Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - How We Fall Apart

This mystery is incredibly tantalizing and will leave you frustrated, angry, and maybe even a little set on revenge.

How we fall apart is a tale of how destructive it can be to be the child of immigrant parents. It forces you to come to terms with all the ways your parents may have harmed you despite their love for you. And it puts a mirror up to the delusion immigrants drink in when coming to the United States.

Though I enjoyed this book, I was quite disappointed with the ending on how it was left with two of the characters. One particular character deserves to be in JAIL. And the other let their minimal character development flush down the drain.

Katie Zhao did an amazing job with her descriptions, attention to detail, and a shocking twist at the climax of this story. Where Zhao and possibly the editors have fallen short, is the character development for the main characters. There was a lot of potential to have certain people grow by the conclusion of this book. Though I love the theme of revenge throughout this book nonetheless.

If you are someone who thinks about revenge fantasies and loves a murder mystery, this novel is for you!

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unhxly's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Enjoyable plot but I wanted more, for example classicism and privelege was touched on but not talked about as indepth as I would've liked. The ending was pretty underwhelming.

We barely know the main villain, so the emotional impact wasn't there.

Enjoyed that there was a diverse cast, need to see more of that in the dark academia space.

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amandalorianxo's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

3.25/3.5 rating rounded up. A compelling read for those who enjoyed the central theme of Ace of Spades, Pretty Little Liars and One of Us is Lying. This definitely is a little more intense and darker than PLL though so be warned that suicide thoughts, verbal abuse and drug substance is mentioned / discussed. Unfortunately, a lot of Asian Americans are presented as the model minority and a lot of teens suffer because they want to live up to their parents sacrifices. This showcases the lives of four specific teens in a private school located in NY. Granted, we only get one specific POV but the general gist of what they all feel / think. There is a sequel to this so here’s to hoping we get Alex, Krystal and Akil’s POV’s too.

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kateelissa's review against another edition

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4.0

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jessicagill's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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blueberry0531's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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yogyaa's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

it was a nice book but I felt like a lot of things were drawn from one of us is lying

em being the protactor was kinda predictable but Louisa being em, it wasn't

overall I just didn't feel really connected to the characters and I REALLY didn't like Peter. Altho I will be intrested to read the whole "secret of the golden trio"

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