Miracle Creek

by Angie Kim

[zooloo1983]

WOW!

There you go that’s my review….what no? You want more? Seriously!

I am at a loss for words and how I have lost count how many times I have written this review and deleted it. I do not think I can do this book any justice. This book is one where I didn’t race through the pages, I took my time with it. Basically, a week to read it! I love courtroom dramas, and this was just riveting reading. Spanned over a few days, you see the case in so much detail. You live the line of questioning and cross-examinations, and the diagrams in the book were brilliant all adding to the finite detail. Whilst you are sitting in the courtroom, you are shown the past, learning what happened days leading up to the explosion. However, not only this, you are living the present day with all the characters while the case is going on and the day to day outside the courtroom. The breath of the detail in this book is mesmerising. Miracle Creek demands and deserves your full attention. There are a lot of voices in this book, so you do need your concentration hat on, but this did not bother me in the slightest. I was hooked and intrigued by everyone, their lives, their stories and how they all became messily entwined in each other’s lives. I knew when I was lacking attention when I kept reading the same paragraph three or four times…epic fail!

Wow, this book. It pushes you to think, what would you do if you had a child deemed as not ‘normal’. Would you push for all the treatments or would you give up? The Miracle Submarine, a safe haven, an oxygen tank, but how would you cope when your child is not improving like others. Is it easier to have a child to improve or to not? Just some of the things you question when reading Miracle Creek.

Elizabeth is standing trial for murdering her son, Henry, when he was receiving treatment for his autism and her friend, Kitt and we relive through the court case the days leading up to both their deaths and what truly happened that fateful night. I really couldn’t see where this was all going to go, I mean did Elizabeth set the fire to the oxygen tanks? Or was she set up? When you initially meet Elizabeth, well I for one didn’t like her. To me, this was her getting her comeuppance, right? But was she? All the stories and destinies are linked to this fateful night. No one knows how to tell the truth and when it does come out, it’s painful to read. I found I was crying by the end; every action and misconstrued conversation has a consequence and some people had to deal with the biggest ones.

A lot of people I think have been put off by this book, because of the number of different voices, but please do try to pick it up. It’s such a moving and emotive story. A Korean family leaving everything behind to help other families, to give hope to them and their children. The camaraderie with these women, the mums, connecting with how they can’t cope with the pressures of having a child deemed as not “normal” because they have a disability. You see the low and raw times and my heart broke for them. These women were heroes and they found strength each day to carry on. It made me sit back and think about how I would be, I know the decisions I would make but life is not always that simple.

I had in my head the outcome of the court case, but I was flummoxed and speechless, I did not see somethings happening and when they did well just WOW. What Kim has done with this book is powerful and moving. It is tough to talk about the detail in the book and the characters without giving any spoilers away, it is blinking tough as there is so much I would discuss with you. However, without spoiling the ending, I cried, I cried because of the loss, the unnecessary loss and the strength of the people to do the right thing. I cried because of the injustice of a couple of the character was unfair in my eyes, the actions had consequences and some consequences were not justifiably dealt with.

This is the first book for me by Angie Kim, and I can say it won’t be the last. My god, I think that Miracle Creek might always sit in the back of my mind. There was so much in this book, I was never bored, and I loved all the minute details. The little shack that the Yoo’s lived in, the Miracle Submarine, even Miracle Creek, I could have been there, I could smell the forest around them, hear the creek, so peaceful before the explosion. It is cleverly constructed, detailed and a beautifully woven story of love, life, family and trust. Every character is flawed, they have all done or said something that when taken out of context made them look guilty, making you question their motives. I am putting this in my list for book contender for sure (this list is out of control) as I was so invested in everyone’s stories and heartbreak.

It is a book that wants you to look past the facade of life, look at what is in front of you and it will make you question, what would you do for the person you love?