand with her son who suffered from hearing loss and gastrointestinal disorders, and she is a former trial attorney. Kim makes use of all of her life experiences to make every scene believable, realistic, and heart wrenching. For more about Kim’s experiences and her inspiration for writing the novel, check out this wonderful piece she wrote for Vogue magazine:

https://www.vogue.com/article/angie-k...

I finished Miracle Creek on January 18th, and yet I know without a doubt it will be on of my favorites novels of the year, and likely of all time.

4.5 stars for me!

I love a good courtroom drama and I loved Miracle Creek.

The book opens with a shocking incident that forms the foundation for the legal (and other) storylines in the book. It grabbed my attention and kept me reading until late into the night. It's a mystery and a legal thriller, but it's also a book about immigration, special needs kids and families, infertility, relationships, and more. Especially interesting for me was learning about the Yoo family's move to the US from South Korea, how they needed to adjust, and how they were treated along the way.

Key revelations come about in the last quarter of the book and besides learning who the real culprits are (and not only the ones who were criminally charged), we also learn about who really were the truly strong and noble characters.

The courtroom and legal aspects were very realistic and I'm sure the author's own legal training contributed to this. It's an impressive debut novel and I hope that she's busy working on her second book. Thanks to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

Angie Kim’s debut novel Miracle Creek tells the story of a fictional medical accident and of the lives undone by that tragedy. Part courtroom procedural, part family drama, the book shifts perspective as the characters tell their version of events. The more we as readers discover about the day of the accident, the more we realize that each of our narrators seems to be hiding their own secrets. A strong, interesting debut.

Miracle Creek earns its comparisons. In the lead up to its release, you'll probably see Angie Kim's name alongside Lianne Moriarty's, and Miracle Creek's title next to Big Little Lies, and that's fair. This book shares a lot with Moriarty's 2014 novel. At its core, this is a book about people coping with a crime that's forced them to question everything. It is, truly, a book about a big little lie. But comparisons can often cheapen the experience, and Miracle Creek stands steadily on its own.

Kim's debut novel is a breakneck courtroom thriller, the author's own experiences in law clearly informing the book's ability to lock the reader into a scene. That she is herself a Korean-American immigrant also carries the narrative, which centres largely around the Yoo family, a working-class Korean-American family trying to find their place in a country that wasn't exactly what they were promised.

The book isn't perfect. With more twists than a pack of Twizzlers, there's at times a feeling of "how many is too many," but as the story shifts, perspectives from each character changing the narrative and context, its many seemingly unfathomable twists are less about the whodunnit and more about the whydoit. Because even if you think you've figured out the ending, you'll be eagerly flipping the pages through the end to understand why.

I enjoyed this book, and I wouldn't have if NetGalley didn't let me read an advance copy. I went in looking for a pulp-y pager turner, a modern mystery I could fly through. I got that. But the human elements stand out to me. Motherhood. Illness. Sacrifice. Lies. Abuse. And most importantly, context.

This doesn't check every box I look for in fiction, but it damn sure tries.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

Oh this was excruciating. Well written and I’m glad I read it, but excruciating. We’re talking dead autustic kids excruciating, an adult taking sexual advantage of a teenager excruciating, infertility excrutiating. Good for those days when you have to make yourself cry.

It took five years for Pak Yoo to save enough money for a family visa. He finally could emigrate from Korea to the United States following wife, Young and daughter, Mary who were living with a very demanding host family. Moving to Miracle Creek, Virginia, Pak now owned and operated The Miracle Submarine, a 100% pressurized oxygen chamber designed to heal damaged cells through deep penetration of oxygen during sixty minute "dives". As a controversial, experimental treatment, protesters felt that Pak's clients were "guinea pigs". To the parents of children with autism, cerebral palsy and other health issues as well as adults with fertility issues, the Miracle Submarine offered hope, especially to the "double dive" clients who signed up for twice daily treatments for forty days.

This hyperbaric therapy (HBOT) clientele included Matt, a doctor. Matt's in-laws viewed him as having a "defect". Wife Janine insisted on HBOT treatments for his infertility. Elizabeth Ward's devotion to eight year old autistic son Henry could be considered to be "Puppeteer Parenting". Henry was enrolled in numerous therapies throughout the day. Kitt was the mother of TJ, eight years old, autistic and non-verbal. Rosa was a sixteen year old teenager with cerebral palsy. Teresa, Rosa's mother was thrilled that Rosa could now say "mama". Contrast that with Elizabeth's expectations for Henry!

