Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

I’m basically speechless.

Genres: Contemporary, Fiction
Published: 16th April, 2019
Series: N/A
Rating: 5

How far will you go to protect your family? Will you keep their secrets? Ignore their lies?
In a small town in Virginia, a group of people know each other because they’re part of a special treatment center, a hyperbaric chamber that may cure a range of conditions from infertility to autism. But then the chamber explodes, two people die, and it’s clear the explosion wasn’t an accident.
A showdown unfolds as the story moves across characters who are all maybe keeping secrets, hiding betrayals. Was it the careless mother of a patient? Was it the owners, hoping to cash in on a big insurance payment and send their daughter to college? Could it have been a protester, trying to prove the treatment isn’t safe?

 

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Angie Kim’s Miracle Creek is so much more than a thrilling courtroom drama. While the trial was absolutely riveting, I loved the focus on the characters’ feelings and thoughts even more; it really brought the whole story to a whole new level.

I don’t know about you guys, but even when I’m watching documentaries on trials, I always marvel at the lawyers. How they manage to twist everything to the point where I start doubting everything I already heard. Sure the first guy was convincing, but so is the other one! Makes me wonder how the truth rarely matters. I had the same feeling with this book too.

The story unfolds through different point of views and each testimony leaves more confusion than the previous one. Whenever I would have an a-ha moment, it didn’t take long to change my mind and wonder just what the hell happened. With all that turmoil boiling inside the people involved what actually happened is almost beside the point. How can anyone come out of this happy or relieved?

There was a great deal said about motherhood, disability, parent shaming, immigrants and secrets. About how people should be able to be completely honest about their feelings, but we all know it’s not the case. One innocent comment out of context can paint you in the worst possible light. It almost makes me want to never write down anything I’ve ever thought. No matter what you do, under the right (or shall we say wrong) circumstances it can look absolutely damning and can paint you a monster.

I can’t even…