Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Miracle Creek is an immersive, complex, psychological courtroom drama. The author peels back the characters and their motivations in layers, each one revealing more of their part in the initial tragedy until you reach the end. At each turn you think you know who is involved and why, but the author is masterful in taking you down the road only to send you off in a new direction. A great debut!

I struggled a bit in the beginning to really get into Miracle Creek, i wasn't gripped by any of the characters a the start.
However, as the story unfolded i was drawn in and unable to stop reading. So many lies, by so many people, for such different reasons.
Each twist of the story line was unpredictable and i would never have guessed the outcome.
well written and original plot.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus & Giroux and Sarah Crichton Books for this e-ARC. I posted a review for a different book here by mistake and now can't delete it. I have read Miracle Creek and love it very much, but I haven't written a review yet. Thank you so much for understanding. And thank you again for making this wonderful book available in advance of publication. I'm very much looking forward to the book's publication date! Thank you again.

I was riveted all the way through this tragic and tightly woven courtroom drama. I can't say I've ever seen a book that blends legal intrigue and character development so seamlessly. The author mentioned she would be able to Skype with book club at my library - MIRACLE CREEK is sure to be a favorite! I'm rooting for a LibraryReads pick!

This is probably one of the best courtroom dramas I've ever read. Having hardly any idea of what the book was about, I found myself totally engrossed after only a few chapters in.

Elizabeth, a mother of an autistic boy is on trial for setting a fire to a hyperbaric oxygen chamber 'Miracle Submarine', causing the death of two people, including her son, and seriously injuring 4 other patients. The miracle submarine clinic is run by a Korean family who moved to the States for a better life. When the tragedy strikes, their wealth is destroyed and the father of the family ends up in a wheelchair. It becomes obvious very quickly that the case is not as straightforward as it first appeared. Each person involved in the fire tragedy is hiding something, protecting their own interests, not realising that the things they are hiding are crucial in uncovering the truth.

The chapers switch between different POVs slowly revealing new bits of information to gradually piece together the events preceding the tragedy. This is done in such a clever way that with each chapter I thought I knew who the criminal was, only to completely change my mind a chapter later, and then do it all over again!

I was very impressed with Angie Kim's ability to handle difficult subject matters with so much authenticity. The portrayal of the hardship of a Korean family moving to the States was heartbreaking and felt very real as the author was drawing upon her own experience. Reading about the struggles of the mothers with children with autism was emotional and again it felt very real.

I think this is a great debut novel and I look forward to reading more from Angie Kim.

4.5* Great debut novel. Excellent character development. I loved the way the author pulled treatment of autism/special needs issues into the conversation- keeping it real, as well as the issues of an immigrant family from Seoul making their way in America.

AS far as the mystery went... I was never sure til the end and actually, there was so much blame to go around, it kind of didn't matter who lit the match.

Looking forward to more from Angie Kin.

Miracle Creek is the story of struggle which as we know, comes in many forms. Immigration, integration, fertility challenges, inter-racial marriage, special needs parenting, loss, financial struggles, and marital issues. These issues are all explored and part of the big picture in Miracle Creek. My favorite aspect of this book is the courtroom drama which we see unfold one year after the tragedy at Miracle Submarine. The lawyers are fiery, and the secrets they reveal are explosive. The characters in this book all have secrets which makes it so much fun to read even when you are reading about tragic events.
I loved this book so much, that when I finished it at 2am, I sent Angie Kim a message to tell her how amazing it was. I don't give my 5 Star ratings out too often, but Miracle Creek deserves every one of those stars.
* I loved how each character had their own back story.
*I loved how the courtroom drama writing was intelligently written and kept me wanting more.
*I loved how I couldn't figure out what the heck actually happened the entire time I was reading so that FINALLY a book ending surprised me.
*I loved how Angie Kim wove details about the struggles immigrants face and the reasons that they choose to come here in spite of the challenges they know they will face. It really puts into perspective just how tough it must be to uproot your life and move somewhere when you can't even speak the native language.
*I loved how rich of a story this was. I was hooked from the beginning, and never felt let down.

