Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Happiness Falls

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

78 reviews

mochiheart's review against another edition

inspiring mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book has a lot of interesting things to say about ableism and discrimination, but it unfortunately falls flat for me in two ways: 1) I don't find the narrator to be very likeable. Characters (and especially female characters) don't owe readers likeability, but since this story is already very heavy and emotionally taxing, I would have liked to be able to retreat into a narrator that wasn't so angsty; 2) The story was maybe ~75 pages too long. I feel that a good mystery will make you care more about the journey than the solution, but I found myself getting bored and just wanting to know that happened. Maybe if some parts had been pared down it wouldn't have felt like such a slog to get to the end. But overall it was an enjoyable enough book.

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evoniere's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

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jackiejackiejackiee's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I saw this book on TikTok and I found the premise to be interesting. I think Angie Kim wrote a really cool book underscoring how little we really understand about communicating with one another, or rather how much stock we put into certain forms. I was a little dissatisfied with the ending, the whole book as an undertone of a thriller but ends in such a way that makes me a tad annoyed. Overall a really great read and I would recommend it to others, just not as a true thriller.

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maddielle's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

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bhanson24's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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sassyykassie's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.0

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bella_cavicchi's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective 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

I really enjoyed this. It took me a fair bit to settle into the narrative voice -- Mia sure does love a footnote -- but I came to love how her tangents and (sometimes contradictory) rambles mirror our thinking in everyday life. And Eugene! The sheer love and research that went into crafting his character is a true highlight.

In short: another Angie Kim winner. I'm pleased.

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isabellamarg's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

It is 2020, COVID is rampant, and the father of the Korean-American Park family goes missing on a Tuesday morning. The family's lives are upended in the wake of their fathers disappearance, including Mia who initially dismissed her fathers disappearance, and Eugene her younger brother who returns from the park he and his dad frequented bloodied and alone, without his father.

Happiness Falls follows the ensuing investigation into the disappearance of Adam Parson and how the family and their secrets may have played a role in why he went missing. Eugene, the youngest son, is autistic and has Angelman syndrome which prevents him from being able to communicate verbally. This complicates the investigation as Eugene was the last person to see his father, and also makes the authorities suspicious of him as well as the Park family.

This book combined two of my favorite genres: mystery and family drama. There were plenty of shocking twists and the book posed many deep, philosophical questions about the assumptions we make about language, race, disabilities, immigrants, our family, and ourselves. I love that one of the reasons Angie Kim wrote this book was to highlight that "just because you can't speak doesn't mean you can't think or understand." Eugene and his disabilities play a large role in the treatment of the Park family throughout the investigation into the disappearance of their father. Eugene is labelled as "non-verbal" and the novel explores the implications of this title and how harmful it can be when thinking about how people express themselves and the limitations we place on others. This novel also focused on the aspect of happiness: what it means to be happy and how we can make ourselves and our family happier. As a family deeply affected by a child with a disability, how does this create guilt and resentment with the other siblings Mia and John as well as within their parents themselves?

Overall, I went into this novel expecting a really intriguing and dark mystery and I was not disappointed. I did not expect the novel to focus so much on the aspect of language and verbalization, but I thought it was unique and allowed me to learn more about different speech therapy methods and hopefully un-train any biases I have regarding oral fluency being equated with intelligence. Happiness Falls beautifully captured the complexity and love of a family that is still learning to communicate with each other.

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moriahleigh's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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thekatreturns's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I am absolutely blown away that this comes from the same author as Miracle Creek, which has been thoroughly critiqued for its intense ableism. But I guess this book is proof that people can learn and grow and change their behavior with more information and more relationships with those most affected. Because, my goodness, this book is everything the general public should be reading about nonspeakers with regard to disability politics. The difference between the two is ridiculous and near unbelievable, and yet, the trajectory of Angie Kim’s learning is very clear me as someone who has been immersed in autistic community since the mid aughts. I know exactly how she got here, it’s clear as day, she even names specific people she learned from in the authors notes, and yet I’m still astounded that she got there at all when so many don’t. Thank you, Angie, for listening to neurodivergent people, autistic people, and most specifically nonspeakers. For broadening your horizons from the people at the center of Miracle Creek, who mean well and yet do so much harm. For addressing the nonspeaking community’s relationship with pseudoscience, testing, and disbelief directly, in the text, in an incredibly thoughtful and empathetic way. And also, for writing a damn good literary mystery.

Yeah, aside from this being a book that I’m heartened is doing well in sales and reviews because its message is so crucial for the world to understand- this is a great book and it is not at all too preachy about said message.

Many other reviewers found Mia annoying, but it was extremely easy for me to get into her head. Probably because we have pretty much the same personality and thought patterns. I didn’t find anything annoying, but then again I am a huge sucker for footnotes in literature. I enjoyed the morphing of her observations

“we should have done this” “I wish this had happened this way” from being like “if this had happened differently maybe we’d have solved the mystery” to “if this had happened differently maybe I would feel differently.” It’s subtle, and maintains the tension longer than it could have otherwise.

The other criticism I found in reviews of the book was that it went too deep into philosophy and the mystery of the

dad’s Happiness Quotient experiments.

I disagree with these reviewers, because, well, the idea of Welcome to Holland (a seminal essay by Emily Perl Kingsley) is constantly on the mind for disabled people and their families. The philosophies presented are a natural fit, and their hyperlogical presentation by the characters is one of many signs of autistic traits in the rest of Eugene’s family and therefore quite realistic.

Which brings me to my final point. This is not a 5 star book for me, and it so, so easily could have been. I desperately wanted to

switch into Eugene’s perspective for an epilogue. Not to get answers to Mia’s burning questions, because I think it’s beautiful and metaphorically resonant that the family doesn’t have answers to everything. But to spend some time in his head, to give him the chance to write the ending to this chapter of his story. I can see how that would feel weird for Angie as she’s not nonspeaking herself, but I maintain it could have been done in collaboration with a nonspeaking cowriter. I can also see how that would be seen as indulging doubters by saying, “yes, this kid can write, here, look at him!” But he’s not real, so no real child is being made into a self narrating zoo exhibit. Plus, the line this book walks with presenting very conclusive proof of spelling for Eugene, and acknowledging the pain of doubt, is so deft that I trust Angie and her brain trust of nonspeaking people in the acknowledgments to have handled it. If this book ever gets a sequel about some other mystery happening to these characters, I want Eugene to narrate it.

My second criticism is that Matthew Rushin should be in the acknowledgments, given that

autistic young people navigating the legal system in Virginia

is a huge plot point. Was any of this story directly inspired by him? Probably not, the details are very different. But I seriously doubt the relevant laws in real life would exist without his story.

Also, sorry if it seems disrespectful that I’ve referred to the author as Angie throughout, just a habit in transcribing my previously orally expressed thoughts. I mean full respect when I say that everyone who’s ever been criticized for something they write should listen and learn like she has very clearly done.

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