Above all, a novel about how hard mothers are on themselves. No matter who we are, where we come from or our parenting challenges and successes, deep down lives the fear that we are just not a good enough mother. That the petty feelings and frustrations that erupt from time to time make us inherently toxic to our children. With that as the books core, I especially enjoyed watching the story unfold from the radically different persepctives of each of its characters, who are bound together by the tragedy that starts the book. Realistic characterizations, just enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, and an interesting look into the lives of Korean immigrant families. An excellent read.

This was an interesting look at how all of our little choices in life interact with each other to create both big and small consequences and experiences.

"But that was the way life worked. Every human being was the result of a million different factors mixing together… 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."

Miracle Creek is a courtroom drama centering around Elizabeth, a woman accused of killing her eight-year-old Autistic son, and the Yoos, a Korean immigrant family who run an experimental medical facility using hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). When an explosion occurs, killing two of the occupants in the “submarine,” evidence soon points to arson due to the remnants of a cigarette and matches being found near the point of ignition. The story follows the trial of Elizabeth, who is accused of starting the fire with the purpose of killing her son, as the drama of the courtroom unfolds.

One of the most interesting things about this novel was the intricacy in which the author wove together the stories from multiple disparate characters. As the drama unfolds, so do the lies that each of these characters have told and how those seemingly tiny and inconsequential lies have often disastrous consequences. The characters were really well-developed and interesting and sympathetic. Although I had my ideas early-on who set the fire – and ended up being correct, surprisingly – the motives behind said action were murkier to figure out. I also thought it was really interesting how much the author put herself and parts of her life in her novel – she immigrated to America from Korea when she was a young girl, she was a lawyer, she majored in philosophy in school, and her son underwent HBOT treatment.

The only thing that I didn’t like was the author’s overuse of imagery; though it was beautifully written and helped set the scene at several points in the novel, after a while it got to be too much.

Overall, I really enjoyed Miracle Creek. It was a really good read and kept me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for a copy of this eBook in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed are my own.

I requested this one on NetGalley for the express purpose of being able to give my review but I had already chosen it from BOTM. So, with that being said, I chose correctly. This is an outstanding novel that is well paced and intriguing. It offers a very believable plotline, a family that has immigrated to Miracle Creek sets up a treatment center using hyperbaric oxygen tanks to do "dives" to treat all sorts of conditions, but primarily psychiatric and neurologic disorders of childhood. One day, the operator of the center leaves the center in the hands of his wife who is less than certain of her ability to manage. She does not feel confident in running the show and naturally things go wrong. This is only the first few pages. The real story unfolds in following the trial and what happens after.

This is a terrific read and I highly recommend it.

#MiracleCreek #NetGalley

In a small town named Miracle Creek, a Korean immigrant and his wife run a hyperbaric oxygen treatment ‘submarine’ hoping to help others with many different medical conditions. One day, the submarine catches fire and explodes and injures some and leave others dead. A cigarette, matches, and a note are found where the fire started. Now they must figure out who started the fire. Was it the owner hoping to cash out on the insurance money to help his family? Was it the mother of an autistic child receiving therapy who just couldn’t take any more? Or was it someone else?

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I requested this book and I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it. It sucked me in from the beginning and I ended up LOVING it!!!! It was more of a courtroom drama type read than I expected which I absolutely loved and it kept me invested and guessing until the end. I cannot say enough good things about this book and am so sad that the book is finished! You HAVE to read this!


Thank you #NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!
#MiracleCreek #NetGalley

Miracle Submarine provides pressurized oxygen treatment to a variety of clients in a non-medical setting. Among its clientele are parents with children having various conditions for which there are no solutions, cures, answers through medicine, diagnoses such as being on the autism spectrum or cerebral palsy. Located in Miracle Creek, Virginia, the business is owned by the Yoo family, immigrants from Korea pursuing the American dream of a better life for their daughter, Mary.

