Miracle Submarine, a hyperbaric treatment center is ran by the Yoo family. Patient's come from all around the Virginia area for this alternative treatment. Miracle Creek focuses on one of the "dive" groups, who include a girl with cerebral palsy, an autistic child, and a man with concerns of fertility issues.

One day, tragedy strikes when a dive runs late and the HBOT chamber explodes. Flash forward a year later, when one of the mother's (Elizabeth) is on trial for setting the chamber on fire and killing her son (Henry) and a fellow mom (Kit) while severely injuring others.

Miracle Creek is a beautifully written courtroom drama that shares the perspectives of all the victims and the defendant regarding the events around the explosion. Angie Kim does a wonderful job of keeping you guessing the entire read. Multiple times I got whiplash from the twists! I fell in love with the characters, they all now have a special place in my heart. The patient's of Miracle Submarine the definition of imperfect humans that are trying to do right while protecting the ones they love (makes for a fine line of what's right and wrong).

I have so many feels. Read the book, you'll get it.

This book follows a legal case where an explosion in an new oxygen therapy centre leads to the death of a child and an adult. The possible motive and the suspect is revealed in the first few chapters itself and I was beginning to wonder the purpose of the story when the courtroom drama unfolds and we slowly realise that nothing is as it seems. It was an engrossing courtroom thriller as well as an emotional read and I think this is one of those rarer mystery/thriller books that has made me cry while reading it. Highly highly recommended!

I read Miracle Creek with my book club, and we loved it! One of the members was happy to finally have a thriller she couldn't guess the ending to.

What a fantastic book. This is not your standard medical legal thriller. The plot is so intricately woven and the characters so well defined and established that you feel very connected to the outcome. I cannot wait to read more of her books in the future and absolutely loved this one.

I could not put this down. A page-turning thriller that kept me reading and guessing until the last page, with a very interesting and different narrative. Recommend for a quick and fulfilling read.

-Description-
A courtroom drama that will have you chilled to the bone about how this perfect storm of events led to three deaths. Who did it? And why?

-Thoughts-
1. If you know me, then you know I love a multi viewpoint book. The author did a superb job of this. The characters were all so different and their voices followed suit.
2. The twists and turns within the courtroom scenes will have you cheering and then jeering the same people over and over again. I didn't know who's side I was on....and I liked it!!
3. The thoughts and behavior were so reprehensible, yet I could relate. I think we all can.

-Rating-
5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I highly recommend this book!

-Similar Recommended Reads-
A Nearly Normal Family
All We Ever Wanted
The Storyteller

After I spent the last few weekends binging Seven Seconds and When They See Us on Netflix, I realize I have a thing for courtroom dramas. Why not keep that theme going with Miracle Creek, right? ⁣
⁣
Miracle Creek is a beautifully written courtroom drama about a Korean couple who immigrated to the US to give their daughter a better life. They start their own business, a pressurized oxygen chamber, called Miracle Submarine, that provides therapy and rehabilitation for conditions such as Autism and Infertility. Their business is doing great until a fire occurs, blowing up the chamber and killing two of the patients inside. Turns out the fire was deliberately set, but who would do something like that? ⁣
⁣
It’s a heartbreaking story, really. Many issues are at play here including cheating, lying, and sexual assault. Every person involved could have been the one who set the fire. I unfortunately guessed who the real culprit was early in the book, so that took away a little bit of the excitement for me. ⁣
⁣
There was so much hype surrounding this book. Unfortunately, I was a victim of the hype train. I enjoyed the story, don’t get me wrong. It just wasn’t mind blowing for me. I still recommend that you read it though. Maybe, just don’t go in with ridiculously high expectations!

This is an impressive debut that I'll be thinking about for a long time. It deals with the messy coincidences of life, mistakes we make as human beings, family, parenthood, children with special needs, and the journey of youth and immigration. It hit me in lots of intense feelings and sometimes those were heavy to think about. It is well worth the praise and hype it's getting. Just know that it has moments of great intensity. I can't wait to read the next book by Angie Kim.

“Good things and bad—every friendship and romance formed, every accident, every illness—resulted from the conspiracy of hundreds of little things, in and of themselves inconsequential.”
Wow. An intricately put together story of a deadly event, those who may (or may not) be responsible and the enduring relationships people form. Written from a own voices perspective (Korean immigrant to America as a child) and with an in-depth understanding of the law; Miracle Creek is at once poignant, beautiful, horrifying and deadly. Let’s get into some of the details.

Narration
There is a large cast of characters in Angie Kim’s story. Each of them are distinct and easy to remember, which I appreciated. From the parents of the children to the children themselves and the other adults involved in the submarine therapy. Each of them has a small piece of the overall story and what happened on the fateful day when an explosion injured and killed people. Therefore, in their own way, each character is an unreliable narrator. It's not until every single perspective has been considered, heard from and pieced into the overall puzzle that the ending reveals the truth of the situation.

