Scan barcode
mandkips's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Violence
caidyn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
Admittedly, I didn't pay as close attention to this as I should have. I really will have to reread it, but this is a hauntingly beautiful story. I so enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
celia_haz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Medical content and Toxic relationship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
So this is one of those books where you're dropped into this new world without much context and you get the details the further you get into the story. Let me just say that this works extremely well for this story, particularly for the driving mystery between the two sisters.
I desperately want someone I know to finish this book because I want to discuss it with someone! Much of this dystopian world that He has created is based on climate change and the fact that humanity is to blame for the destruction of the planet. This could have gotten too heavy handed, but I think it blended well with Kasey and Cee's own storylines. It's because of the state of the world that they're in the situation they're in, and while you think you might know what's going on, you probably don't. Or, you at least don't know the whole story.
Fair warning, this book might also break your heart. That ending! I'll definitely be thinking about this book for a long time, and it's also a book that would benefit from a re-read because I'm sure there's stuff I missed. I didn't want to put this book down the further I got into it because I needed to know what was going to happen next.
I know this book is hit or miss for some people, but it was definitely a hit for me. Now I just need to find someone else to read it and discuss! Maybe I'll suggest it at my next book club.
I desperately want someone I know to finish this book because I want to discuss it with someone! Much of this dystopian world that He has created is based on climate change and the fact that humanity is to blame for the destruction of the planet. This could have gotten too heavy handed, but I think it blended well with Kasey and Cee's own storylines. It's because of the state of the world that they're in the situation they're in, and while you think you might know what's going on, you probably don't. Or, you at least don't know the whole story.
Fair warning, this book might also break your heart. That ending! I'll definitely be thinking about this book for a long time, and it's also a book that would benefit from a re-read because I'm sure there's stuff I missed. I didn't want to put this book down the further I got into it because I needed to know what was going to happen next.
I know this book is hit or miss for some people, but it was definitely a hit for me. Now I just need to find someone else to read it and discuss! Maybe I'll suggest it at my next book club.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Violence
starccato's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Vomit
monilib's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Chronic illness
Minor: Body horror, Confinement, and Murder
Global warmingcaseythereader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
Thanks to Books Forward PR for the free advance copy of this book.
- THE ONES WE'RE MEANT TO FIND is a beautiful, big sci-fi story about family and humanity that went places I didn't expect and took turns I didn't see coming.
- I can't discuss too many details without giving things away, but it's one of those books where when the perspective switches you're both not ready to leave the character you're with and excited to get back to the other one. Cee and Kay are both so compelling in diametrically opposed ways.
- The author wrote such an incredible sense of unease into every page, and yet I could not stop reading.
- Basically, I need everyone to read this and to report back to me when things get twisty.
- THE ONES WE'RE MEANT TO FIND is a beautiful, big sci-fi story about family and humanity that went places I didn't expect and took turns I didn't see coming.
- I can't discuss too many details without giving things away, but it's one of those books where when the perspective switches you're both not ready to leave the character you're with and excited to get back to the other one. Cee and Kay are both so compelling in diametrically opposed ways.
- The author wrote such an incredible sense of unease into every page, and yet I could not stop reading.
- Basically, I need everyone to read this and to report back to me when things get twisty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Violence
erinsbookshelves's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Blood, Violence, Grief, Suicide, and Death of parent
Moderate: Vomit and Medical content
azrah786's review against another edition
4.75
**I was provided with an ARC through netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
CW: terminal illness, suicide, violence (including choking), death, death of parent (off page), vomiting, large scale natural disasters and mass casualties, some gore
After absolutely loving Joan He’s evocative writing and twisty storyline in her debut Descendant of the Crane, I was super excited for this book and it absolutely blew me away!
The Ones We’re Meant To Find is a slow paced sci-fi mystery story set in a dystopian world where climate change has ravaged the planet. Its dual perspective, following two sisters– Cee, who has been trapped on a deserted island with no memories other than that of her sister Kacey whom she is determined to find her way back to, and Kacey, a STEM prodigy both dealing with the grief of her sister’s disappearance 3 months back as well as the crisis of the planet, who decides to retrace Celia’s last steps.
It has distinctively voiced characters and wonderfully nuanced character relationships as well as a compelling narrative on climate change. The world-building is both fascinating and unnerving and He captures the atmosphere just right!
I don’t want to give too much else away because so much can be spoiled here but if you’re going to pick this one up be patient with it and trust me it’ll be worth it.
Final Rating - 4.75/5 Stars
CW: terminal illness, suicide, violence (including choking), death, death of parent (off page), vomiting, large scale natural disasters and mass casualties, some gore
After absolutely loving Joan He’s evocative writing and twisty storyline in her debut Descendant of the Crane, I was super excited for this book and it absolutely blew me away!