BUT! Everything is about to go wrong in a horribly awful way. And we readers will be caught up in a mesmerizing tale of deception, half-truths, shades of gray to black in assessing degrees of blame and or guilt. One evening, after a day of complications and delays, there is an explosion while people are still in the tank, while a session is still under way. This novel is the outcome of that night, the reworking of all that may have happened, the trial experience, for blame is apportioned.

This is a novel of responsibility, guilt and/or innocence, the uses of blame, truth vs expedience. It’s a novel of relationships or the lack of them or how they can become warped by so many factors. How the lack of human support can have unknown echoes on future events.

Above all, it’s a thrilling read that I very strongly recommend to all. 5 strong stars.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Miracle Creek was a great mystery/courtroom drama. It’s one of those books that I didn’t want to put down. I was very impressed with this author’s debut.

The book opens with the night of the explosion and fire in the Miracle Submarine, used for HBOT medical treatment. HBOT stands for Hyperbaric oxygen therapy which is a medical treatment that uses increased atmospheric pressure and increased oxygen. The characters in the book use it for conditions such as autism, cerebral palsy, and infertility. Two people die in the fire, and it looks like it wasn’t an accident. The majority of the book is a murder trial and each character recounting the events of that night and the days leading up to the tragedy. The author pieces together info as told through several of the characters. Bit by bit we learn more truths and uncover more lies.

4.5 stars rounded to 5! Highly recommended! Looking forward to more from this author. Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

This was one of the books published in 2019 that I was looking most forward to reading! It’s a mystery novel with a thriller-like pacing, so gripping I almost fell on my face reading it while going home. I just needed to know what happened next.

In the small town of Miracle Creek, the Yoos run the Miracle Submarine, an alternative medical treatment to promote healing of the body by breathing pure oxygen. When the submarine one day explodes and two people died, secrets threaten to come to surface during the trial. Did Elizabeth plan to murder her own child?

This court mystery is absolutely enthralling. There was a surprising depth of humanity in the book, which talks a lot about immigration and fitting in, about autism, about the difficulties of being a parent to a disabled child and the joys of it, too. Even infertility is discussed honestly. I was absorbed by the story and read this in one day. I loved the multiple POV, which gave each character such depth. A really, really great book that I highly recommend!

I’m going to start by telling you that the hype and buzz surrounding this book is totally warranted, I had very high expectations after hearing from some of my most trusted friends that this was an incredible book and it exceeded them by a mile. The fact that this is a debut blows my mind, you know those rare debuts that take the literary world by storm? This is that book, it’s going to be huge and will be an extremely popular choice for book clubs for years to come, mark my words.

I don’t have the best track record with literary mysteries, I’ve only seriously enjoyed a couple but this was the best one I’ve ever read, hands down. Sometimes literary fiction in general feels like it’s trying too hard for me, all the flowery descriptions and ramblings tend to make my eyes glaze over but Kim wrote in a literary style that was pure magic. From the incredibly well crafted characters to the descriptions of the town of Miracle Creek and even to the retelling of the events of a tragedy through the eyes of several individuals, I was mesmerized, it was a totally magical reading experience.
You hear from several key people who were present the day of the accident and the story unfolds over the course of four days of trial testimony. Seeing how everyone involved had such different experiences and outlooks about not only the day in question, but also their memories from the months leading up to the event were endlessly fascinating as well. Choices played a huge role here too, how even the smallest, most seemingly innocuous decisions can have a huge impact was another thing that kept me riveted. The idea that a mundane day and a series of basic everyday choices can have consequences that add up to something no one ever saw coming still gives me the chills.

Any book with a character that has a special needs child draws me in, no matter what the subject matter, but when you have a group of parents of special needs kids and their struggles are so painfully honest and relatable, I’m a mess. This is the second book I’ve read this year that deals directly with ASD and also the second that portrays the daily life as a caretaker and advocate in such an accurate manner that I’m totally shook. Kim tapped into some of my innermost thoughts and fears about my own son, the dark and ugly fleeting things that fly through my head from time to time that once again, I felt seen, exposed even. It’s a powerful feeling making this already unforgettable book one that has earned its place as one of my favorite books of all time.