Disabled Children and their Parents
Miracle Creek has excellent portrayals of the exhaustion that happens to parents of kids whom are disabled, suffer from chronic illnesses, etc. Two mother's in particular are found to say things like "somedays I think my child would be better off dead" and similar phrases. This seems innocent enough right? Parenting is hard work and certainly anyone who has known someone caring for a child with special needs can understand the intent of the statement. Well that is until someone murders one of those children... Now that innocent statement becomes a whole new piece of 'evidence'. I really liked the way Kim played this out and showed reality. We all say things that could be construed incorrectly but aren't actually meant to be taken literally. It’s not until an extreme context is applied that those innocent words take on a more literal meaning.

Everyone's a Suspect
I don't read a lot of murder mysteries generally (maybe a couple a year?). I always like to read bestsellers and inevitably thrillers or murder mysteries hit the top of the charts so I read them. That, plus the disabled representation and discussion of unconventional medical treatments, drew me to pick-up Miracle Creek. Because I'm not a big murder mystery fan I'm not sure how common it is to have every single person (more or less) be a suspect in an incident. That is the case here. Each of our characters had a number of motives, opportunities, etc. to sabotage the compression chamber (submarine). And so because of this there is a lot of awful thoughts and theories to slog through. It makes the characters seem fairly 'icky' (if you will) at times. However, reflecting on the characters individually, I think each of them is actually very realistic. And let's face it, at our worst we all have undesirable traits; and the time for those undesirable traits to surface will always be when someone is digging for information, like during a murder investigation.

Courtroom Talk
If you're a fan of John Grisham (or the like) then the courtroom talk here will seem tame. Kim is a trial lawyer herself, yet I didn't find the court discussions or descriptions difficult to follow. That may be because we don't have an omniscient narrator here; but instead see the courtroom through the eyes of different participants at their understanding of educational level. Given that a lot of the story is told in the courtroom as flashbacks (which I usually dislike) there is still a good flow to the novel. I could still picture and feel the emotions as events were told to the court. I attribute this to excellent writing by Kim. This is especially impressive as this is Kim’s debut novel! I’m expecting her next to be that little bit better to get five stars! ;)

Pacing
As with most books there is a lull in Miracle Creek. It's relatively short (not even 50 pages probably) and it's right smack dab in the middle of the novel. When you hit this point I recommend just pushing forward a little harder to get to the last half of the story as it is well, well worth the ending.

Overall
I wouldn’t say this book is amazing or at the top of its (very crowded) genre. However it is certainly worth reading if you like some court drama, murder mysteries or puzzling a situation out based on comments from different points of view. KIL has written Miracle Creek so well that I believe everyone can find something to like about it. A well written book, with solid characters and an organized plot, will always transcend genre boundaries.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

After reading all those raving reviews, I thought I'd give Miracle Creek a try. Sadly, the book turned out to be a huge disappointment for me.

I could not raise any sympathy for any of the characters (despite the dead boy) who just seemed to express various levels of selfishness and lied and intrigued throughout the whole story, even after the desastrous outcome of the explosion. Too soon I felt bored with the various POVs the book was told from and felt the story was going in circles instead of forward. At the end, I was more relived that it was over than actually knowing who the culprit was. While I think I understand the appeal the book may have for other readers, it just did not work that way for me.

I was expecting to like this much more than I did. I just felt a bit cold towards the characters and ended up skimming the last 50pgs or so.

There is so much going on in this book - immigration story, autism - that I think it wouldn't work if the central court case weren't dynamite. Fortunately, it is and this book was very gripping throughout.

Miracle Creek is being touted as a courtroom drama, but to label it as such is doing this book a huge disservice. This story is layered, deep, and incredibly smart. Angie Kim blew this book out of the water; it’s hard to believe it’s her debut novel. The promise of a gripping court story is appealing, but the nuanced, complex characters will keep readers engaged.

The story revolves the “Miracle Submarine”, a Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) tank run by Pak in the town of Miracle Creek. HBOT is said to help improve symptoms in children with autism, and the allure of this unique treatment proves hope for many parents. Elizabeth and her son Henry are among those who come for regular treatments, or “dives”.

During a routine dive, a fire breaks out resulting in an explosion. The outcome is tragic, sparking an investigation into how the fire started. It becomes quickly apparent that this was arson, but who would set a fire to an oxygenated structure knowing that kids are inside? Would the exhausted, overworked parent of an autistic child commit such an atrocious crime? Or perhaps Pak, the owner of the Miracle Submarine, in an insurance fraud scandal?

Interposed between snapshots of the trial, are beautifully fleshed out stories. We learn about Pak, his wife Young, and daughter Mary, and the challenges they face after immigrating from Seoul, Korea. Mary struggles the most with this significant change, as any teenager would. We gain insight into Elizabeth’s life and struggles as a mother to an autistic child, and the lengths she goes to to help him with his symptoms. From meticulously planned out meals, to a variety of therapies, Elizabeth’s world revolves around Henry and his care. She’s exhausted, but any parent can relate to her story - to want to give your child every possibly opportunity to thrive.

