A beautiful dystopian story where librarians are the real superheroes - what’s not to like?!

Our Missing Hearts tells the story of a very real dystopian future in the US from two different perspectives. The first half is told from Bird's perspective as a child, as he deals with life where the country that he lives in has put into place “PACT” to promote patriotism and put a stop to anti-Americans, particularly Asian Americans. Laws, rules and regulations have bleed over into prejudice, racism and even downright facism. It is while this process is happening that Bird's mom, an Asian American, disappeared suddenly, in the middle of the night. Then one day he receives a letter that seems to be just a picture of cats. However, Bird remembers a story that his mother told him and starts to follow the obscure clues she has left behind. He follows clues and through the journey connects with his mother in ways he never thought he would.

The second part of the book is from Bird’s mother’s point of view, beautiful and heart breaking. It is a love story from mother to son.

Two of my favourite parts were related to the power of books and stories! What my entire life is pretty much about. The librarians in this book are the heroes. They are the ones who understand the value of information- how to gather it, keep it and share it, and this becomes so very vital in the book. The other part I really love was the folk story she tells about the cats. The author gives the back story to this in the author's notes, but the way it worked in the story was so beautiful and important and was something I kept thinking about after the book was done. It was this story that bonded the mum and son together, and helped them find each other in the end.

The thing about this book is that it is so terrifying is the fact that the things described could happen and the beginning of the process is arguably happening in the US right now.
Speculative fiction, worthy of someone like Margaret Atwood.
Adored this.

*OUR MISSING HEARTS *

The descriptive writing in this novel is beautiful and evocative, the subject felt hard and heavy at times. Ng really captured the increasingly oppressive and hostile atmosphere of the story and seeing this through the eyes of the child protagonist, Bird, in the first half of the book, made this even more jarring and uneasy but also gave us a small sense of hope & innocent optimism .

Its a powerful and thought provoking read, but its no easy page turner. I can read quickly but I felt I had to concentrate on the words on every page, maybe this was as much to do with the subject as the writing itself, which has been so thoughtfully crafted. It is an important reminder about how fear and propaganda and can make ordinary people turn a blind eye to injustice, mixed with an emotional story about families, motherhood and division.

"On the best days everyone ignores him; most days he's picked on or pitied. He's not sure which he dislikes more but he blames both on his mother."

Celeste Ng's poetic, masterfully written novel is about motherhood and love that pushes all boundaries, about a father who wants to protect his son at all costs, about eternal friendship that overcomes all differences, be they political, racial, or generational, ...

After the big crisis, the country is governed by PACT, Preserving American Culture and Traditions. PACT keeps things peaceful and safe. If you act unpatriotic, there would be consequences. There is always someone watching. There is always someone wanting to check. Suspicious eyes swivel to those with foreign faces and foreign names.


Bird's mother is long gone and he lives with his father, anonymously, almost secretly, following all the rules. And yet, he wants to know why his mother left him, he wants her back, and he wants her to want him back, too.

Bird begins to uncover all the secrets surrounding him since his mother's departure. How can he know, if no one teaches him, and no one ever talks about it, and all the books about it are gone?

He is convinced that she’s out there somewhere. Organizing protests. Fighting PACT.


A very current book that covers everything that is happening in the world today and has already happened in the human past. Human nature remains the same, but only some manage to rise above the given circumstances and start their own revolution.

It takes only one voice to speak into the darkness, carrying messages of love and giving us back our missing hearts.

An extraordinary and unforgettable book.

This is a wonderful book, set in a dystopian future where the state has set new rules of behaviour under the PACT law, to preserve American traditions. This includes what you are allowed to think and say, and China has been blamed for everything that was once wrong with society. There is a new designation POA, people of Asian origin, and anyone with any sign of Asian heritage is at risk of rejection and violence.
The story is told from the perspective of Bird, the son of Ethan, who is white, and Margaret, who is Chinese. Bird is told that Margaret has abandoned the family, but misses his mother.
To talk about the plot would spoil the book, but it is beautifully-written. The troubles of the family are so sad, and the idea of a world like this is terrifying, partly because it feels almost possible.
highly recommended.

This book is very different from Celeste Ng previous novels. A thought provoking book with a dark dystopian theme of children being removed from their parents if the 'state' felt their young minds were being corrupted by their parents. PACT - Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act. I did not really feel a connection to the characters in this book. Promising to start but then I lost interest. Not really for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group for the advance copy of this book.