"Miracle Creek" is one of those books that I piqued my interest based on cover and title alone. When I found out it was a court room thriller, I kicked myself for requesting it from the publisher. I don't like thrillers! What was I doing with this book?! After I was approved for a e-book of the novel, I perused the reviews to mentally prepare myself. So many said it was a fantastic book that I decided to give it a try. It turned out to be a decision I don't regret at all. 


Reasons you should read Miracle Creek:
1. It's a court-room thriller, so the book spans a week-long trial via different perspectives of the players involved. There are a number of flashbacks that are perfectly timed to slowly piece the "who dunnit" together. The book is never boring, and you will find yourself quickly turning the pages. 

2. The further I got into the book, the less I actually cared about who committed the crime. I simply wanted to know what was happening with each character during the explosion and what their inner dialogue and motives were for the events that took place before and after. In other words, I really cared about the characters. I had sympathy for all of them and rooted for them. That's pretty impressive to do in a 300-page book with a bunch of different perspectives! 

3. The author clearly knows her stuff: the entire trial felt authentic (...which it should, the author is a lawyer!) and all of the autism discussion was thorough, interesting, and again, felt real (the author has personal experience with hyperbaric oxygen chambers and their use with autism). It made the read not only exciting, because you wanted to solve the mystery, but also interesting, because I was able to learn something. 

4. There is a raw honesty to the perspectives in this book, and I loved it. Thoughts we all have had (or thoughts I can believe people would have) are explored and laid bare. And the best part is, you can't hate the characters for their flaws. They're just too human. Instead, you feel a strong sympathy.


Final rating: 4/5 stars
The only reason it's not 5 stars is because thriller/mystery isn't my genre. I will never love a thriller as much as my favorite genres. That being said, this is by far one of the best thrillers I have ever read and would HIGHLY recommend to anyone who enjoys thrillers.

Miracle Creek, by Angie Kim, was a book that I didn't want to put down because the author made me care about these people who are nothing like me. It's the story of Korean immigrants, Young and Pak Yoo, who run the Miracle Submarine, a pressurized oxygen chamber that is used by young patients with a variety of health issues. It's also being used, unwillingly, by an adult doctor, Matt, whose Korean wife railroads him into being the first adult to go through the treatments, in an effort to cure his infertility. Although there are other treatments each day, the book focuses on a group that is undergoing twice a day treatments, for 40 days.

One of the patients is Henry, an 8 year old autistic boy, son of Elizabeth, who has tailored very hour of their day, full of treatments, therapies, camp, and very restrictive eating and sensory input, to give her son the best chance of being a "normal' boy. When there is a fire that kills Henry and Kitt, the mother of TJ, and severely injures Matt and Mary, the daughter of Young and Pak Yoo, Elizabeth is charged with the crime of starting the fire and murdering Henry and Kitt. Pak loses the use of his legs as he run in and out of the chamber, trying to save the lives of all the people under his care, people who he feels he is responsible for and is willing to give his life to save.

This book is about lies, big lies, little lies, and the belief that it's ok to lie because telling the truth can't bring back the dead, that maybe the person accused of murder might not have murdered anyone but she had thoughts of wishing her son dead at times, as might other full time caretakers, with no relief in sight from care taking a helpless "forever" child that will outlive them. Even though each of the characters had secrets, most of them also had my sympathy. The Yoos were weighed down by traditions from their homeland that didn't allow them to "discuss" things with each other, that kept them trying to protect the pride of the father, even though some of those archaic ways caused the daughter to dislike her mother for not fighting against those traditions.

The many lies of the story started long before the day of the fire and so many of the people involved, once they start telling tiny bits of the truth, continue to lie, hold back information, allowing others to believe things that are false. A large part of the book is in the courtroom and I really enjoyed the courtroom drama. Both lawyers are willing to do anything to either get their client acquitted or get the accused convicted, even if they find out or know truths that make what they are doing extremely wrong and unethical. At any time, many of the characters could have told what they knew and turned the entire case around, inside out, and shed light on what really happened but they didn't, even when they had moments where telling the truth would have been the easiest thing to do.