The Ones We’re Meant To Find is a slow paced sci-fi mystery story set in a dystopian world where climate change has ravaged the planet. Its dual perspective, following two sisters– Cee, who has been trapped on a deserted island with no memories other than that of her sister Kacey whom she is determined to find her way back to, and Kacey, a STEM prodigy both dealing with the grief of her sister’s disappearance 3 months back as well as the crisis of the planet, who decides to retrace Celia’s last steps.
It has distinctively voiced characters and wonderfully nuanced character relationships as well as a compelling narrative on climate change. The world-building is both fascinating and unnerving and He captures the atmosphere just right!
I don’t want to give too much else away because so much can be spoiled here but if you’re going to pick this one up be patient with it and trust me it’ll be worth it.
Final Rating - 4.75/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Terminal illness, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, and Vomit
Minor: Gore
bibliofilth's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This was a challenging one for me, because there was so much about it that I really liked and almost an equal amount that just did not work for me at all. So we're gonna dust off the ol' bulleted list again.
What I liked:
+ The themes overall, but specifically the examination of privilege and complacency. Kasey comes from a wealthy family and lives in high status in an sheltered eco-city while the rest of the world is left to face the results of pollution and climate change, which include deadly storms and higher radiation levels. Additionally, people are barred from entering the eco-city based on the eco-sins of family past - if your great-great grandfather owned a pesticide company, you're barred from entering the eco-city. There is a LOT to unpack there and a lot of Kasey's story is about these various systems. It's also worth pointing out that the "solution" the eco-cities thrive on is by requiring citizens to spend most of their time in stasis pods and interact virtually - essentially escaping to a digital world while ignoring what's happening in the real world. All of that was fantastic.
Spoilers:
I also really enjoyed the resolution of Kasey's arc and her solution. We see her intensely struggling with this anger, this desire to just let everyone suffer because they didn't do anything to stop all this pain (and oof, does that hit even harder after living through 2020 and dealing with anti-maskers) but ultimately she chooses life and rebirth - not just for those special or rich enough to "deserve it."
+ I think I might have a "thing" for purgatory-like stories, because I've definitely found myself drawn to media that has a purgatory-like setting. Cee's time on the island definitely fits this mold. I saw a lot of reviewers say they found her earlier chapters dragged on and they enjoyed the latter ones more, but for me it's the exact opposite. The mystery of who Cee was, why she was on this island, what had happened to her, etc. was extremely compelling.
+ I really enjoyed the writing itself - it's very evocative even though it flits between first and third person.
+ Certain aspects of this reminded me of the video game Horizon Zero Dawn - not saying that this was clearly inspired by that game or anything like that, but it was a positive because it's something I liked in that game as well.
<i>Spoilers for both Horizon Zero Dawn and The Ones We're Meant to Find</i>:
Kacey reminded me of Elisabet - both of them are these incredibly intelligent, technology-focused heriones that feel distanced from everyone else. And Kacey's solution gives me flavors of Elisabet's solution as well.
+ That plot twist. One of them, because there's like 70.
Robot! I really enjoy robot fiction and questions about life and consciousness that come with it, so that was a pleasant surprise.
What I didn't like:
+ I really want to figuratively and metaphorically yeet both of the main male characters out of this story, particular the one involved in Cee's story. I get WHY he's there, but I think the exact same message could've been made without needing him and it just derailed Cee's entire storyline for me. It just wasn't a compelling romance and it distracted from the relationship between the two sisters and Cee's self-actualization. Unfortunately he's a main part of her story after a certain point so it's a pretty major part of the book. Likewise I just felt like the other male character could've been done better for the role he was serving in this story.
+ This is 100% a vibes/emotions >>> logic kind of story, which I'm normally fine with but it strained it a bit too much at parts. You really need to not pick apart or dissect any of the worldbuilding or character decisions because the story really just includes details in order to further the plot and just get you back to focusing on the sisters and themes it wants you to focus on.
+ Tied to that, there's a lot of worldbuilding details that are left pretty vague that would've helped further the themes if we saw more of them. Some of this is on purpose to further the mysteries and unanswered questions, but this extends to areas of the story where that's not really necessary. A non-spoilery example is a clear picture on what life outside the eco-cities is like - there's early references to ecological disasters and a latter reference to swimming in the ocean being banned due to pollution. Outside of that, it's left pretty vague with only a few details that come much further on in the story. I'd have liked to have some of that sort of info more upfront because it helps set the stage for the reader to understand the stakes and themes.