Celeste Ng has written what is one of my favourite books this year, a razor sharp examination of an America blind to the chilling horrors, injustice and heartbreak it perpetrates in a near future world that feels all too unsettlingly real. Young Bird Gardner lives a below the radar existence with his broken father, a former linguist working in the library at Harvard. Bird knows not to ask too many questions, he must not be noticed, aiming to merge into the background. For years, since a nightmare crisis, their lives have been governed by PACT, laws written to preserve 'American culture', apparently aiming to preserve stability and restore prosperity. The government can now remove and relocate children of activists, usually of Asian origin, the internet is far from free and certain content is censored whilst libraries must remove books seen as unpatriotic. Bird's mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet, left the family to protect him when he was nine years old in order to protect him.

Bird misses his mother, but is unaware of what happened to her, and is unfamiliar with her work, however when he receives a strange letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he bravely embarks on a dangerous mission to find out all he can about Margaret. This takes in the many folktales she told him as a child, where libraries are part of the resistance, and the lives of children, like Sadie, who have been taken, and the surprising nature of the organised fightback. We hear Margaret's story and get a picture of how America got here, the powerful rhetoric of rage and hate, the racism, police brutality, a targeted bigotry that led to surveillance and reporting of others, normalising the inequalities that arise and how a mother's love for her child leads to her going on the run.

Bird is Margaret's missing heart, but her suffering and that of other Asian Americans and their children are not the only wrongs, American society is losing its heart too in its blindness and cruel inhumanity, a truly heavy price to pay. Ng writes a beautiful and searing account of a mother's love for her son, art, of abuse of power, race, separation, activism and protest, whilst retaining sparks of hope. This is a profoundly thought provoking read, disturbingly prescient and sadly carrying strong elements of a truth of what is already happening. It should be noted that the removal of children from families is far from unknown in our human history. Cannot recommend this highly enough. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

This book is a slight departure from Little Fires Everywhere and Everything I never Told you. Set in a sort of dystopian future, 9 year old Bird searches for his mother who left him with his quiet father. Exploring lots of complex themes, it's not a light hearted read.
I did enjoy it but not as much as the others. Thanks for the opportunity to try it!

I have been looking forward to this all year. Celeste Ng is one of my favourite authors, I have loved both Little Fires Everywhere and Everything I Never Told You - Our Missing Hearts is another triumph.
5 stars, one of my books of the year.

Very thought provoking. Loved the friendship between Bird and Sadie, the world building is brilliant and terrifying in its believability, but overall I wasn't blown away by Our Missing Hearts. It's a great read, there's a lot to think about and the characters are solid, but it's not as intense as I was expecting, and I don't think it's as memorable as her others.

This novel feels something of a departure for NG, whose previous books I have loved. This is no exception, It's a real page turner and chillingly prescient, set in the near future. The story centres around Bird a 9 year old boy who lives with his father in an apartment attached to the University in Cambridge, Mass. His mother, Margaret has disappeared following fears that if she stayed Bird would be taken from the family. Bird searches for his mother and finds her for a short time but discovers that she is in fact ever present in her poetry and in the minds and hearts of his family and others. It sounds a bit twee but it's really isn't. This is a touching story of fear and love and family.Told first through Bird's eyes then through Margaret's it's beautifully done and we never feel lectured..The heartbreaking reality of being abused for looking different is shown compassionately and with genuine feeling.. Chidlren being separated from parents happens all the time in the USA and elsewhere. The state has ultimate control over our children something you only know once you've been at risk.

The rise in racism against Asian people during the early stages of the Covid Pandemic is what Ng credits for the inspiration for this chilling novel but there have been instances forever of how the US ( and other countries) views Asian peoples to be a threat. At this exact moment I can read multiple stories blaming China for the economic situation and I know of individuals who have been targeted and face abuse daily. It isn't really fiction , it's a foretelling.
Highly recommend. Thank you for my ARC via NetGalley

Absolutely humbling and enlightening. Our Missing Hearts explores Anti-Asian sentiment and racism and how this is devastating masqueraded as patriotism or keeping a country safe. This is particularly poignant due to the Covid-19 pandemic that saw a sickening surge in racism of all kinds ,in particular towards the Asian community.

Frighteningly, this is happening world wide including here in the UK too.

We meet the lovely Bird who longs to know more about His Mother, Margaret Miu, after being separated for many years. A famous activist and poet. Bird is used to having to keep a low profile and this is the story of what happens when tries to find Her.

A tender, enlightening read.

An Absolute heartbreaker of a dystopian novel. This story really shows the lengths we would go to protect those we love.

The concept of the story isn't far from what our human race has experienced. It's almost like a beacon of what could be in the not so distant future.

This book is about a family, about loss, love, grief, about being brave and courageous in the search for the TRUTH.
An Absolute must read!!

