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sarah984's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
I liked the more realistic aspects of this book but the mystery aspect was disappointing and somehow I liked and disliked the ending in equal measure.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
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
thereadingshelf's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Abandonment, Bullying, and Death
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship
deadbookishsociety's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Trigger warnings : death, overdose , drug abuse , racism , classism , murder, underage drinking, grooming , arson
This book left me shook , I couldn't really write or speak about it and I had to gather my thoughts before I even thought about what happened in the book, it was so fast paced and perfect that I didn't even realize I read the whole book in less than 24 hours , it was griping , shocking and very entertaining.
I have read so many thriller in the past few months but I never saw the twist coming in this book , they always were foreshadowed but I didn't really spotted them until that actually happened .
For this book the mystery was just a part of it, it wasn't the main thing or theme of the book , this book showed us a part of how it is it be a person of colour in a place where the systemic racism is so deep rooted how a poc has to go through so much to prove their worth and the fact that they deserve to be there and so is the situation for classism , how there is a vast barrier between people just because how much they earn or what position they hold in society.
How we fall apart is about friendship , love , identity , betrayal and how far you are willing to go to make a place for yourself in a place where you feel an outsider .
Jamie, Nancy , akil , Alexander, Krystal and every single character that were shown in the book were flawed, they were humane they made mistakes and faced the consequences in the same way or some other . Jamie who is a rich popular queen bee who is the best at everything and has everything she ever wanted has secrets , dark ones and those ultimately catchup to her one day and it's over for her and then it created a loom over her ex friends who have betrayer or have been betrayed by her .
I don't know how to explain this book expact that it's totally worth your and my time and that I'm looking forward to the next book .
This book left me shook , I couldn't really write or speak about it and I had to gather my thoughts before I even thought about what happened in the book, it was so fast paced and perfect that I didn't even realize I read the whole book in less than 24 hours , it was griping , shocking and very entertaining.
I have read so many thriller in the past few months but I never saw the twist coming in this book , they always were foreshadowed but I didn't really spotted them until that actually happened .
For this book the mystery was just a part of it, it wasn't the main thing or theme of the book , this book showed us a part of how it is it be a person of colour in a place where the systemic racism is so deep rooted how a poc has to go through so much to prove their worth and the fact that they deserve to be there and so is the situation for classism , how there is a vast barrier between people just because how much they earn or what position they hold in society.
How we fall apart is about friendship , love , identity , betrayal and how far you are willing to go to make a place for yourself in a place where you feel an outsider .
Jamie, Nancy , akil , Alexander, Krystal and every single character that were shown in the book were flawed, they were humane they made mistakes and faced the consequences in the same way or some other . Jamie who is a rich popular queen bee who is the best at everything and has everything she ever wanted has secrets , dark ones and those ultimately catchup to her one day and it's over for her and then it created a loom over her ex friends who have betrayer or have been betrayed by her .
I don't know how to explain this book expact that it's totally worth your and my time and that I'm looking forward to the next book .
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
sarahmreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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 received this novel as an e-book advanced readers copy by NetGalley. Any and all thoughts are my own.
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Violence, Suicide, Sexual content, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Addiction
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