+ There's a final chapter that just summarizes everything that happened in the span of 6 years that was really annoying and I tbh it comes off like an editor asked the author to include it to add clarity and tie up loose ends. Idk if that's the reality, but I'm telling you that's how it comes across.
+ It was a little weird and distracting that there's a lot of new terms in this book for things that already exist, specifically science terms. I suspect that was done to make this feel more futuristic but it doesn't really make sense that we'd stop calling something by the same name we've been using in English for hundreds of years for no other reason than it's the future - especially when so many other words are unchanged. Imagine if "chairs" were suddenly called "butt pods." Actually...do imagine that, I'm going to start using that from now on.
Overall I would say this is worth reading.
Content Warnings: Death, grief, suicidal ideation, minor blood/violence
Representation: Both MCs are asian; author is of Chinese descent
What I liked:
+ The themes overall, but specifically the examination of privilege and complacency. Kasey comes from a wealthy family and lives in high status in an sheltered eco-city while the rest of the world is left to face the results of pollution and climate change, which include deadly storms and higher radiation levels. Additionally, people are barred from entering the eco-city based on the eco-sins of family past - if your great-great grandfather owned a pesticide company, you're barred from entering the eco-city. There is a LOT to unpack there and a lot of Kasey's story is about these various systems. It's also worth pointing out that the "solution" the eco-cities thrive on is by requiring citizens to spend most of their time in stasis pods and interact virtually - essentially escaping to a digital world while ignoring what's happening in the real world. All of that was fantastic.
Spoilers:
I also really enjoyed the resolution of Kasey's arc and her solution. We see her intensely struggling with this anger, this desire to just let everyone suffer because they didn't do anything to stop all this pain (and oof, does that hit even harder after living through 2020 and dealing with anti-maskers) but ultimately she chooses life and rebirth - not just for those special or rich enough to "deserve it."
+ I think I might have a "thing" for purgatory-like stories, because I've definitely found myself drawn to media that has a purgatory-like setting. Cee's time on the island definitely fits this mold. I saw a lot of reviewers say they found her earlier chapters dragged on and they enjoyed the latter ones more, but for me it's the exact opposite. The mystery of who Cee was, why she was on this island, what had happened to her, etc. was extremely compelling.
+ I really enjoyed the writing itself - it's very evocative even though it flits between first and third person.
+ Certain aspects of this reminded me of the video game Horizon Zero Dawn - not saying that this was clearly inspired by that game or anything like that, but it was a positive because it's something I liked in that game as well.
<i>Spoilers for both Horizon Zero Dawn and The Ones We're Meant to Find</i>:
+ That plot twist. One of them, because there's like 70.
What I didn't like:
+ I really want to figuratively and metaphorically yeet both of the main male characters out of this story, particular the one involved in Cee's story. I get WHY he's there, but I think the exact same message could've been made without needing him and it just derailed Cee's entire storyline for me. It just wasn't a compelling romance and it distracted from the relationship between the two sisters and Cee's self-actualization. Unfortunately he's a main part of her story after a certain point so it's a pretty major part of the book. Likewise I just felt like the other male character could've been done better for the role he was serving in this story.
+ This is 100% a vibes/emotions >>> logic kind of story, which I'm normally fine with but it strained it a bit too much at parts. You really need to not pick apart or dissect any of the worldbuilding or character decisions because the story really just includes details in order to further the plot and just get you back to focusing on the sisters and themes it wants you to focus on.
+ Tied to that, there's a lot of worldbuilding details that are left pretty vague that would've helped further the themes if we saw more of them. Some of this is on purpose to further the mysteries and unanswered questions, but this extends to areas of the story where that's not really necessary. A non-spoilery example is a clear picture on what life outside the eco-cities is like - there's early references to ecological disasters and a latter reference to swimming in the ocean being banned due to pollution. Outside of that, it's left pretty vague with only a few details that come much further on in the story. I'd have liked to have some of that sort of info more upfront because it helps set the stage for the reader to understand the stakes and themes.
+ There's a final chapter that just summarizes everything that happened in the span of 6 years that was really annoying and I tbh it comes off like an editor asked the author to include it to add clarity and tie up loose ends. Idk if that's the reality, but I'm telling you that's how it comes across.
+ It was a little weird and distracting that there's a lot of new terms in this book for things that already exist, specifically science terms. I suspect that was done to make this feel more futuristic but it doesn't really make sense that we'd stop calling something by the same name we've been using in English for hundreds of years for no other reason than it's the future - especially when so many other words are unchanged. Imagine if "chairs" were suddenly called "butt pods." Actually...do imagine that, I'm going to start using that from now on.
Overall I would say this is worth reading.
Content Warnings: Death, grief, suicidal ideation, minor blood/violence
Representation: Both MCs are asian; author is of Chinese descent
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts