Absolutely loved this book. The only downside was I didn’t have enough time to read it as quickly as I’d liked! A truly compelling courtroom drama that grips the reader.

Many thanks to the publishers and netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book made me angry and sad, and then just sad. But I couldn’t stop reading it, and it took me three days to finish.

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read this book, and I look forward to more from Angie Kim.

4.25 Stars.

Actions always have consequences. Their impact is everlasting. The characters in Angie Kim’s “Miracle Creek” are reeling from them.

Pak is new the proprietor of Miracle Submarine, an HBOT facility providing hyperbaric oxygenation to those with serious health issues (such as infertility and autism) for which it has been proven to provide speed healing.

One day during a night session with protesters outside, the submarine ignites and explodes. Tragedy strikes. Neither Pak or his wife Young, were where they were supposed to be. Not that they would admit it.

Elizabeth, mother to one of the children in the chamber, left her child in the care of someone else and now she is on trial. Matt, a doctor, and his wife Janine, keep secrets from each other, day in, day out.

In fact, secrets are par for the course in this small community and no one is immune from the after effects.

Told from several perspectives, and timelines (before, the day of the accident and during the trial), “Miracle Creek” is a fascinating character driven novel. The author did an amazing job portraying the anguish of so many of the characters, including the parents of special needs children and the difficulties they face every day. The trial was brilliantly done and I was glued to the edge of my seat throughout the duration.

“Miracle Creek” is a devastating and heart wrenching novel. Admittedly, it made me think a lot about marriage and the importance of communication. It is a wholly important, beautifully written novel that I read very thoughtfully and its impact is overreaching.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Hodder and Stoughton and Angie Kim for an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Published on Goodreads, NetGalley, Amazon and Twitter on 6.9.19.

Miracle Creek was a courtroom drama that kept me turning the pages and asking questions and I really wanted to know who was guilty and what secrets everyone was hiding. The story centres around a Korean family and their move to the USA and it really packed a punch. There's mystery, murder, grief, disability, and so much packed into the story that once you reach the end, you may need a little time to digest everything.

The story begins a year after the arson attack at HBOT an oxygen treatment facility that is said to improve everything. The patients are mothers with their children who are on the autism spectrum and a male doctor with infertility issues. The trial begins and Elizabeth (one of the mother's whose son died in the explosion) is accused of the murder. This begins the questions and the story and the who really did do it, as the story unfolds and each character has their own story to tell about that night and the lead up to the incident.

This is a really well-written courtroom drama that you won't want to miss out on. the writing was excellent, the characters well developed, and there wasn't anything I disliked.

Miracle Creek is the story of families with autistic children and the depths and heights they will go to get help and a cure.
Angie Kim writes this riveting storyline with the anguish, love and desperation each family goes through. But when someone sabotages their trials and people die! Who could possibly hurt the weakest among up. You’d be shocked. Excellent story itself

This storyline got repetitive and boring to me, and I found myself skipping pages already covered in another chapter.
That was the reason for the3 stars.

This book is receiving a lot of hype, and trust me, it is well deserved. I try not to read reviews on Goodreads or Amazon until after I have finished a book. When I did, I noticed that the reviewers on this one went to extremes (even by Goodreads' standards) in providing lengthy detailed summaries, so I'll skip that and keep it to a minimum.

As is detailed in the book's summary, this is a literary courtroom drama about a Korean immigrant family and a single mother accused of murdering her 8 year old autistic son. The boy was killed in a fire involving an experimental medical treatment known as the Miracle Submarine. But it is by no means a standard courtroom drama, like those written by John Grisham or Richard North Patterson. Instead it goes deep into the minds and souls of everyone associated with the trial -- each of the Yoos (the family at the heart of the story), the defendant, another mother of a special needs child, and another man who survived the fire. It is a book about the butterfly effect or about what-ifs or if-onlys. Since it's been published, I can quote a passage that for me described the book perfectly.