The night dive on August 26, 2008 was fraught with difficulties. Protesters caused a delay in the start time of the dive, the AC and lights were not working and the DVD stopped mid-song. The back oxygen tank then exploded. Elizabeth's son, Henry and TJ's mother, Kitt were killed. Four others were seriously injured. Why is it that Elizabeth chose not to dive with Henry that evening asking Kitt to keep an eye on him? According to the accident reconstruction expert, the fire started outside the chamber, under the oxygen tubing. Whose cigarette and matches started the blaze?

Elizabeth Ward was on trial for the murder of son, Henry. She had mentioned that life would be easier if she wasn't a round-the -clock caregiver. Was this a recipe for murder? The ensuing court trial was very engrossing. Defense lawyer Shannon Haug was determined to deflect the blame. Who might stand to gain from Elizabeth's conviction? Pak and Young want to collect the insurance money from the fire and jump start their lives. "The story Pak has invented to protect them had, with time and repetition, become the truth...". Pak and Young were not the only ones speaking half truths. A perfect storm of lies and deception was created that could affect the outcome of the case.

"Miracle Creek" by Angie Kim is an absolutely riveting read. Each primary/secondary character was thoroughly fleshed out. This reader was able to sympathize with Mary Yoo's feelings of isolation and loneliness as a teenage immigrant. The exclusion felt by the parents of special needs children and the need of support from an insular community of parents with similar experiences cannot be understated. The courtroom trial was fascinating, the twists and turns made this reader continue to question Elizabeth's culpability. "Miracle Creek" by Angie Kim is a debut novel of the finest caliber. A must read!

Thank you Sarah Crichton Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Miracle Creek".

Miracle Creek is dramatic and thrilling and sad. It's a story about a courtroom drama to find out who is responsible for a fire that killed 3 people. The fire happened in a hyperbaric oxygen facility owned by a Korean immigrant family. They have a child with special needs who uses the hyperbaric oxygen chamber. They will do anything for their child. Several perspectives in the story. A little confusing at times. Well written about caring for children. I came to understand that everyone is lying or so it seems. It's a very twisting round and round kind of story. It's so intriguing and tragic that you just have to keep reading. What is going to happen? It's a good engrossing story that pulls you in for a while. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Whew, this one was quite a ride! I love a good unreliable narrator, and this book had plenty of those. If I was ever worried that a courtroom drama wouldn't have enough action in it, that fear was quashed in the very first chapter.

The Incident, as it's called, is a truly brutal event. It's painstakingly told from numerous points of view and may cause the reader to physically cringe, but it's the center of a complicated blame-game where almost everyone is either holding back or outright lying. These exclusions lead to even more tragedy and conflict, where by the end multiple parties share varying amounts of culpability.

We also get a raw and vulnerable look at what it's like to care for a special needs child day-to-day. Even as the characters make mistakes in their parenting, you can't help but feel a great amount of empathy for them. And as much as anything else, this is a story about one family's immigration. Their complicated dynamic after uprooting themselves and having to readjust to a completely new set of social and cultural rules...I can hardly fathom going through something so difficult.

Angie Kim really did an exceptional job covering so many distinct perspectives and story lines at once. And near the end, the book really had me exactly where it wanted me!

Miracle Creek, by Angie Kim - what a fabulous debut novel!

I can’t think of another book which had me guessing the outcome so much and in such a believable way. The first few pages confused me a little as I was unfamiliar with the subject matter and thought it may be a distopian story. But no, it was about a ‘medical’ treatment I was unfamiliar with and which challenges conventional thinking.

There is a very rich cast of characters who you sometimes love and sometimes hate, sometimes understand and sometimes wonder what they are thinking! Some are truthful always and some occasionally.

This story left me guessing and puzzling right the way through and had me up late into the night to find the answers. And the moral issues it posed certainly made me wonder what I would do if I found myself in this situation.

What a ride!! Miracle Creek by Angie Kim is a story about the Yoos, Pak, Young, and their daughter Mary an immigrant family from Korea relocating to Miracle Creek, Virginia to provide a better life for their daughter.

