Finding Hope in a Dystopian America: A Review of Our Missing Hearts

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng follows Bird, a young boy in a world controlled by government censorship. When he receives a mysterious letter, it leads him on a journey to find who sent it to him. He starts uncovering the truth about the government and learns about an underground resistance that is quietly spreading across the land, using art as their weapon. It teaches Bird how powerful stories can be, especially when driven by love.

Ng sets the novel in a dystopian society that eerily mirrors a possible future for the United States. Ng draws on historical patterns of extreme racism and book banning to create a society where fear controls the lives of the people. The novel shows the damaging effects of authoritarianism and how people quietly resist through writing and reading. It’s told through Bird’s point of view and offers a childlike perspective that creates empathy for children experiencing racism and family isolation. Bird is a dynamic character, shown through his growing awareness as he uncovers the truth behind PACT (Preserving American Culture and Traditions), a controlling government force that eliminates “anti-American” elements in writing and art (Ng 148). 

As PACT targets Asian Americans and literature, Bird begins to wonder if his mother’s disappearance is connected to it, especially since she is of Asian descent (Ng 24). His curiosity grows after receiving a mysterious letter filled only with drawings of cats—no words (Ng 10). This leads the novel to explore not just the political impact of censorship but also the personal struggles it causes. For example, Bird’s father closely monitors him because Bird is half Asian, and his father fears he could be targeted by PACT (Ng 27). This creates tension between them and makes Bird want to understand why his father is so worried and if it’s tied to his mother’s disappearance. Ng shows how powerful art can be, even in simple cat sketches, as Bird starts to see that the anti-PACT movement uses symbols to communicate their messages (Ng 19). Realizing his mother might be connected to the group, and possibly even wrote the letter, it drives him to keep going on his journey to decode it—a slow reveal of the truth behind his family’s conflicts that’s hard to stop reading.

Ng focuses on the personal effects of a controlling government, which brings an intimate, almost emotional weight to broader political themes. The novel asks how far a government will go to maintain power—and how far a mother will go to protect her child. In a time of rising book bans and racial injustice, Our Missing Hearts serves as both a warning against oppression and a testament to the strength of defiance fueled by passion.

Emma Folska is earning her AFA in Creative Writing at Anoka-Ramsey Community College.