Our Missing HeartsOur Missing Hearts
What it's about
In a future America where a law called PACT bans anything considered 'un-American', especially anything Asian, children of dissenters are taken from their families. Bird, a twelve-year-old boy, whose Chinese American mother, a poet, left when he was nine, sets out to find her.
Why it's worth reading
It was a Goodreads Choice finalist. It's a moving dystopia by the author of Little Fires Everywhere.
You'll love it if you liked
Little Fires Everywhere
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Wind Knows My NameGood to know
It deals with family separation.
By the numbers
- Readers8 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics0 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller49 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
On our reserve shelf: it's well reviewed, but isn't currently a prize winner, a lifetime bestseller or a book everyone's talking about, so we don't rank it. We check again every month, and it can still turn up in your 50 once you've read most of our ranked books.
Why it made the list
Reads as
Adventurous, Thought-provoking, Dark
More by Celeste Ng
Little Fires Everywhere
Everything I Never Told YouIf you like this, read next
The Tainted Cup
A Drop of Corruption
The Will of the Many
The Everlasting
Cloud Cuckoo Land
BabelExplore the best-of lists
All 36 best-of lists →
Quick answers
Is Our Missing Hearts worth reading?
It was a Goodreads Choice finalist. Its Must-Read Score is 56.8 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Our Missing Hearts about?
In a future America where a law called PACT bans anything considered 'un-American', especially anything Asian, children of dissenters are taken from their families. Bird, a twelve-year-old boy, whose Chinese American mother, a poet, left when he was nine, sets out to find her.
How long does it take to read Our Missing Hearts?
About 7 hours (285 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Our Missing Hearts?
If you liked it, try Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood or The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende.