Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - How We Fall Apart

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao

9 reviews

amandalorianxo's review against another edition

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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tahsintries's review against another edition

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1.0

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bitesizedbeet's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

2.5

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sarah984's review

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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.

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