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jialianyang's review
- 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
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Ableism, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Infidelity, War, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Cancer, and Panic attacks/disorders
sariereads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Ableism, Racism, and Hate crime
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape and Police brutality
noladawnreads's review
- 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
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Death of parent, and Ableism
Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, Bullying, and Racism
Minor: Police brutality, Suicide, and Rape
emily_pns's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Suicide and Cancer
Minor: Rape and Racism
suzydunk's review
- 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
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Bullying, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death of parent, Racism, Rape, Death, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault
sparksofcuriosity's review
- 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
Minor: Rape
lilawsahar's review
- 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
Tbh I think the happiness quotient part was unneeded in the story. That’s just my take.
Also ACAB.
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Bullying, Confinement, and Police brutality
Minor: Sexism, Rape, and Racism
killerpancake's review
- 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
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Rape and War
annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition
- 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
- 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.
Graphic: Death, Grief, Ableism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Cancer, Violence, Infidelity, Police brutality, Sexism, Suicide, Bullying, Blood, Hate crime, Murder, Cursing, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia
Minor: Sexual violence, Confinement, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Rape, Car accident, Deportation, and Gun violence
caseythereader's review against another edition
- 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
- 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.
Graphic: Ableism, Death of parent, Police brutality, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, and Grief
Moderate: Cancer and Racism
Minor: Suicide and Rape