I’ll stop gabbing because we could be here all week if I don’t, but I recommend this one to everyone. If you like to read, add this one to your TBR. It’s incredible and not to be missed.

Miracle Creek in three words: Memorable, Vivid and Intoxicating

Miracle Creek is a finely layered story that goes beyond the plot details - a courtroom drama that also shows how little of the full picture we actually get in court.

Pak and Young are a couple running a business called Miracle Submarine - a pressurized oxygen chamber that patients use for alternative medicine treatments.

Right at the start, there is an explosion that kills two people - and then we jump to a year later and the trial that is occurring to determine who caused the explosion.

The story unravels from many different viewpoints and we learn what was happening with the various characters leading up to the explosion and since it happened.

It’s a great story and it was beautifully written but for some reason I wasn’t totally drawn into it. I think it may have been a case of reading it at the wrong time or my expectations from all of the buzz around it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was one intriguing read! The way this author was able to weave this story together and give us little bits and pieces paced over time was pretty amazing. I love when a book explores the legal and emotional side of an event and this one delivered. I wavered for a long time between 4 and five stars on this one so I think I am landing on a 4.5. There were just a couple parts that I found a little disturbing and thought they could have been told in a different way. Also, the conclusion of one character just felt wrong to me. I would 100% pick up another book by this author. To think that she could tell an almost flawless story as a debut work is incredible!

The Yoo family—Pak, Young, and their daughter Mary, have pinned all their American hopes and all their money on their new business. It’s a hyperbaric chamber that is supposed to help cure or improve all kinds of medical issues. Angie Kim’s new novel, Miracle Creek, begins while a session is in progress. In the chamber are two children with severe autism, one parent, and Matt, a man suffering from low sperm motility, which his wife believes can be helped by the high doses of pure oxygen pumped into the chamber. What begins as a normal treatment goes terribly wrong when the oxygen tanks explode, sending flames into the locked chamber. One boy dies, as does a parent. Matt loses fingers and Pak is paralyzed. How could this have happened and who is responsible?

This shocking opening scene also lets readers in on a lie. Pak is the licensed operator for the Miracle Submarine (as they call the hyperbaric chamber). No one else is supposed to manage things during a session. But that’s not the case at the time of the incident. This is just the first of the many lies that make Miracle Creek propulsive and hypnotic reading. But does this mean Pak is on trial? No. Elizabeth, the parent of Henry, the boy who died, is found to have planned the explosion in order to kill her son and free herself from a life in service to him that has become unbearable.

After the opening scene the novel segues immediately into the trial taking place a year later. In the same way that the defense and prosecution call witnesses, Kim lines up her characters and lets them testify to what happened not only that day, but in the days and even months before. Each has a lot of story to share, all of which they believe to be the absolute truth and none of which turns out to be the case. For every truth uncovered another lie remains hidden.

As each character tells their side of the story, Kim carefully teases out details in their lives that, on the surface, may seem unimportant or unrelated, but that later assume greater significance. There are the four years when Pak stayed in South Korea while Young and Mary lived in difficult circumstances in the U.S. Matt’s wife’s obsessive goal in adding a baby to her list of achievements. Elizabeth’s relationship, not just with her son, but with the other women in the autism community. The more you learn, the less you know. Kim heightens the tension by ending each chapter with another small twist. This could feel like manipulation, but in Kim’s hands, is irresistible.

There was a point, at about ¾ of the way through the novel, when I had a moment of feeling as Kim was reaching too far in expanding the list of suspects, but it quickly faded. It’s hard to believe this is a debut—she’s that good. Her sense of timing and character development makes Miracle Creek standout reading whether you’re a fan of mysteries, family drama, or social issues.