The Yoos own and operator a hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). HBOT treatments are believed to be effective in re-mediating autism and male infertility, by sitting a chamber (tank) and breathing pure, pressurized oxygen.
During a treatment session a fire breaks out and kills three people inside the chamber, among those that passed is an autistic boy name Henry and his mother Elizabeth is put on trial for his death and the other two victims.

This novel is filled with dark secrets, twist, turns and confusion (confusion in a good way). This book will have you hooked from the start and have you guessing to the end. What a thriller! Kim touch base on so much; family relationships, the struggles on immigrants and much more. Loved this book I highly recommend.

Thank you Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Sarah Chrichton books for the advanced copy of Miracle Creek. I absolutely loved this book. It is one of my new favorites of all time! Angie Kim's writing is so stunning and compelling that I felt I could relate to every character. I really enjoyed that each chapter was from a different character's perspective which greatly enhanced my understanding of them. I will definitely be recommending this book to everyone and be purchasing a physical copy when it releases.

Wow, what an engrossing and extremely ambitious novel. I devoured this in under two days, something that very rarely happens for me.

On the surface, this is a courtroom drama about what happened one August night in Miracle Creek, Virginia when a Korean immigrant family's hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) chamber catches fire and, subsequently, explodes, killing two patients and injuring others, including the operator, Pak, and his 17-year-old daughter. In a surprising turn of events, it's not Pak who is put on trial, but Elizabeth, the mother of the 8-year-old autistic boy who died alongside her friend Kitt, the mother of another autistic child who was also undergoing HBOT. Was it murder? Did she want her son, around whom her entire life was structured, to die?

The events that happened that night are uncovered over the course of the trial and come from the perspective of several people who connected to the tragedy: Pak; his wife Young; their daughter Mary; Elizabeth; Matt, a patient who was inside the chamber during the fire; Janine, Matt's wife; and Teresa, the mother of a teenaged patient. With each, we get deep into their involvement and theories about that night, as well as the individual struggles each are dealing with, often privately: immigration and assimilation; grief and loss; parenting children with disabilities; guilt; infertility; and more I won't mention, due to spoilers.

For me, it was a little hard to keep up with the volume of these alternating perspectives, and I might have removed at least one. Because there are so many different themes in this book (that's largely what I meant by it being so ambitious), it was a little overwhelming to have them pile on top of each other. That said, they're all written very well with a lot of care and reverence.

Overall, I loved this book. It kept me incredibly engaged, continually trying to understand what happened on that fateful day. Like any mystery, there are breadcrumbs and red herrings, but what sets this book apart is the additional layer of emotional weight on the top of the plot. A really fantastic debut novel!

After a fatal explosion during a therapy session, the perpetrator and motive seem clear-cut (though horrific). That is, until we realize everyone involved has secrets of their own. Told through multiple perspectives, this debut weds Celeste Ng’s nuanced treatment of family dynamics with Jodi Picoult’s mastery of courtroom drama.

I would highly recommend this novel. It’s fast-paced and definitely reels you in emotionally. Lots of point of views, so many aspects to think about.

What an engrossing debut by the author who knows how to write mysteries where every character has a story to tell!

This a courtroom drama where we get to see the story from every character's point of view. And yet, the mystery of who is the culprit keeps you at your toes till the final reveal. I loved how every time I would become almost sure about a certain character being the culprit, the author throws a new curveball at us.

Every character is dishonest here. Everybody has their secrets and motives. Everybody lies. This book explores so many themes - motherhood, autism, immigration, abuse. But I think above all, it was about the extents that a mother could go to for her child. One thing that impressed me was how the author tackled the topic of struggle that every mother faces in their frustration with their inability to control their children's life - be it their health or behavior. 

It took me awhile to get into the story. What ultimately sucked me in was the courtroom shenanigans. The cross-examinations were so well done! I would have loved to see the culmination of the whole thing in a courtroom too. Not that I didn't like the way it happened, but I was hoping for the case to culminate like a typical courtroom drama. Kudos to the author for making it unpredictable!

Even when I thought I had it all figured it out, I was wrong. And that makes me so happy! There are a lot of important themes going on here, all of which have a depth to them that made me stop and think what or who was right and wrong here. A great read!