A huge thank you to Netgalley, Celeste Ng, & Little Brown Book Group for the E-ARC in exchange for my review.

An absolute joy. This is one the most talented writers of our time. 3rd book is brilliant as the first two. 5/5. I’d give it 10 if possible.

Well written and very timely. Another good book by Ng but so different from her previous books. All said, I did enjoy it.

My first by this author and it won’t be my last. This was utterly gripping and so well written as it examines powerful societal issues. Would highly recommend if you are a fan of the author.

Our Missing Hearts, Celeste Ng

Bird and his Father have lived a quiet, contained life since his Mother left. Under the strict laws of PACT went into effect, under the guise of protecting American interests PACT has been removing children from dissidents, particularly those of Asian origin as well as removing books from libraries and turning a blind eye to hate crimes.
Bird’s Mother has joined a resistance, one inspired by her poetry and Bird is determined to find her.

Celeste Ng is a writer of immense talent, Little Fires and Everything I Never Told You were spectacular works which dove deeply into complicated and complex relationships.
Our Missing Hearts is her best work yet, devastatingly beautiful and bitter. This is a political work, but if you’ve read Ng before you’ll know she is unafraid to tackle subjects that need discussing. Here she has created a world that feels remarkably familiar, one with an underlying current of hope. This book will remain on my mind for a long time.

A boy and his father live within a dysfunctional America, where suspicions of anti American feelings have led to children being taken from families who question the status quo. Friends and neighbours report on each other, and fear pervades everyone’s life. Bird’s mother left a few years ago, and his father won’t talk about her, has burnt her books and denies her existence. She is of Chinese origin, and this is part of the problem, her “otherness” and indeed Bird’s are cause for accusations of disloyalty.
This scenario is all too familiar, in time of anti Chinese fervour over the rise of Covid. The story is well told, and the characters are very real seen through the eyes of a twelve year old who needs to find out what happened to his mother.

Our Missing Hearts* by Celeste Ng is technically a dystopian tale but, boy does it feel like it could be a reality that is just around the corner. America is in the grips of anti-Asian sentiment and PACT, the laws by which American culture should be protected - at all costs. Bird is 12 and his Asian-American mother, a poet turned reluctant activist, leaves rather than risk having her son taken away to a “more appropriate” all-American family. We see the regime through Bird’s eyes as he tries to come to terms with the loss of his mother and the questions that go unanswered. Very thought provoking and very different from Ng’s usual work.

I was very excited when Netgalley gave me an advance copy of Celeste Ng’s latest book “Our missing hearts” I think this is the first time that Celeste has written a dystopian novel but it’s so credible, it is almost like a true story reflecting what is going on now and in our past. At the end of the book Celeste has listed books that we might like to read following on from issues she has raised in her book. This has encouraged me to write at the end of this review my own thoughts on one of the main issues raised that of children being forcefully removed from their families for not being totally committed to PACT - “preserving American culture and traditions”. These children were usually Asian or partly Asian. PACT is the result of Crisis which was an economic depression where many families lost jobs, houses and could not afford to eat.
The main character is Noah whose other name is Bird. The first part of the book is seen through his eyes and the second through the eyes of his mother, Margaret. Bird was not taken away from his home as his Chinese mother whose poetry was put on the banned list, took herself away to spare her son.
However, Bird’s friend Sadie was removed from her family. Bird’s father wanted to keep Bird safe encouraging him never to question authority.
It would be a total spoiler to discuss the ending but it is the ending I would have expected of Celeste. The issues raised are dark but Celeste writes beautifully and her characters are well formed. As a librarian, how nice it is to have the stereotype reversed. Librarians play a very active role in the book.
Covid has made some people turn against China where the virus allegedly started and some Asian people have been blamed and so it is possible to see how a story like this one could indeed happen and in some ways did happen in Nazi Germany.
However, it is the issue of stolen children that affected me most. If you have seen the film “”Rabbit-proof fence”, you will know exactly what happened in Australia. For my own part, I volunteered for a while in the Archives at Nazareth House. Nazareth House is now a care home and run by wonderful Sisters and other carers but this has not always been the case. It was once a children’s home and while working in the archives, I came across heartbreaking stories of children who were sent to countries such as Australia without the knowledge of their parents. These children were often meant to be in care just for a short time. Their names and dates of birth were often changed. It was not just Nazareth House where this happened. Investigations are taking place to this day.
Much food for thought in this book!

I enjoyed reading this book. Very topical book in our world covering politics, race, society and family. It was an enjoyable read. First book of the authors I have read. Makes you think a lot about what today's society is like and scary implementation of the future.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion