Scan barcode
venetiana's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I quite enjoyed this, the relationship dynamics were really good. The dialogues and the ending felt a bit less smooth, overall the plot seemed less consistent towards the end. Still entertaining!
(One thing I found really infuriating: the book shoving the school motto down my throat every few pages - I would definitely have remembered with much, MUCH fewer mentions, too. 🙃)
(One thing I found really infuriating: the book shoving the school motto down my throat every few pages - I would definitely have remembered with much, MUCH fewer mentions, too. 🙃)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Classism, Death, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Child death, Drug use, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
luxvestravitae's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
perpetualpages's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
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
CWs: depictions of abuse, self-harm, violence, parental neglect, panic attacks, drug use, mental illness, inappropriate student/teacher relationship, racism, as well as suicide and suicidal thoughts
How We Fall Apart is fascinating and much-needed twist on the subgenre of dark academia. Because the institution of academia itself is inherently steeped in whiteness, dark academia books tend to be heavily whitewashed and dominated by privileged white characters who are (literally, in most cases) getting away with murder. How We Fall Apart challenges that positioning of the genre by drawing attention to how the key components of dark academia—exceptionalism, ego, bottomless competitive drive, etc.—are all values that are messaged to Asian-American youth by way of the Model Minority myth.
The Model Minority myth, in a nut shell, is the pervasive expectation that minorities (Asian-descended communities, especially) are well-behaved, law-abiding citizens who achieve extraordinary amounts of success due to an amorphous combination of "natural talent" and bootstrap immigrant survival tactics. (Definition paraphrased from the article "What Is the Model Minority Myth?" by Sarah-Soonling Blackburn.)
Thematically, every single element of this story is written as a direct challenge to that belief or expectation.
It's a commentary on how academia is a deeply corrupt institution, and like all power-wielding institutions in America, those who want to navigate it successfully either have to be white or approximate themselves to whiteness. These students have been conditioned to believe that wealth is equal to superiority and morality, and that wealth—especially generational wealth—is what guarantees people opportunities. This elite school is a place where the privileged are untouchable, and the lesser are expendable. The more power you have, the more privilege you have, the more chances you get, even if you don't deserve them. And even though this story is told through the lens of an all-Asian cast, these characters have internalized those power dynamics of white supremacy, and are effectively turning them back against their own community.
The story also questions how we understand "success," who gets to decide what success means, and what we expect BIPOC communities to sacrifice in order to achieve greatness or to reach an untenable standard of "success." Even the idea that "successful" and "professional" people are "well-educated" is rooted in racism itself. It's a lingering belief that gives credence to the idea that minority communities need to prove that they are "worthy" of accessing certain privileges, and that they demonstrate that they are not inherently "uncivilized" and "unintelligent."
We can see this playing out in the way these characters are clambering to claim the now-vacant top spot at Sinclair Prep. Even though Jamie's path ultimately ended in literal death, they are still more than willing to take her place and to continue in the never-ending cycle of complying in a corrupt system that demands their perfection at all costs. This is another danger of the Model Minority myth, which actively erases differences between Asian communities and individuals. The implication is that they are easily replaceable because they are "all the same." Furthermore, in elitist systems such as academia, competition is encouraged over community, as a form of gatekeeping, which further contributes to the mythological concept of exceptionalism.
For these characters, "elitism" is a shortcut for feeling "chosen" or "accepted," especially in a system that will always see them as second-class citizens who are unworthy of notice unless they prove themselves to be exceptional. Their desperation, their motivation, is deeply rooted in wanting to achieve that acceptance and prove their worth, even if the metric will never add up in their favor. And that nicely ties back into the story's distinct perspective by also commenting on how the disregard for mental health that is often prevalent in Asian-American communities has detrimental consequences, which only further uphold the prevailing influence of white institutions by inadvertently thinning out that competition.
As you can guess from the darker, more intense themes, the story also doesn't shy away from spotlighting messy characters who make bad decisions. For these students, their agency is their only form of power, their only way of regaining some control and fighting back. Not only do those poor decisions put a decisive nail in the model minority myth, but they reflect a sense of desperation caused by the fact that these characters don't feel like their lives or their futures are their choice. Their futures are not only controlled by their parents and their teachers, but they're also ruled by the impossible expectations projected onto them in every aspect of their lives. Therefore, any action rebelling against that is a forceful reclamation of their own narrative, even if they're not making a "good" choice.
