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A review by heyleigh05
The Ones We're Meant to Find by Joan He
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Firstly, my sincerest thanks to NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for providing an ARC of this novel. The Ones We’re Meant to Find is a dystopian YA novel by Joan He about Kay and Cee, two sisters who are trying to find their way back to each other. The setting is a sort of apocalyptic Earth in which the effects of climate change are more extreme and more deadly. They’ve created cities in the sky, called eco-cities, to help ease the burden that human intervention has on the environment, however, those with the least environmental impact are prioritized to live there. Everyone in the eco-cities have mental interfaces that they use to communicate with each other to reduce in-person contact. Less in-person contact means less strain the environment’s depleted resources. Celia (Cee) mysteriously disappears and Kay has to figure out where she is, meanwhile Cee is trapped on a deserted island and she’s trying to leave so she can get back to her sister. The story alternates between their perspectives.
The concept of this novel was very interesting. It combines discussions of climate change effects, society and technology, and artificial intelligence. It reminded me of The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez, a sci-fi novel about extraterrestrial human societies and escaping the impacts of climate change ( y’all should absolutely read it). It also really reminded me of Westworld, the HBO show. I’ve read some others’ reviews where people said it reminded them of Black Mirror. I haven’t watched that show yet but if that appeals to you then you should give this book a read.
Thematically, The Ones We’re Meant to Find discusses processing grief and connecting to others. All of the characters in this novel experience loss and separation from loved ones, and the novel explores how they deal with that loss. The general theme was that in our grief our identities can get subsumed by the person we lost. We get so focused on living for that person that we forget about ourselves and our own autonomy. Kay and Cee lose their mother and they respond to her death in different ways. Celia turns inward and isolates herself, while Kasey, seeing how distraught her sister is, tries to ameliorate Celia’s grief. Celia’s disappearance is also like a loss for Kasey because her big sister is so important to her. Kasey has to figure to what extent does living to honor her sister’s memory interfere with her own desires and ambitions.
While I did like the premise and the concepts in this book, the story was kind of slow for me. The pacing was slow and the writing was kind of vague which made it hard for me to be really invested in the book. I do think that the vagueness of the story was intentional to allow for the plot to be more suspenseful. I wasn’t truly invested in the story until about 60% in. At that point there was a plot twist that really shook me. After the plot twist the novel moves quickly which I didn’t mind until I got to the ending. The ending was so abrupt and so many plot points were left open-ended, it left me wondering if there was going to be a sequel. Unfortunately, I think this book is a standalone which is disappointing because there’s so much more that we need to know, plot-wise. Maybe Joan He wanted to focus more on the sisterhood and dedication between Kay and Cee instead of the plot, but I wasn’t connected enough to the characters to experience this as a character-driven novel. For me this was a plot-driven novel and the book just really dropped the ball at the end.
I do think that this is an interesting read and I would recommend it with the preface that it might be hard to engage with in the beginning. The concept is intriguing and the dystopian elements are fun to read about. I like the world-building in the novel. If you’re looking for a novel that discusses climate change and the relationship between society and technology then you should definitely check out this novel. Westworld fans should definitely give this novel a try. I finished this book with mixed feelings, but others may come away from this book with different feelings. I’d be willing to give this book another read to see of my opinion changes.
3 stars