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lindsayerin's review against another edition
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Police brutality
Minor: Racism
oceanwriter's review against another edition
emotional
informative
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
3.75
I was super drawn to books about Asian American families last year and this fit the bill perfectly. It turned out to be even more than I’d expected featuring a non-verbal autistic character. I have twin cousins similar to Eugene, so it was like getting a closer glimpse into what a day might look like from their perspective.
When Adam Parson doesn’t come home with his son, Eugene, his family desperately searches for answers. It seems as though only Eugene has the answer, but given he doesn’t speak, his mother, siblings, and the detective working on the case can’t hear his side of the story. Unfortunately, given Eugene’s history of outbursts along with some scattered bits of evidence, he is made a suspect.
The story is narrated by Mia, Eugene’s older sister. She helps to decode her father’s journal which is the family’s best lead they have to finding out what happened. In their findings, several different scenarios are compiled.
I was more interested in Eugene’s storyline than I was in the overall mystery, though it did have its intriguing moments. Though ultimately important to the plot, I grew bored whenever there were readings from Adam’s journal. Some parts of the story felt unnecessary while others felt unresolved, but for the most part, I had a good time reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, and Racism
Minor: Rape and War
jaimc's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Bullying, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Car accident, and War
ggartel's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Racism
alexisgarcia's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
the more i think about this book, the less i like it. i think i like the premise and this was a book i couldn’t really put down. but the writing was definitely pretty clunky and the narrator was pretty irritating. there were a ton of aspects of the characters and plot that didn’t get flushed out. none of the characters felt well-rounded and almost all of them were incredibly unlikable. also i hated the ending. i think it’s hard for authors to get away with an unresolved ending, and this one definitely did not get away with it. also i wasn’t willing to believe that they had no clue that Eugene could spell or have any intelligible thoughts at all. how do you spend all day and night with him without getting an inkling about it. at that point it just feels like blatant negligence and abuse. there were also so many parts of the plot that were convoluted and pretentious. idk, i did like a lot of this but there was also a lot that disappointed me too. also, i am BEGGING authors to stop putting covid in the background of their books when that is not apart of the main plot at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
emma_sky's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Cancer, Rape, Suicide attempt, War, and Injury/Injury detail
_david_'s review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
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? It's complicated
4.0
The book starts of with a cliché (a witness that cannot speak), but do not worry and stick with it, it's handled very well. I really appreciated the author's sensitive and thoughful portrayal of nonspeaking characters. It's clear that she researched and spoke to people who are nonspeaking themselves about it. This care is also evident in the author's notes and acknowledgments.
The main character shows some bad behavious: making quick assumptions, speaking around a nonspeaking character instead of to them, and just acting as a general teenager. However, the future main character, whose POV we're following, calls her past self out on it and voices her shame. In general I feel like Mia would've made more sense as a teenager than someone in college/uni.
The author's background in philosophy shines through, especially in the exploration of happiness. It's clearly written by someone with an academic background.
The ending left a positive lasting impression. I'm sure I will think back on it often during the rest of my life.
The reason that I'm giving the book 4 stars instead of 5 is because the writer POV often annoyed me with her perspective. I specifically refer to all the moments which said something along the lines of "but with the information I know now, why [odd thing] happened made sense" without any further explanation. It happened too much and sometimes for relatively minor occurrences. It disrupted the flow of the story and was hard to take serious after a while. A small point that I disliked but not enough to affect the score, that only Mia, Adam (the dad) and Eugene were well rounded characters. Hannah (the mother) and especially John were quite flat eventhough they were very important to the story.
The main character shows some bad behavious: making quick assumptions, speaking around a nonspeaking character instead of to them, and just acting as a general teenager. However, the future main character, whose POV we're following, calls her past self out on it and voices her shame. In general I feel like Mia would've made more sense as a teenager than someone in college/uni.
The author's background in philosophy shines through, especially in the exploration of happiness. It's clearly written by someone with an academic background.
The ending left a positive lasting impression. I'm sure I will think back on it often during the rest of my life.
The reason that I'm giving the book 4 stars instead of 5 is because the writer POV often annoyed me with her perspective. I specifically refer to all the moments which said something along the lines of "but with the information I know now, why [odd thing] happened made sense" without any further explanation. It happened too much and sometimes for relatively minor occurrences. It disrupted the flow of the story and was hard to take serious after a while. A small point that I disliked but not enough to affect the score, that only Mia, Adam (the dad) and Eugene were well rounded characters. Hannah (the mother) and especially John were quite flat eventhough they were very important to the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Chronic illness, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Cancer, Toxic relationship, Dementia, and Classism
jocelyn62013's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Racism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and Medical content
Minor: Rape and War
jenniferduann's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
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
5.0
I don't usually go for thriller/mystery books but this is a masterful exception. The book raises such good questions about the nature of disability, intelligence, communication, and how well we can ever know those we love.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Racism, and Death of parent
astoriareader's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Bullying and Racism
Minor: Cancer, Rape, and War