Kim delivers family drama, intrigue, and poignant insights with Miracle Creek. This was a fantastic read for me, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone looking for a moving story to get lost in.

Angie Kim accomplished the remarkable feat of keeping me guessing until the end in this novel - a first time experience for me! I usually dislike this genre specifically because I am quite adept at guessing who did it within the first one hundred pages but halfway through I had wasn't sure and had it narrowed down to two characters. That deserves all of the praise in the world and then some. Because not only was I left in the dark for most of the book, but the writing itself was incredibly thorough and engaging. Every character had a unique and distinct voice. It was a joy to read. I'm sincerely looking forward to more novels from Angie Kim.

Miracle Creek takes some tough, rather controversial topics and examines them with everything laid out bare. Kim makes the reader wonder what choices he or she would make. There are so many unique and rich character stories woven throughout, and it is very clear that the author takes care into each piece of the narrative. I will say though that I never found any of the characters to be very likable, even if they were quite interesting and complex.

My favorite parts of the book were all the courtroom scenes. With Kim's experience as a lawyer it only makes sense that they would be so sharply written. I also listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the interview with the author at the end. Her son had positive experiences with hbot which explains why she was able to create this work with such fluidity.

Angie Kim's debut novel is a riveting emotive courtroom drama.

On trial for murders she may not have committed, Elizabeth Ward's life is scrutinised unjustly, critically and extremely harshly by the prosecution and characters in the plot of this brilliant debut novel. Elizabeth's lifestyle has opened herself up to harsh judgement without consideration for fairness, truth or justice.

Her son is one of the tragic deaths that resulted in the HBOT (hyperbaric oxygen therapy) deaths that occurred when a fire broke out after the oxygen blew up. Others were seriously injured, and someone has to be the scapegoat, it is Elizabeth.

The HBOT is in the barn of immigrants Pak and Young who have a daughter Mary. They have immigrated to Miracle Creek from Seoul. Mary has been disfigured in the explosion and Pak has ended up in a wheelchair.

Many characters are woven from the courtroom to events around the HBOT including autistic children one of them being Elizabeth's, whom many claims she wanted dead. Not only Elizabeth has a motive, but others in the story also do as well, including the inevitable protesters of hyperbaric oxygen therapy who arrive at the barn every day.

It is Kim's brilliance at highlighting character weaknesses that add to the emotive nature of the plot. Lies, denial, criticism and judging helps each guilty one deal with their own prejudices and character defects. Each one's version suits their individual needs.

BonnieK

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

I don´t remember why I picked up this book from NetGalley, to be honest, but I did, and I´m really happy I finally picked him up, to fulfill a reading challenge prompt.

Miracle Creek is a courtroom murder mystery that starts with an explosion where 2 people die and others are seriously injured. Then, we follow the multiple narrator's accounts from the event, the lies they tell the court, themselves and their partners.

But I found that, above all else, it´s a novel about the struggles of caregivers and immigrant families and the humanity that recks us all.

"In Korea, as Meh-hee, she’d been a talker. She got in trouble constantly for chatting with friends and argued her way out of most punishments. The new her, Mary, was a mute math geek. A core of quiet, obedient and alone, wrapped by a carapace of low expectations. It was as if discarding her Korean name had weakened her, like cutting Samson’s hair, and the replacement came with a meek persona she didn’t recognize or like."

Is there anything left to say about Miracle Creek that has not been said? A perfect combination of courtroom drama, who dunnit and family troubles. A solid mystery read and there is no stopping once you start reading. I'm very impressed because this is a debut novel. It did not take me long to get lost into this intriguing storyline. 7 characters will make you wonder what caused the explosion in the oxygen chamber called miracle submarine. And who caused it and why? I recommend it to everybody who likes real and believable characters and solid scenario's.

I was immediately drawn to read this book by the description, Celeste Ng meets a legal thriller - and it was exactly that. I loved the way each character was truly fleshed out, whether it was because I truly felt for them or because I couldn't stand them. The mystery of who did it - and who was truly guilty of what - lingered throughout the book and kept me reading when I should have been doing other things. The depictions of Korean immigrant life in a small town and being the parent of a disabled child were particularly strong.

I would have given this book 4.5 stars if I could, knocking off that last half a star only because I felt the ending wasn't as strong as the rest of the book. I didn't expect it to be tied up in a neat bow, but I was hoping for something more. Perhaps I felt this way simply because the story was so enthralling up until then. But overall it was a beautiful book that I would strongly recommend giving a read.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2774772708

A lot of people really loved this one, but I just could not get into it. I felt that the science behind the submarine was far too complex for me to enjoy the root of the story. I did feel as though the actual mystery, being that the daughter and father were both behind the unfortunate accident, was a really interesting dynamic and something I didn't see coming, and it tread on sexual assault which I also found to be powerful. However - I feel as though this plot might have been more effective if the submarine didn't exist, if the accident had been a bit easier to understand, something typical rather than something so complex that it took me out of the story and mystery.