A review by rcreeley
How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'd seen the author on Instagram a couple months back, so immediately I ordered this the day it came out. To me, the main place this book shined was the characters and their depth. Even the "villains" were double-sided and had their own stories, which made this a super enjoyable read. I did manage to guess some of the ending and who was the Proctor, but the symbolism in the ending really stood out for me.
It was genius of Zhao to craft a story all about students who had 'a mask' to get through high school and then have the big reveal be a girl who hid behind a mask to get what she wanted
The writing style was good, but nothing special. One thing I did notice that dragged down my rating was a simple thing: there were so many cliches. Around one each page, it was exhaustive and made the writing seem more juvenile. Other than that, this book was extremely fast paced and enjoyable. I finished it in one day and I look forward to Zhao's next book.
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