But that was the way life worked. Every human being was the result of a million differenc factors mixing together -- one of a million sperm arriving at the egg at exactly a certain time; even a millisecond off, and another entirely different person would result. Good things and bad -- every friendship and romance formed, every accident, every illness -- resulted from the conspiracy of hundreds of little thigs, in and of themselves inconsequential.

The writing in Miracle Creek is absolutely beautiful, and I am in awe that this is Ms. Kim's debut novel. It is so sad that you'll feel deeply for so many characters, and you'll want to hug somebody tightly when you finish. It is poignant and passionate and emotional. It is also eminently readable. And after reading the Acknowledgments, I wished I could meet Angie Kim for a few glasses of wine. I can't give enough praise.to Miracle Creek. Read it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me a digital ARC in return for an honest review, and thank you Angie Kim for writing Miracle Creek.

I liked Angie Kim's writing but after a while I found myself getting confused as to who was who and where they fitted in to the storyline.
Ultimately I felt I was caught in the middle of an Agatha Christie novel on a train going round on a loop but never stopping at my station.
So, somewhat good but not good enough for me.

This is essentially a murder mystery- but with a difference. The context and setting are original and make the book intriguing. The story is about a Korean family trying to set up a new business in the United States. The business is a building dedicated to treatments of children with special needs and the occasional adult. The author's understanding of the nature of these needs such as autism and the effect on families is impressive. The challenges facing the Korean family are well used too in the story. The main part of the book concerns the court case trying to convict a murderer and that is done with considerable detail. The ending is unexpected in more ways than one. The book is well written and the characters well drawn. It is deeply analytical and sensitive.

I really enjoyed this multi faceted, multi layered book. Told over the four days of a trial, with flashbacks to a year previously, the story unfolds of a terrible fire in a submarine which left two people dead and several with life changing injuries. The primary viewpoint we see in the book is that of Young, wife of the owner of the submarine, who was left paralysed by the accident. But was it an accident? As the book unfolds, it turns out there was far more going on that evening at miracle creek than anyone could have guessed. Clandestine meetings, life changing decisions, fraud, bonbon eating, protesting... layers and layers of intrigue unfold as Young discovers more and more about the night that changed the lives of many,
While at the heart of this book is a mystery and a murder trial, trying to discover who set the fire, what surrounds it is a collection of very human stories. The Korean immigrant family trying to make a life for themselves in America take centre stage, but around them are a cast of others. Matt and Janine, a mixed marriage, and the difficulties they face together. The patients in the miracle submarine, and their children, the lives they lead, the special needs of those children, and the varying challenges that parenting a disabled child present, as well as how these can impact on your own life. The friendship between Elizabeth and Kitt, and how it changed over the time they were forced to spend together, and the impact of competitive parenting, visible in all spectrums of life. And Mary. Brought to the states as a child, now a teenager,, straddling the lines of the American dream and her Korean heritage, childhood and adulthood. Dealing with strained relationships with her parents and the aching need to be more grown up than the way they see you. All of these complex, nuanced relationships are so well drawn and so absolutely compelling. There is quite a large cast of characters in this book, but none of them feel under drawn. Although there are certainly some I would have liked to hear from, like Kitt, I can understand and respect the decisions of the author. Angie Kim is a Korean immigrant herself, and her understanding of the impact this can have on families shines clearly through the book. Mary's choice of language, disparaging reaction to her mother, and even changing of her name, all feel like there is real weight of experience and knowledge behind them. The narrative twists and turns, and I was constantly changing my mind about who had set the fire. Thoroughly enjoyable, and entirely compelling, Miracle Creek is a legal process, a forensic examination of family, friends, the bonds that tie us together, and the threads that weave the rich, complex tapestry of life.

Courtroom drama in optima forma, with lots of twists and turns and very well written. Contrary to other reviewers I had no trouble getting into the story - I had a bit of trouble with the last say 25%. By that time, I was getting a little tired of reading about the smallest details over and over, without really learning something new.
However, the story is an extraordinary one, with engaging characters and interesting viewpoints.

Thanks to NetGally for this digital review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley, Angie Kim and Hodder & Stoughton for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review!

