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sjpate14's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.25
This book is almost perfect. I was completely blown away by everything about it, the story, the concepts, the narrative, the characters… this novel just makes you think about things so much differently than you have before. The story is so well written and intentional but there are intentionally some threads left untied at the end that prevent me from giving this book 5 stars.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic
soobooksalot's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
4.0
It's somewhat ironic that a book dealing with communication is hard to describe.
At it's base, Happiness Falls by Angie Kim is a missing-persons story. But it's so, so much more.
The story is uniquely told by 20-year-old Mia, a Korean-American whose father Adam goes missing while in a park with her brother Eugene.
Eugene is nonspeaking, being afflicted with both autism and Angelman syndrome. Gathering information about Adam's disappearance proves a challenge.
We as readers come to know so many details about the Parson-Park family from Mia's perspective - not only of Adam and Eugene, but also her twin brother John and mother Hannah. Their family history, their challenges and backstories.
The story takes place during the height of Covid, which serves as a parallel to being closed off from others, and finding alternate methods of relating and communication.
While there is a mystery to uncover in Happiness Falls, it's ultimately a story of acceptance, diversity, connection, and what can make us truly happy.
It's a book to be experienced - recommended! (And also her debut Miracle Creek, if you haven't already read it.)
At it's base, Happiness Falls by Angie Kim is a missing-persons story. But it's so, so much more.
The story is uniquely told by 20-year-old Mia, a Korean-American whose father Adam goes missing while in a park with her brother Eugene.
Eugene is nonspeaking, being afflicted with both autism and Angelman syndrome. Gathering information about Adam's disappearance proves a challenge.
We as readers come to know so many details about the Parson-Park family from Mia's perspective - not only of Adam and Eugene, but also her twin brother John and mother Hannah. Their family history, their challenges and backstories.
The story takes place during the height of Covid, which serves as a parallel to being closed off from others, and finding alternate methods of relating and communication.
While there is a mystery to uncover in Happiness Falls, it's ultimately a story of acceptance, diversity, connection, and what can make us truly happy.
It's a book to be experienced - recommended! (And also her debut Miracle Creek, if you haven't already read it.)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
suzydunk's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
maddireads13's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Grief, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
lilawsahar's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
3.75
God I learned so much from this book. I am destroyed that Eugene lived for 14 years without being able to communicate because he doesn’t have fine motor skills and his disability enables him to speak. How did he wake up each day knowing that he was going to be treated like an idiot and he had to continue on? The realization that people live like this in real life is gut wrenching. And how I contributed to this idea. Not treating people with disabilities as equals. Makes me sick. Everyone needs to read this book. It blew me away with that insight alone.
I am also utterly sick that we will never know what happened to their dad. Did Eugene kill him? We will never know especially since she put the wrong passcode in the cell phone. I wouldn’t have done that. They don’t know who Eugene is because he wasn’t able to communicate with them. But Eugene knows them. That’s gut wrenching to me. What happened to him??
Tbh I think the happiness quotient part was unneeded in the story. That’s just my take. He just wanted his daughter to have a good life. But the story isn’t able her. It’s able Eugene and him.
Also ACAB.
Tbh I think the happiness quotient part was unneeded in the story. That’s just my take.
Also ACAB.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Racism, Rape, and Sexism
annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
4.0
i loved the narration. i understand why it isn't for everyone, but my brain works in the same way so i felt at home. i also appreciated how this book advocated much more strongly for the humanity of its characters with disabilities than Miracle Creek (Angie Kim's debut novel) did. and that it took place during covid times. my main issues were that, compared to Miracle Creek, the plot:
- wasn't as gripping. it started to drag three-fourths of the way through, and i got fed up with all the cheap foreshadowing of the form "looking back, i wish [x] hadn't happened".
- didn't feel as expertly-crafted. though i recognize that's kind of the point—
not all mysteries, especially missing person cases, have neat solutions; that's life —it was still somewhat disappointing. i'm trying tolearn the lesson Mia did and accept an open ending—i choose to believe that her and John's mind-meld recreating the accident was a display of fraternal jeong, just the tiniest bit of magical realism.
nonetheless, this has cemented Angie Kim as an author on my radar, and i'm looking forward to her next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Hate crime, Infidelity, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, and Murder
Minor: Confinement, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Car accident, Alcohol, and Deportation
caseythereader's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-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
3.75
Thanks to Hogarth Books for the free copy of this book.
- With HAPPINESS FALLS, Angie Kim once again gives us a page turner, this one a legal drama, missing person case and possible murder mystery all wrapped up together.
