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jjs1001's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Death
Minor: Child abuse and Alcohol
sarah984's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The main characters are a group of Asian American students at an exclusive private school, brought together through a mutual friendship of sorts with a popular girl and through what the pov character refers to as "The Incident": something that they had all participated in two years before and sworn to secrecy about. It's obvious what the thing was and the way the narrative dances around it is annoying. The popular girl dies suddenly, and suddenly the friends are being threatened via social media using secrets only the dead girl knew. The resolution to this is ridiculous and some of the secrets are a bit silly.
The better part of the story is the focus on the characters themselves, especially Nancy. As the daughter of immigrants who gave up everything to come to America there is immense pressure to perform, be strong, and reach that elusive American Dream. The way this plays out in Nancy's relationship with her mother was really well done. The other characters are less three dimensional but do illustrate this in various ways.
I liked the ending in the way that it demonstrated who Nancy was at her core - this isn't a game but she's going to win it - but it bugged me that the reader never gets to find out what the big secret is.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Minor: Blood, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Racism
saumya29's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, Drug use, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
alyxinthestars's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Murder, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, and Death
Minor: Suicide, Abandonment, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
soljovis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
0.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Suicide
Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury
aargot1's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, and Murder
Moderate: Abandonment, Xenophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Addiction
Minor: Body shaming
luxvestravitae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
sarahmreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I think I might have found one of my fave new mystery novels? How We Fall Apart follows Nancy Luo, a scholarship student at one of the most prestigious private institutions in the country, and her friends as they discover that their spoiled "friend" Jamie is now dead. While trying to discover who had done it, another threat of the anonymous Proctor looms over them, threatening to let loose their secrets to the school and ruin their reputations. Will Nancy and crew discover the truth, or will their truths destroy them?
This story left me gasping and close to throwing my Kindle across the room in the best ways. There were some good twists that left me shook, but others that I did end up predicting. I can say that I definitely did not guess the identity of the Proctor though. The other main mystery of Jamie I did end up guessing after halfway through the book or later. And I do think it was foreshadowed in the best ways, which I sadly can't get into because of spoilers, but it was a mystery I'm glad was done the way it was.
One of my favorite aspects of the story wasn't the mystery or the thriller, but about the important discussions that resulted from the narrative. There was a LOT of inner dialogue and description throughout the story about cultural expectations on kids that don't come from typical American families. There's a push for them to be great because of what the family went through to get to where they are at this point in the story and what downfalls may come from such a push. We see this primarily I believe in Jamie, who always thought she was better just because of her status. But there is always so much more happening under the surface and it was shown beautifully in the most painful ways.
I also really liked the relationship dynamics between characters. There was Peter and Nancy, which highlights the toxic dynamics that can result from teacher and student relationships. But my favorite had to be with Nancy and Jamie. Their "friendship" and the tension between them is exactly what I experienced from a toxic friend, now ex-friend. There will always be those moments that will try to convince you that this person is good deep down, but their actions and their way of "excusing it" reflected a lot in what I dealt with. You want to help them, but sometimes you can't, and they need to be the one to realize that they are in the wrong and they need to learn from that on their own. Nancy and Jamie's past showed the highs and lows, not just the bad, and really emphasized the brutality of a toxic friendship.
I will admit that a few of the flashbacks felt a little unnecessary as they rehashed some points already made, but most of them felt pretty helpful to understand characters more, especially when it came to Jamie. On another point, there was also a content warning as well as a huge dedication to book influencers at the end, which really made me feel valued at both the beginning and the end of this novel.
How We Fall Apart is the diverse, jaw-dropping, powerhouse mystery that we have needed for so long, and I cannot wait to dive into more of this world!
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Violence, Suicide, Sexual content, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Addiction
booksthatburn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I love Nancy as an unabashed morally grey character. She has things she wants and lines she won’t cross (at least so far), but those lines don’t seem to be dictated by other people’s expectations. It’s the difference between wanting to not be bad and not wanting to get caught. Jamie Ruan, only present in flashbacks, is a fascinating and complex character, shown in a way that makes it easy to understand why Nancy would both hate her so much and have been her friend for so long. I don't feel like I really got to know Krystal and Akil that well in the present, Alexander had much more of a presence, and Jamie's shadow loomed large over the whole thing.
I wish “The Incident” hadn’t spent so long being teased before finally being explained because I prefer feeling like I could guess what’s happening before it’s revealed and this style meant I couldn’t, but the payoff was worth it and I ended up liking the final revelation. Glancing back through the early parts of the book, it had some pretty consistent but subtle foreshadowing as to who was involved, even thought I'm pretty sure it would be tricky to guess why one a first read.
The ending begs for a sequel and it looks like one is planned. As it stands, there’s enough closure to be satisfying, but it teases potential future developments that I hope can play out in another volume.
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship