Reviews with content warning for Rape - Happiness Falls

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

47 reviews

astoriareader's review against another edition

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emotional 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? Yes

4.0

SYNOPSIS

One morning, Adam goes missing. Adam took Eugene, his teenage son with a dual diagnosis of autism and Angelman’s syndrome, to the park, and Adam never returned home. Rather, Eugene returned home by himself, and he’s in a bit of an unusual state. Due to Eugene’s condition, he is nonverbal, and he has some motor difficulties as well. Thus, the family cannot simply ask what happened.
The remainder of the Korean American family consists of two college-aged twins, Mia and John, and the mother/wife.
What happened to Adam? Did Eugene have anything to do with it?

MY THOUGHTS

This was pretty good overall.
It is told from Mia’s perspective, which I enjoyed.
This felt less like a thriller to me, and it was more a thought-provoking, contemporary fiction & about family. All the family members slowly start to really understand each other.
There were some parts that dragged a bit, and in my opinion, it could’ve been trimmed down a bit.
I enjoyed how the book challenges readers to defy the notion that lack of verbal communication skills means someone is not intelligent. I liked seeing a nonverbal character, Eugene, shown to have so much more to him than the world, including his own family, has given him credit for over the last 14 years.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️worthwhile read & a great one to discuss with others.

Thanks to Random House Publishing and Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book is out now.

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seventhswan's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.75

This book honestly hurt to read. It gets one thing right - that disabled people, including people with intellectual disabilities and nonspeaking people, invariably have thoughts, feelings, and opinions that matter and shouldn't be discounted. If the story had consisted of Eugene learning to use another form of AAC, I'd have no issue with it - but Facilitated Communication is harmful pseudoscience. As soon as I realised that was where this story was going I was hugely put off.

Otherwise, the narrator, Mia, is insufferable, her brother and mother are two-dimensional, and there are so many random plot points that are mentioned once and are never relevant again. There is a totally inexplicable paragraph about the rape of children during war. The criminal justice system works the same way it does in Law and Order. The narrative voice felt very YA despite this being, as far as I can tell, intended as adult fiction.

I almost never leave a 1* review because it feels unkind and I don't usually finish books I seriously dislike. But after seeing this book promoted so heavily on Goodreads and elsewhere I felt I had to provide a different perspective.

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katiecentabar's review

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emotional funny informative inspiring medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

A powerful story of what it means to be human and to be (mis)understood. Mia is a know-it-all who is so annoyingly 20 years old it was at times painful to read because I saw too much of myself in her, but she was a great narrator. This book is going to stick with me for a while, thinking about how we communicate and what it means to be happy.

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yeaeun's review against another edition

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hopeful informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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katrinarose's review against another edition

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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? Yes

4.0

After reading the masterpiece Miracle Creek in 2022, this was my most anticipated book for 2023, and Angie Kim did not disappoint. She has such a skill for writing a mystery that has intrigue and suspense without neglecting great character development, prose, and interesting themes/discussion, which is a problem I have with most mystery books I read. While this book was never scary, the way the narration references things that come later (saying things like “if I only knew at that moment”) builds suspense very effectively.

I have to say my favorite part of this book are the characters, specifically the members of the family. Each one is so unique, and have such dynamic realistic relationships with each other. I love the flashbacks and asides that help us get to know them. Mia is probably the most realistic yet unique 20 year old character I’ve ever read about. So often adult authors seem to forget what young adults act like and Mia is a perfect blend of mature yet impulsive, intensely thoughtful yet still learning how to slow down and apply nuance, hard-headed yet soft. I can see how she may come across as annoying to some readers but I loved her personality. And her parents are given equal nuance which is often left out in young-adult narrated stories.

I don’t have any major complaints but I do think the mystery itself was the weaker part of the book, which doesn’t sound great but everything surrounding it is so well done that it didn’t matter to me. I’m so looking forward to anything else this author publishes!

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rainbowfairie's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

I have so much I want to write about this book. This is one of the best literary fiction novels I've read, packaged in an informative and digestible story. The author is very societally aware and presents a wealth of information to readers on various concepts that may very well be new to them. The author's note at the end references any real-life resources or info the reader may want to check out. Very science-y with vocab and concepts, so beware there will be lots of new language and it's not a light read. As an autistic person myself, who struggles with spoken communication, this was an enlightening and empowering read that touches on many important issues. I'd read it again in a heartbeat and appreciate Angie for writing this book.

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jkpiowa's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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starrfishandcoffee's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative 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

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saradoxical's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-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

5.0

So far, this has been my favorite read of 2023, and it's a book that I wouldn't have normally picked up but my book club chose it. Our discussion easily ran over an hour. However, it might be best to lower your expectations.

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taytastic's review

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challenging emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This was a slower read for me but it was an impactful read about trauma in its different forms and how families deal with tragedy.

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