- I was so intrigued by Mia as the narrator of this story. She's bratty and bitter and thinks she knows everything (at first, at least). Her unique voice and the frequent detours to tell us important backstory made the book feel like a friend was relaying the story to the reader personally.
- There are some aspects of the book I wish were different - the pacing slowed way down in the second half, the footnotes felt mostly extraneous, etc. - but overall I was invested in the mystery.
- A through line of Kim's work is to make clear that disabled people are people, not childlike burdens to be pitied, which is sadly often rare in novels, especially mysteries and thrillers. I will be interested to see what disabled and neurodivergent readers have to say about this book, since I am neither of those things and neither is Kim, though she is the parent of a disabled child.
- With HAPPINESS FALLS, Angie Kim once again gives us a page turner, this one a legal drama, missing person case and possible murder mystery all wrapped up together.
- I was so intrigued by Mia as the narrator of this story. She's bratty and bitter and thinks she knows everything (at first, at least). Her unique voice and the frequent detours to tell us important backstory made the book feel like a friend was relaying the story to the reader personally.
- There are some aspects of the book I wish were different - the pacing slowed way down in the second half, the footnotes felt mostly extraneous, etc. - but overall I was invested in the mystery.
- A through line of Kim's work is to make clear that disabled people are people, not childlike burdens to be pitied, which is sadly often rare in novels, especially mysteries and thrillers. I will be interested to see what disabled and neurodivergent readers have to say about this book, since I am neither of those things and neither is Kim, though she is the parent of a disabled child.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Cursing, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Cancer and Racism
Minor: Rape and Suicide
laura_berger's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Racism, Blood, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic
ktdakotareads's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Death, Racism, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Car accident
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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
Out September 5, 2023! [Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!]
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
When her father unexpectedly goes missing and the only witness is her non-speaking teenage brother, Mia must confront secrets within her family in order to find out the truth.
I loved Angie Kim’s debut novel Miracle Creek, so Happiness Falls is one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and it did not let me down. If I had to pick one word to describe this book it would be “beautiful”—the storyline and character relationships are beautifully rendered, the prose is beautifully written, and the overall message of respect, autonomy, personal fulfillment, and happiness is beautifully communicated.
This is also one of those books that is so thought-provoking I am positive it will sit with me for a long while, and I am already looking forward to an inevitable reread and everything I will glean from a second look. For now, I thoroughly enjoyed the reflections on happiness and expectations we place on ourselves and others, as well as the frank and thoughtful look at disability and the lives and rights and intrinsic personhood of non-speaking individuals. I also loved Mia, and the infusion of humor into what is otherwise a very serious novel was unexpected but brilliantly (at risk of sounding like a broken record, *beautifully*) done. And finally, while I’m still skeptical of the use of the COVID-19 pandemic in novels, I thought this one infused the feeling of early-to-mid 2020 exceptionally well, and wove the pandemic into the plot line in a realistic and interesting way.
In short, if you are a fan of literary mysteries, reflections on family, immigration, neurodivergence and disability, and so much more, pick this one up as soon as you possibly can!
CW: Ableism; xenophobia; discussions of the pandemic; grief/loss (literally) of a parent; some police brutality (both on page and referenced)
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
When her father unexpectedly goes missing and the only witness is her non-speaking teenage brother, Mia must confront secrets within her family in order to find out the truth.
I loved Angie Kim’s debut novel Miracle Creek, so Happiness Falls is one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and it did not let me down. If I had to pick one word to describe this book it would be “beautiful”—the storyline and character relationships are beautifully rendered, the prose is beautifully written, and the overall message of respect, autonomy, personal fulfillment, and happiness is beautifully communicated.
This is also one of those books that is so thought-provoking I am positive it will sit with me for a long while, and I am already looking forward to an inevitable reread and everything I will glean from a second look. For now, I thoroughly enjoyed the reflections on happiness and expectations we place on ourselves and others, as well as the frank and thoughtful look at disability and the lives and rights and intrinsic personhood of non-speaking individuals. I also loved Mia, and the infusion of humor into what is otherwise a very serious novel was unexpected but brilliantly (at risk of sounding like a broken record, *beautifully*) done. And finally, while I’m still skeptical of the use of the COVID-19 pandemic in novels, I thought this one infused the feeling of early-to-mid 2020 exceptionally well, and wove the pandemic into the plot line in a realistic and interesting way.
In short, if you are a fan of literary mysteries, reflections on family, immigration, neurodivergence and disability, and so much more, pick this one up as soon as you possibly can!
CW: Ableism; xenophobia; discussions of the pandemic; grief/loss (literally) of a parent; some police brutality (both on page and referenced)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Bullying, Rape, Police brutality, Grief, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
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