The hardships that the Yoos endure in the years before they begin their chamber business are overwhelming but even once they are together again, after years of being apart while waiting for their family visa, the family is not happy. The mothers of the children using the chamber had a lifetime of hardship ahead of them and each mother fights with the guilt of sometimes wishing they could have a minute to themselves, dreaming of a 'normal' life, a life so many of us take for granted because we aren't full time caretakers, for life. There seems to be no relief in sight for most of these people and it's clear that once this is all "over", that no one will really be able to let go of the fact that they lied...their lies will always be with them.

As we meet the various people involved in what happened that day and as we go through the trial, we are flooded with the extent of the lies that have led to the fire. So many things had to come together to allow the fire to happen and any one of those things could have happened differently or not at all and then this tragedy would not have happened. In the end, this book is about facing ones role in what has happened, acknowledging one’s part in the tragedy, big or little, taking responsibility in how we hurt others even if we did not mean to at the time and how we continue to hurt others by holding back the truth.

So much that happened, could never be "fixed" but I do like how the story is handled at the end. I think the ending has a realness to it that we sometimes don't find in crime stories. The ending doesn't make what happened disappear but instead plays out in a realistic way that allows the characters of the book to make amends and have room to breathe in a life that could seem unbearable otherwise. I can see a way for these people to heal and move on, even if they never forget the past and even though their lives are changed forever.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for this Advance Read Copy.

Thank Netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review. This was a great read. Different type of suspense, and still very suspenseful. The characters were well thought out, and easily relatable! The ending felt rushed, or rather just abrupt. Still a great court room suspense story!

Straight up I loved this book! The description hooked me in because it sounded interesting and I love anything that sounds like it might have a twist in it. When you start you’re thrown right into the main plot point and just as the situation must be confusing for the characters, it’s confusing for you as a reader, BUT that’s a good thing because as the story starts to unravel you start to make sense of it. As it’s a book based around a medical condition/s it can be a little technical in places but not in a way that would alienate anyone and just enough that you can understand their significance to the story line.

All in all it’s a story of intrigue, relationships, secrets and lies all with a crime wrapped up in the middle. You’ll get to the end still trying to guess who did it and why. I’d highly recommend it as I couldn’t put it down and was so happy to find a book where I couldn’t fully work out the twist until it happened.

What a strange and odd book, I wasn't sure what I was reading when it first started. The language was poetic and even a little dense, but then I realized that I was reading a legal procedural with different points of view. I thought the different characters were well done and I was drawn into their emotional turmoil, which was just as gripping as the mystery of what happened. Intriguing world and deep characters.

Miracle Creek
(previously 'Miracle Submarine')
by Angie Kim
due April 2019
Farrar, Straus, Giroux
Sarah Crichton Books

On the 29th day of August 2008, in the small town of Miracle Creek, Va, the 'Miracle Submarine' oxygen tank caught fire, and the submarine exploded. Inside were 6 people. 2 died and 4 were left severely and permanently injured.

The Miracle Submarine oxygen tank was an experimental and controversial treatment device run by Young and Pak Yoo. Patients enter a pressurized oxygen chamber that is submerged in water. It claims to help with infertility and autism.

No one say for sure who is at fault for what happened or why it happened, but there are plenty of theories. It depends who you ask,

It might be Young and Pak Yoo themselves, hoping to cash in on the insurance money to help pay for their daughters college education.
It might be the mother of an autistic boy in the submarine that day, she quit smoking but was seem sneaking cigarettes near the tank close to when it exploded.
It might be the Yoo's daughter, who was left with the task of monitoring the tanks...but left her desk to attend to her autistic brother who was banging his head, demanding a 'Barney' dvd.