As you can tell, I definitely think the story more than succeeds in reframing a predominantly white literary tradition within a very distinct Asian-American perspective and context, and I think it does amazing work in challenging and dismantling the Model Minority myth and the whiteness of academia.
With all of that said, what kept me from loving this story was a lack of character depth.
I think all of these characters are fascinating, messy, and complex, but we don't really get a chance to get to know them or to understand why they make the choices they make. Part of the premise of the story is that this group of four friends are being named as suspects by an anonymous source, and this person is threatening to release their deepest, darkest secrets if they don't confess their alleged compliance in Jamie's death. While that's an interesting plot device that definitely ups the tension in the story significantly, we never get to know most of the characters (besides Nancy) *outside* of those secrets.
I want to be very clear and say that there's nothing wrong with having chaotic characters who make awful choices, because not all choices are rooted in logic or make sense. I didn't need those choices to be "justified" in any way; I just wish I had a better sense of the people who *made* those choices.
My other main issue is that a lot of the drama and the tension feels very surface-level, because while the stakes are high, there are no lasting consequences—emotional, personal, or otherwise—for these characters' actions. (And by "consequences," I don't mean "punishment." I mean some form of natural impact stemming from their choices.) The secrets this anonymous source is revealing are some pretty serious allegations. We're talking drug use, illicit relationships, crimes, manslaughter, the whole nine yards. These are secrets with serious implications that these friends have not only kept from their family and their peers, but also from each other. And yet, when those secrets are revealed, their friendship and the dynamics between them remain virtually unchanged. We're told they're friends, even *best* friends, but we're not shown much to back that up.
Because of that, it was hard for me to feel invested in the emotional component of the story. I wasn't able to feel very strongly about the characters or their relationships, because those connections remained largely untested for the most part, even though these secrets are supposed to be horrible enough to tear them apart. It was difficult for me to take those reveals seriously and not feel like they were there purely for shock value and nothing else. Ultimately I think the problem is that while intense things are happening on the surface, the drama doesn't feel like it's actually rooted in real-world stakes, and I think that's what made me feel disconnected from it.
Even with all of that, I still have a tremendous amount of respect for what this story is trying to do. I think it's merely a classic case of thematic overtones outweighing character depth, and regardless, I still fully think that this story holds a great deal of merit and has so much to offer. I'm grateful for how much this story made me think about the institution of academia and how racism is deeply tied into it, and I believe that alone makes it worth the read. It was super fast-paced, intense, suspenseful, twisty, and surprising. While the characters didn't leave a lasting impression on me, the concepts and the perspective definitely did.
How We Fall Apart is fascinating and much-needed twist on the subgenre of dark academia. Because the institution of academia itself is inherently steeped in whiteness, dark academia books tend to be heavily whitewashed and dominated by privileged white characters who are (literally, in most cases) getting away with murder. How We Fall Apart challenges that positioning of the genre by drawing attention to how the key components of dark academia—exceptionalism, ego, bottomless competitive drive, etc.—are all values that are messaged to Asian-American youth by way of the Model Minority myth.
The Model Minority myth, in a nut shell, is the pervasive expectation that minorities (Asian-descended communities, especially) are well-behaved, law-abiding citizens who achieve extraordinary amounts of success due to an amorphous combination of "natural talent" and bootstrap immigrant survival tactics. (Definition paraphrased from the article "What Is the Model Minority Myth?" by Sarah-Soonling Blackburn.)
Thematically, every single element of this story is written as a direct challenge to that belief or expectation.
It's a commentary on how academia is a deeply corrupt institution, and like all power-wielding institutions in America, those who want to navigate it successfully either have to be white or approximate themselves to whiteness. These students have been conditioned to believe that wealth is equal to superiority and morality, and that wealth—especially generational wealth—is what guarantees people opportunities. This elite school is a place where the privileged are untouchable, and the lesser are expendable. The more power you have, the more privilege you have, the more chances you get, even if you don't deserve them. And even though this story is told through the lens of an all-Asian cast, these characters have internalized those power dynamics of white supremacy, and are effectively turning them back against their own community.
The story also questions how we understand "success," who gets to decide what success means, and what we expect BIPOC communities to sacrifice in order to achieve greatness or to reach an untenable standard of "success." Even the idea that "successful" and "professional" people are "well-educated" is rooted in racism itself. It's a lingering belief that gives credence to the idea that minority communities need to prove that they are "worthy" of accessing certain privileges, and that they demonstrate that they are not inherently "uncivilized" and "unintelligent."