In the small town of Miracle Creek, Young and Pak Yoo run an experimental medical treatment known as “Miracle Submarine”. It is a pressurized oxygen chamber that patients enter for therapy “dives” in hopes of curing autism or infertility. But when miracle submarine explodes, killing two people a dramatic murder upends the small community.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into this novel with all the hype and I was worried that this wouldn’t be up my alley. But I was pleasantly surprised by how interested in this novel I actually was and how much I enjoyed how the courtroom drama was portrayed. I was shocked by the twists and behaviour of some of the characters in this novel and I enjoyed seeing the ending coming together. I really enjoyed all the little dramas that added up to causes this explosion! This one made me feel so many different emotions and I couldn’t help but keep reading to find out what mess was coming next. I thoroughly enjoyed the ending and am definitely recommending everyone give this one a try!

I admit that I'm drawn to heart-wrenching books and many that make me ugly cry, but I was sobbing at the end of this lovely debut. It got me thinking about the Autism Spectrum as the novel deals with several autistic kids whose parents seek "the miracle submarine" (which is in reality a hyperbaric chamber) in order to promote healing, as breathing in 100% oxygen is thought to repair damaged cells quickly. But in reality, aren't there actually many "spectrums" in life? Isn't there a Love Spectrum and at any given time you may find yourself at any end of it or somewhere in the middle? Or a Guilt Spectrum where you may experience mild guilt or the gut-wrenching kind that eats away at your conscience? Kim speaks to so many issues in this novel which is so beautifully written that you can't tear yourself away. Parenting and relationships are difficult no matter how competent we are and there will be missteps along the way where we misjudge and are misjudged.
So even though this book centers around a murder trial with many perspectives, the deeper issues beneath the surface are what make the novel so poignant and rich in its voice. It is truly a gem; just keep the tissues handy!

This book was definitely out of my.comfort zone and I enjoyed reading something new. The courtroom drama/murder mystery/immigration is not like anything else I've read.

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Truly excellent and thought provoking.

A well written courtroom drama that is far more than a mere legal thriller.

It deals with so many threads. Family, immigrants and how they assimilate, autism, new medical advances, women’s issues and so much more.

The prose is clear, spare and elegant.

Read it!

Miracle Creek, by Angie Kim, is told from various points of view. Miracle Creek is a mystery in which Ms Kim does an excellent job of keeping the reader in suspense as to who did it. I was given a copy to review.

The Kim family run a chamber that can be sealed shut and delivers pure oxygen to users such as children with disabilities and their parents.
But someone sets a fire that burns down the chamber and kills two of its occupants.
This novel - Kim’s first - is about the tangled web of people implicated in the fire and the subsequent trial.
Other reviewers have said they found it difficult to engage with the characters, but I found it easy and found them rounded and likeable.
I enjoyed this and found it well-written and engrossing.
The plot is quite complicated but this doesn’t detract from the story. I really wanted to know exactly what happened.
I’d thoroughly recommend this novel and hope Kim writes more of this calibre.

⭐️⭐️ sorry this was just 2 stars for me.

I found the story to be slow and couldn’t engage with any of the characters.

The premise was interesting with the HBOT but the court room drama lacked, erm, drama and Pak, Young & Mary I had limited interest in.

I actually felt more interested in the protestors who had a valid point.

Struggled to get through this.

It's so hard to believe that this is a debut novel! Dark and hard to read, it's good, well written and full of realistic characters with deep motivations. Some parts felt like getting punched in the stomach and, yet, it was hard to stop. None of the characters are likable and I found myself taken over by the narrative and wanting some of them to pay for actions that may not necessarily have anything to do with the explosion that sets off the story. Then again, every single character is hiding something and all of the secrets combine into a deadly mixture that will inexorably take the book to its conclusion. This is not an easy, fast read, but a challenging novel that is worth the effort.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Hodder & Stoughton!

An addictive and compelling courtroom story following a terrible accident; or was there more to it than that. Multiple twists in the search for the truth with multiple possible guilty parties.