The trial begins about a year after the accident. Invigorating and enthralling this is one of the many highlights of this book...the courtroom trial and attorneys are absoluting absorbing. Angie Kim has written a novel from her own real life experiences as a Korean immigrant and a trial lawyer. It weaves love, loyalty, experimental medial trials, law and autism together, but she does more than explore just action and consequence, she digs deep to reveal how bound we all are to our own emotions and what we think is right.
Pure genius, this debut novel is beautifully written and thought out, and I look forward to more from her.
Enchanting!

MIRACLE CREEK left me totally gutted. Angie Kim is a beautiful writer, and has crafted a novel that is equal parts courtroom drama, taut mystery, and heartbreaking story about hope—hope for medical miracles, hope for a better future, hope for your children. This one will haunt me for a while.

As soon as I started this book, I felt it rushed into the story a little quickly and I wasn’t too sure what was going on. Throughout the novel, I then did a full 180 and thought the events were dragged out especially towards the end when I just wanted the loose ends tied up quickly. I felt a bit confused by all the different character chapters and use of first person - I often forgot who was narrating. I did enjoy the topic of the novel and gained knowledge and interest from the details of the submarine. I also thought the story was well thought-out, if a little coincidental in parts. As most of the book is set in the court room, I found my interest dipping in and out as I thought it was a bit too long/unnecessary in parts. With that said, there was still plenty of drama and tension with a number of suspects hiding the real version of events which keep you guessing until the end.

What a fascinating read! Part twisty mystery, part family drama, and part medical/science lesson. I could really feel myself envisioning the experience of spending an hour a day twice a day in a small space with the same few people, which I feel like is a big credit to how great the writing is!

Miracle Creek has a lot going for it and is very interesting from several points of view. It has an excellent element of suspense as to just who lit the match causing the tragedy and why. There were lots of possibilities and all were thoroughly explored. For the most part characterization was good and rang true to each character’s background. The plot moved right along in a forward manner with very little fluff. And the ending (in my opinion) was perfect.

Stepping into the lives of mothers with autistic children or children who later were afflicted with cerebral palsy was heart rending and beautifully painted.

So what were the negatives? First off the racial sentiments and inflammatory nature of those scenes was a big negative. Most of that didn’t ring true and merely served as an anti-American issue. Well, yes, I suppose that was the cause of the daughter’s wanting to return to Korea, but there were just a lot of holes in that issue. In fact there were a lot of holes in the story line of the Koreans, but this was the most distressing.

The second was the LIES! OMG! For readers who like books rife with lies, this is your book!! You definitely need a scorecard to keep up with who told what lie and whether or not it is in any way credible. Whew! The last third of the book got bogged down with fabrications from first one character and then another. It was definitely hard to keep anything straight at that point. When the story concluded, I was not sure the final explanation was what really happened or just another fabrication.

All in all I’d say this was 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. I will probably read another book by Kim.

This ARC was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher, Sarah Crichton Books, in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn't put down this courtroom drama / mystery! The format of the story allowed things to unfold with wonderful pacing and maximum suspense. The moral and ethical questions that this book raises makes it not only an engaging and quick read, but a great one for book clubs!

I was pleasantly surprised by Miracle Creek, the story of Young and Pak Yoo who run a pressurized oxygen chamber know as the Miracle Submarine, patients use this submarine for therapeutic dives with hopes that it will cure things like autism.
One day the Miracle Submarine explodes and two people lose their lives and the Yoo’s face a murder trail in a small community. The book has us guessing who or what caused the explosion, was it a patient or if the Yoo’s did it themselves.
This book is a great thriller and I could not put it down. Angie’s writing is so beautiful you want to keep turning the pages so you can find out what happens next.
I am truly thankful for NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.. It was very good and I highly recommend it.

I hated when life got in the way and I had to put this book down! Full of suspense and drama and the characters were realistic, almost too much so at points. I loved the little tidbits of important information throughout, leaving us readers to try and piece the truth together and the culmination of the whole traumatic event that was the basis of the story was told so well. A great debut novel by Angie Kim! When this book releases, I will definitely be sharing with my group of reader friends.