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim is a well-written novel that is a mystery and much more. Two people die and several are injured due to a fire and explosion at the "Miracle Submarine," a controversial treatment (extended exposure to high oxygen levels) for people with autism and other various medical issues. The author uses multiple narrators and aptly weaves the stories of the patients and their families with the history of the Korean immigrants (Pak Yoo, his wife, Young and daughter, Mary) who run the center. In addition, Kim introduces the courtroom setting where the mother (Elizabeth) of one of the children (Henry) is tried for intentionally setting the fire which killed her own son.

There is certainly plenty of angst and guilt spread around: parents who experience a range of feelings towards their children, conflicts between spouses, questions of ethics for the lawyers, and actions by protesters who debate the medical efficacy of this treatment. As the reader hurtles from one lie to another and flips back and forth between suspicion and empathy for possible perpetrators, Kim propels the story forward to its surprising conclusion. Miracle Creek was chosen as a LibraryReads selection for April and received starred reviews from Kirkus and Library Journal. An excellent choice for book groups.

I received a review copy courtesy of NetGalley.

I requested Miracle Creek on a whim, due to the blurb focusing on the courtroom drama aspect of the story, which, alas, proved to be only minor in the grand scheme of things: neither the prosecutor nor the defense are fully realised characters, with the story instead focusing on the interiority of the characters on and attending the trial taking place a year after a fire in a hyperbaric chamber ("submarine") resulted in the deaths of some of the patients and caretakers, including Henry, being "treated" for autism, and caused severe injuries to several more people. Over the course of the story, we learn more and more about the characters and the skeletons in their closets - abuse, betrayal and disloyalty - as well as the hardships they've endured.

This is very much a story in the vein of Lianne Moriarty or (I think, from what I've heard) Celeste Ng. There's a group of people (most of them parents) and they're all hiding secrets from each other. The narration jumps from one 3rd person POV to another while attempting to maintain mystery and deliver plot twists, which has its uses; however, I was increasingly frustrated with the need to mislead the readers. When yet another character seems to "confess" in their internal monologue, only for their guilt to be revealed as misplaced, the desire to find out the truth, a propelling force for a book like this, can become substituted with frustration. Ultimately, I found the solution unsatisfying and some of the final plot twists made only a limited amount of narrative sense.

In addition, the subject matter, while reportedly close to the author's own life, makes for a less than pleasant reading. This can be a tough balancing act for a mystery - an uncanny valley of sorts, making the evil interesting and terrible enough but not too real. This book seems to want to both address real, significant issues and to be a light read, and it is not strong enough to manage that. In short, while I found the realism of issues related to immigration and parenting interesting enough, aspects concerning disability felt at times didactic, at times problematic or incomplete, and overall, too depressing to result in light reading.

All the same, I'm sure some readers will enjoy the central mystery; I found the middle part to be quite gripping, even if the ending and the beginning dragged a little.

This beautifully written book satisfies on so many levels, from an immigrant experience to a whodunnit to an exploration of what it means to have a special needs child. The challenges and strong emotions. The author manages to capture so much and incorporates her own experience that adds richness and gives all a three dimensional quality.

Many of my reading friends rated this novel with a resounding five stars and, while I was able to stay engaged throughout the novel and definitely felt eager to find out how the mystery would conclude, I have to admit that there are times when I struggle to identify with stories that are so strongly positioned within the context of parenting. Having said that, Angie Kim is a brilliantly talented writer and storyteller; I love her inclusion of children with special needs, especially an autistic child and the unique challenges of his single mother. While there is certainly a mystery to solve, by the end it feels more like a tragedy; the way in which Kim weaves these two elements together is absolutely stunning and Miracle Creek is definitely worth the high praise it has received.

