Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng Book Review

Title: Our Missing Hearts
Author: Celeste Ng
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: October 4, 2022
Pages: 335

Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. Bird knows to not ask too many questions, stand out too much, or stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve “American culture” in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic—including the work of Bird’s mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old.

Bird has grown up disavowing his mother and her poems; he doesn’t know her work or what happened to her, and he knows he shouldn’t wonder. But when he receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, 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 librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York City, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.

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My Thoughts

Bird Gardner lives with his father in a quiet dorm by the university library where his father works, keeping their heads down low. His mother had disappeared three years prior, her presence in their lives almost completely gone. She's a forbidden topic to talk about but Bird can't help but wonder about her whereabouts.

Who ever thinks, recalling the face of the one they loved who is gone: yes, I looked at you enough, I loved you enough, we had enough time, any of this was enough?

Then Bird receives a hint that she's alive. The buried past can't stay buried for long as Bird goes against his father and the safety measures surrounding his life. He sets out to locate his mother, using clues he believes will lead him to her. 

Why did I tell you so many stories? Because I wanted the world to make sense to you. I wanted to make sense of the world, for you. I wanted the world to make sense.

Star Rating: ★★★★☆ (4)

The point of view is so unique. Rather than telling the story from Bird's POV, it's told in the third person perspective. Part I of the book is all about Bird, Part II is all about his mom, and Part III is where everything comes together, all while still in the third person.

In addition, there are no quotation marks in the novel which is really interesting. For dialogue between characters, sometimes I found myself stopping to reread what was said to try and piece together the conversation. 

Overall, Our Missing Hearts was a beautiful book about grief, motherhood, and fighting for what is right. It truly is a touching story and had an ending I was content with.  

About the Author

Celeste grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Shaker Heights, Ohio. She graduated from Harvard University and earned an MFA from the University of Michigan (now the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan).  Her fiction and essays have appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian, and many other publications, and she is a recipient of the Pushcart Prize, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among other honors.