We can see this playing out in the way these characters are clambering to claim the now-vacant top spot at Sinclair Prep. Even though Jamie's path ultimately ended in literal death, they are still more than willing to take her place and to continue in the never-ending cycle of complying in a corrupt system that demands their perfection at all costs. This is another danger of the Model Minority myth, which actively erases differences between Asian communities and individuals. The implication is that they are easily replaceable because they are "all the same." Furthermore, in elitist systems such as academia, competition is encouraged over community, as a form of gatekeeping, which further contributes to the mythological concept of exceptionalism.
For these characters, "elitism" is a shortcut for feeling "chosen" or "accepted," especially in a system that will always see them as second-class citizens who are unworthy of notice unless they prove themselves to be exceptional. Their desperation, their motivation, is deeply rooted in wanting to achieve that acceptance and prove their worth, even if the metric will never add up in their favor. And that nicely ties back into the story's distinct perspective by also commenting on how the disregard for mental health that is often prevalent in Asian-American communities has detrimental consequences, which only further uphold the prevailing influence of white institutions by inadvertently thinning out that competition.
As you can guess from the darker, more intense themes, the story also doesn't shy away from spotlighting messy characters who make bad decisions. For these students, their agency is their only form of power, their only way of regaining some control and fighting back. Not only do those poor decisions put a decisive nail in the model minority myth, but they reflect a sense of desperation caused by the fact that these characters don't feel like their lives or their futures are their choice. Their futures are not only controlled by their parents and their teachers, but they're also ruled by the impossible expectations projected onto them in every aspect of their lives. Therefore, any action rebelling against that is a forceful reclamation of their own narrative, even if they're not making a "good" choice.
As you can tell, I definitely think the story more than succeeds in reframing a predominantly white literary tradition within a very distinct Asian-American perspective and context, and I think it does amazing work in challenging and dismantling the Model Minority myth and the whiteness of academia.
With all of that said, what kept me from loving this story was a lack of character depth.
I think all of these characters are fascinating, messy, and complex, but we don't really get a chance to get to know them or to understand why they make the choices they make. Part of the premise of the story is that this group of four friends are being named as suspects by an anonymous source, and this person is threatening to release their deepest, darkest secrets if they don't confess their alleged compliance in Jamie's death. While that's an interesting plot device that definitely ups the tension in the story significantly, we never get to know most of the characters (besides Nancy) *outside* of those secrets.
I want to be very clear and say that there's nothing wrong with having chaotic characters who make awful choices, because not all choices are rooted in logic or make sense. I didn't need those choices to be "justified" in any way; I just wish I had a better sense of the people who *made* those choices.
My other main issue is that a lot of the drama and the tension feels very surface-level, because while the stakes are high, there are no lasting consequences—emotional, personal, or otherwise—for these characters' actions. (And by "consequences," I don't mean "punishment." I mean some form of natural impact stemming from their choices.) The secrets this anonymous source is revealing are some pretty serious allegations. We're talking drug use, illicit relationships, crimes, manslaughter, the whole nine yards. These are secrets with serious implications that these friends have not only kept from their family and their peers, but also from each other. And yet, when those secrets are revealed, their friendship and the dynamics between them remain virtually unchanged. We're told they're friends, even *best* friends, but we're not shown much to back that up.
Because of that, it was hard for me to feel invested in the emotional component of the story. I wasn't able to feel very strongly about the characters or their relationships, because those connections remained largely untested for the most part, even though these secrets are supposed to be horrible enough to tear them apart. It was difficult for me to take those reveals seriously and not feel like they were there purely for shock value and nothing else. Ultimately I think the problem is that while intense things are happening on the surface, the drama doesn't feel like it's actually rooted in real-world stakes, and I think that's what made me feel disconnected from it.
Even with all of that, I still have a tremendous amount of respect for what this story is trying to do. I think it's merely a classic case of thematic overtones outweighing character depth, and regardless, I still fully think that this story holds a great deal of merit and has so much to offer. I'm grateful for how much this story made me think about the institution of academia and how racism is deeply tied into it, and I believe that alone makes it worth the read. It was super fast-paced, intense, suspenseful, twisty, and surprising. While the characters didn't leave a lasting impression on me, the concepts and the perspective definitely did.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Drug use
More...