Reviews with content warning for Grief - Happiness Falls

I really enjoyed this. It took me a fair bit to settle into the narrative voice -- Mia sure does love a footnote -- but I came to love how her tangents and (sometimes contradictory) rambles mirror our thinking in everyday life. And Eugene! The sheer love and research that went into crafting his character is a true highlight.

In short: another Angie Kim winner. I'm pleased.

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moriahleigh's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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livlosiewicz's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Pros:

·I think this is maybe a controversial opinion, but I adored Mia as a narrator. Her brain works the same way mine does, with all these tangents and background stories that allowed us to get to know her and her family. Mia was fun and flawed in the best ways to me

·Of course, the standout character is Eugene!! I loved how we got to witness his growth, or maybe rather his family’s changing perspective on him. I think this was especially compelling given Mia’s retrospective commentary, which allowed us to connect the dots and view him as a compelling character all along. Of course, the most important part about his character is the visibility and representation that this provides.

·I really enjoyed the mystery!! It was much more of a literary mystery than a thriller, which I really liked- relying on development and background as opposed to plot twists. I was sucked into the story right away and it honestly gripped me the whole time. The mystery

·Alongside fun characters and a compelling mystery, the themes in the novel, about how what it means to be “nonverbal” vs “nonspeaking” and the parallels between Mia and Hannah’s experiences in Korea and the US and Eugene’s experiences, were all really well-done for me and had me thinking a lot.

Cons:

·I do think the novel lost a bit of its steam towards the end of the novel, the last 75 pages or so. I do respect the way that she resolved (or in some cases, chose not to) different aspects of the plot, but I was so so hooked at the beginning and was surprised at the change of pace.

Recommendation: I recommend to fans of literary fiction or family drama who like elements of mystery. I think you might have to be nerdy to love this book, because Mia gives a lot of fun facts about things and her dad’s journals have a lot of philosophical musings. But I am nerdy, so I did indeed love it. This is not a thriller, but it does have a nice quick pace, and you get to know the Parkson family very well throughout the background. I also recommend to readers looking to increase their understanding of other people or the identity representation in the books they read. Avoid if you’re looking for completely plot-based thrillers, don’t like when narrators go on tangents and background rants, or don’t like philosophical musings. Also check content warnings, mainly minor content warnings for grief.

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melodyseestrees's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective 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

3.25

There are so many frustrating elements to this story, especially the ending. The character motivations seemingly make sense but the character actions do not necessarily match up quite right. There are many questions in the latter half of the book but don't hold your breath and wait for all the answers.

Mia goes 'eh, I don't care to know' and erases any evidence that was on her presumed deceased father's phone.

The end pacing also did not match up with how the rest of the story had been. A good portion of the dialogue around Eugene felt microaggression level ableist at best, though the surprise therapist at the end had the best dialogue with Eugene. Perhaps this is realistic but something about it felt off. This led to the rating falling from the expected 4 to a 3.25.
The edition I had did 'footnote' information in a jarring and disruptive way to the reading experience. Some whole pages had maybe a paragraph of information to them in an italicized font that was frustrating to read. These thoughts of Mia's surely could have been worked into the actual text as a mark of who she is as a person.
There were a few characters who appeared, did maybe two actions, and then disappeared never to be seen again

looking at you unhinged lady in the park with pepper spray and supposedly existing band of teenage boys

. There were plot beats that were dropped.

We saw hints and part of the lead officer having seemingly faked one or two injuries in previous cases but this played very little in the hearing against Eugene for hurting her.

The notebook revealing that Mia's father was running experiments on his family, having no exploration done into it. Was he really just writing notes to himself? Was he writing a paper? Was he as unhinged as park pepper spray lady? We'll never know!

The police, having access to the same information as Mia not putting together the unlock code, as all of that info came from the notebook they were scanning and sending to Mia. Can police even do that during an active investigation?

Harmonee's backstory being sort of explained despite her having very little to do with the story. The perspective of familial trauma given was interesting but never really led anywhere. One could argue that whole history didn't need to be spelled out since it amounted to John was special cuz he looked white, Mia was treated like she was dumb because she didn't look white, Eugene witnessed a death firsthand, John and Mia learned how to whisper yell.

This book felt like it was trying to fit several stories into one- Harmonee's story, Mia's dad's story, Eugene's story, and Mia's memoir.

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lindseybkoehler's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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skbat's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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kotletka_polina's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

It was not what I expected. This book leaned more towards literally fiction despite the premise being set as a thriller/mystery. The open ending is very anticlimactic giving that the resolution seemed so close.
But I liked this book. Even though it has too much yapping at times, I really sympathised with the characters, feeling what they were feeling at that moment: rage and infuriation at their fathers’s secrets, nervousness and suspicion with each new peace of information revealed. I even found the narrator relatable somehow.
Even though it’s not the vibe I expected to get I still pretty much enjoyed it. Read the entire book in a couple of sittings without getting tired of complicated vocabulary (English isn’t my first language). It brings awareness to numerous important subjects and highlights issues I hadn’t paid enough attention before. I liked this book more than I expected.

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