This incredible book is taking the world by storm, and for good reason. Young and Pak Yoo are treating people who have a variety of medical issues with a device they call the Miracle Submarine, in reality a pressurized oxygen tank. Members of the mental health community, in particular are hoping this may be a cure for autism. But all hell breaks loose, literally, when the chamber explodes, killing two people. The cause of the explosion is unknown, but there are suspects, from Young and Pak themselves, to the mother of an autistic child that was receiving treatment from the Yoos. There is a spectacular trial, one that lays bare ugly truths about caring for an autistic family member, affairs, money and sheer desperation. Above all, this is a book about truth, and the many versions it can take, depending on whom you ask

This is really a gripping read with such an interesting subject. I love courtroom dramas, but what I liked in this book was the way it was told. We're introduced "X did Y" in the start of the book, but as the past and characters are explored, everything is revealed slowly and the development is SO GOOD!
The start was a bit confusing, due to the terminology and I took my time to figure out what's going on, but once that's clicked, it was such an enjoyable read. highly recommended.

I had to take some time away to really process this book. It wasn't easy. Miracle Creek absolutely ripped my heart out. It's a fantastic, utterly thrilling courtroom drama; it's a mystery, perhaps a murder mystery; and alongside these things, it's also a powerful character study that examines immigration, parenthood, grief, disability and caregiving.

The trial and the mystery are the compelling backdrop here, but this book explores so many things that it's hard to know where to begin describing it.

It's now a year since the night that took two lives and injured several others. Elizabeth, the single mother of one of the victims, is on trial for murder. On the night in question, she dropped her son off for his HBOT treatment and purportedly left to drink wine and smoke cigarettes nearby-- the same cigarettes responsible for the blast that killed her son while she was absent.

HBOT was new to me. It's a kind of oxygen treatment said to improve everything from male infertility to autism, and the author has personal experience with it. Elizabeth's son was on the autism spectrum and, as we soon see, the pressure of looking after him was pushing her to the edge. Whether it was enough for her to murder her son, though, is the real question. The more we learn, the less implausible it sounds.

But there are many other characters in this book and they all play an important role. The third person narration moves through each of their perspectives, filling in the night in question, piece by piece. Each person is fleshed-out and flawed. Kim explores them all in depth, creating so many intimate portraits that all come together to form a bigger picture.

The HBOT facility was started by Pak and Young Yoo. As Korean immigrants, they have had to struggle with the dismissal of their business as silly "Eastern medicine", and with being forced apart when Young and their daughter first came to the United States without Pak. I was especially moved by the discussions about language barriers. Pak is a smart and eloquent man in his native language, but he suffers the indignity of appearing unintelligent in his broken, accented English.

Another interesting discussion was that about the "fetishization" of Asian women. Janine really struggles with her feelings about it. On the one hand, she thinks it is a potential problem, but she also wonders why men who have a preference for blondes do not get accused of having a “fetish”. Why, she wonders, are Asian women portrayed as something perverse?

I think I could write my own book about all the avenues this fascinating book goes down. I haven't even said anything about the in-depth look at parenting and parental sacrifice. But I should stop before this review becomes ridiculously long.

The final way I will summarize Miracle Creek is that it's a book about so many interesting characters who all want the best for their family, but grind themselves into the ground in the process - Elizabeth driven to the edge by parenting an autistic child, Pak the lonely “goose father” who wants the best for his family, Young who worked such long hours that she alienated her daughter, and there are others too.

I found it such a beautiful and sad literary mystery.

The key thing I liked about this book is that, as the reader you find out who si responsible for the crime before any of the characters. That essentially shifts what begins as a 'whodunnit' novel to a story that instead questions your morals and values in many different ways. I loved how it explores different family and cultural relationships as well but including a criminal twist.

“My husband asked me to lie. Not a big lie. He probably didn’t even consider it a lie, and neither did I, at first . . .”
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I mean, with an opening like that, can anyone blame me that I was sucked in right from the start?
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Of all my anticipated releases this year, so far, this was the only one that actually lived up to the hype and blew my socks off. Which is saying lot because I’m the kind of picky reader who spends more time picking out things that are wrong with the book I’m reading instead of actually enjoying the reading experience.
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I loved everything this book was about. A Korean immigrant family. A courtroom drama. Parenting. Cultural identity. Immigration.
And many more that you just have to read to fully appreciate.
If this is a debut novel, I can only imagine what Angie Kim comes up with next.
Review also posted on Instagram.

Really enjoyed this. Beautifully told and always the question of whodunnit - Seen too from the perspective of the protagonists and certainly gave me pause for thought on the nature of racism and bigotry.

This book was unlike any other I've read. I'm a huge mystery/thriller fan but I'd yet to read a courtroom drama and this sets the bar exceptionally high now for the genre. Angie Kim throws a story at you where you're forced to look at the darker side of people, but, not because they're evil but because they are simply human. There are tough decisions to face, and even tougher consequences as ever action echoes a 'what could have been' had the person not made that choice. And that's the best part, each character is held accountable to their thoughts and actions. You also face a harsher reality of what families/people face when they choose to try and better their families lives by moving to America.

There is the story of a Korean family and its choice to move to the USA and how it affects them, there are the choices of a husband and wife pushed to the point of breaking over cultural (in-laws) and lifestyle differences and what they do to ease the tension, for better or extremely worse, and there are the choices of women with children all different in their own way, and the difficulties that come from their parenting choices, their children and their needs, and outside pressure. Honestly, this book was superb in every way. I would recommend this book in a heartbeat to anyone wanting to read a gripping and dramatic contemporary work of fiction.

Content warning: Sexual assault, death, death of children, abuse, suicide

This is a truly wonderful read full of moral dilemmas and “what if’s” and it’s so much more than just a courtroom drama, heartbreakingly sad yes but also a very “real” book with a cast of fabulously written characters.
A mother accused of starting a fire but did she do it, well there are many secrets in the story and characters with things to hide, was it an accident or deliberate murder and for what reason would someone start a fire that would end in such a devastating way. These are questions we ask ourselves as we read the book and it’s a hard read at times and can be disturbing as characters admit their frailty but it’s so beautifully written it really is a story not to missed.
So for me it’s a 4+ star read and I can highly recommend it and many many thanks to Angie Kim for a truly brilliant book.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I tried. I really, really tried to get into this book. Hundreds of people have given it five star reviews and are saying this is gripping and fascinating. The reality? It's kind of all over the place. The story, as we begin to learn about its intricacies in the setting of a courtroom is interesting, I'll give it that. However, the way it's told is pretty awful. We have multiple perspectives across the novel with plenty of tangents and long paragraphs about 'feelings' and 'symoblism' which definitely did not need to be there. About ten characters are introduced all at once and you feel like you've been thrown into quicksand.
I honestly think was probably a good story with a good message, but it's told really badly. I think the structure is off and perhaps needed a few more drafts before it was properly published.

Perfect for fans of Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere - I adored this tense courtroom drama centred around an Korean immigrant family, a small town, and parents making impossible decisions.