Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng #BookReview

Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. His mother Margaret, a Chinese American poet, left without a trace when he was nine years old. He doesn’t know what happened to her-only that her books have been banned-and he resents that she cared more about her work than about him.

Then one day, Bird receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, and soon he is pulled into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of heroic librarians, and finally to New York City, where he will finally learn the truth about what happened to his mother, and what the future holds for them both.

Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore the most searing injustice. It’s about the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children, and the power of art to create change.

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I was in the mood to read something a bit more profound and moving so I picked up Our Missing Hearts. This is my first read by this author although I did watch Little Fires Everywhere. Now I’m not a fan of dystopia but the world in Our Missing Hearts looks and feels almost the same as ours. It makes it quite easy to imagine… and it’s scary that this could be a world I’d find myself living in. Can you imagine a world where libraries are half empty because of all the banned books? Even children’s books, because they’re a bad influence? I loved the cover already very much but given the relevance to the story, even more now.

The world building was based on a crisis and thanks to the introduction of the rules of PACT (Preservation of American Customs and Traditions) there came an end to it and they all slowly got out of the slump. The government then took it further and further though and unfortunately in this dystopian world Asian influences are blamed for everything.

There are hints dropped about the situation of the country and how it is to live under PACT but it isn’t until the second part that is explained how it got to the current situation. The realization was daunting, for Bird when he starts to comprehend more of the world he lives in but also for me as a reader. It’s pretty bad what has happened within only a few years.

Bird’s (Noah’s) mother left when he was 9. He didn’t understand then but this girl Sadie broadens his view of the world and he starts to notice more of what is happening around him. Sadie’s one of the children who were placed elsewhere because her parents had a bad influence on her. She’s a blessing because she’s so wise and sassy. Bird is going on a quest to find his mother but what happens if he finds her? What will she tell him? Where has she been all this time? What do the messages about missing hearts mean that he sees before they are removed? There’s a whole buildup to what she’s working on and when I found it I was definitely on their team, what a great idea.

I’m not going to lie, the ending felt a bit sad for me. I wanted the world to be a better place and happiness for Bird, for his mother, for Sadie. This novel is not meant to be a happy story though. Still, the third part, especially the ending remained a little disappointing. There is no information what the results were from the actions at the end of the novel and how they all fared.

Our Missing Hearts is completely different than The Handmaid’s Tale or Vox but I’d say it’s in the same genre. This novel is relevant today and an important cautionary tale.

I bought a copy of this novel. This is my honest opinion.