Pak Yoo, his wife Young and their teenaged daughter Mary are immigrants from South Korea who now live in Miracle Creek, Virginia. The family business is the operation of a hyperbaric oxygen chamber (nicknamed the miracle submarine) that is purported to cure or treat various medical conditions, including autism and infertility. The submarine is big enough to treat multiple people at a time, and during one such treatment session a fire breaks out, killing 2 people and injuring several others. The mother of one of the victims is arrested and put on trial for arson and murder. The title of this book used to be Miracle Submarine and I wish they had kept that title since it is more descriptive.

This book is described as a courtroom drama, which is misleading because very little of it takes place in a courtroom. That’s too bad, because the author is a former trial lawyer and I would have preferred more legal wrangling. Instead, we get a lot of unpleasant people who are incapable of telling the truth. By the end of the book I wanted them all to be in prison. The book is mostly about competitive mothering, but it also works in accusations of child abuse and infidelity. There are a lot of potential suspects for the arson and I kept reading to find out who did it, but I wasn’t crazy about the book.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

I adored this book. Quite a few times reading it on the tube on my commute, I'd look up to find we were still several stations away from my stop and be relieved I still had time to read it. It works brilliantly as a mystery, but the best thing about it is that every character is so perfectly rounded. There was one scene in which Elizabeth and Kitt have an argument, and the genius of it was that you could absolutely see both of their (opposing) points, knew exactly why they were so passionate about asserting their opinions to each other and perfectly understood how they could never understand each other. It was so skilfully done, and something I've seen in real life but never so elegantly expressed in literature—especially with the chapter coming from one character's third-person perspective.

Miracle Creek touches on so many issues—parental sacrifice in particular is represented through Elizabeth, Kitt and Theresa's disabled children but also through Pak and Young's immigrating to provide a better life for Mary—but it's also just incredibly readable and entertaining. The courtroom scenes, particuarly with Shannon prosecuting, were riveting.

My only one thing—and it really is just one thing—is that I couldn't help thinking this book's working title was Miracle Submarine. In fact, within the context of the book, one character points out what a better name Miracle Submarine is than Miracle Creek! Maybe the publisher felt Miracle Submarine sounded a bit too whacky, but honestly, a literary book called Miracle Submarine would get snatched off the shelves (by me)

When an explosion and fire kill two people in the Miracle Submarine treatment device, the whole town is rocked. Pak and Young Yoo have moved to America from Korea with their teen daughter Mary and have started the treatment center to give a good life to their daughter. Matt, a doctor himself, is having treatment for sterility issues. He is the only adult along with three children suffering from handicaps of their own. The Miracle Submarine is a hyperbaric chamber but large enough for the four to sit in. My father-in-law was put in one because of open wounds on his leg due to arthritis. (I could write a book about his suffering alone) It was a small one that made me claustrophobic just looking at so imagining one on a larger scale was very interesting to me. As they sit in their session, things start to go quite off course. The power goes out, the video stops, causing one of the kids to take off his helmet and start banging his head. When Young, who was left alone, runs to get batteries, she comes back to an explosion and fire.

The story takes us into the courtroom as Elizabeth Ward (my daughter’s name so that was a bit distracting for me) is charged with the murder of her son and her friend, the mother of the other boy. Things are not what they seem. There is so much going on in this book, SO much. Everyone has secret, upon, secret, upon secret, one more devastating than the other. By the time we find out how the fire started, I was emotionally exhausted.

This is so wonderfully written. To be able to get into the minds and hearts of so many characters perfectly is a gift. I really felt like I knew and understood each one’s motives, skewed as they may have been. I did not feel as if there was any villain or any hero. These were humans, flaws and all. I was left in tears. It hit every motherly instinct in me.

Miracle Creek is an incredible first novel and if this is the beginning, I cannot wait to see what comes next.

Thanks to the generosity of Netgalley and Farrar-Straus and Giroux for a copy of this wonderful book.

Loved this book! I was surprised so many times and thought many people were guilty before it was over. What a great story about parenting, special needs children, loyalty, and love. I will definitely be watching for more from this author. Well done!