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A review by laelyn
The Ones We're Meant to Find by Joan He
5.0
Wow.
Wow is the one word that comes to mind when I think about this book and my experience with it.
This is my first Joan He novel and it made me immediately order her debut and vow to read anything she ever writes. It's that good.
I went into "The Ones We're Meant to Find" with basically no expectations at all. The blurp sounded intriguing and the cover is simply gorgeous, and those are honestly the only reasons I need to want a book. And then, well, then He proceeded to blow me away.
"The Ones We're Meant to Find" is a dystopic science fiction novel that takes place on Earth in a future marked by climate change. Humanity has kept destroying our planet. While a large percentage of humanity still lives in various territories on Earth, a smaller percentage is allowed to live in eco-cities in the sky, living most of their lives in holographic form in order to save what's left of the planet. This is where Kasey, one of our two protagonists live. Cee on the other hand, the second protagonist, wakes up on a deserted island without any memory of who she is and how she came to be here. This is really all I want to say about the plot, the rest of it has to be experienced.
This is a painful novel, a deeply emotional journey that asks important questions while still offering an exciting plot full of twists and unexpected turns. It is never, not once, boring. The world building is spectacular, sucking you in from the very first page, making the world come to life. It's gut wrenching at times, especially when it really shows what humanity did to this beautiful planet. The writing is simply spectacular and the plot so well constructed that I'd genuinely call it a small literary masterpiece. The characters are intriguing, deeply complex and caused me to shed a tear or two more than once. He's choice to use different perspectives to tell the story and stylistically differentiate them as well - Cee's story is told in first person, Kasey's in third person - provides even more layers to an already layered story with layered characters. The sister relationship is incredible and still makes me emotional just thinking about it, and the romance was cute, too, and never too much of a focus of the plot.
This is a more than solid 4,5 stars for me, with my only very minor complaint being that the beginning is a little confusing, but I gladly round it up to 5 stars because it leaves a lasting impression. I won't forget this book and my time with it.
Many many many thanks to Text Publishing and Netgalley for this amazing arc!
Wow is the one word that comes to mind when I think about this book and my experience with it.
This is my first Joan He novel and it made me immediately order her debut and vow to read anything she ever writes. It's that good.
I went into "The Ones We're Meant to Find" with basically no expectations at all. The blurp sounded intriguing and the cover is simply gorgeous, and those are honestly the only reasons I need to want a book. And then, well, then He proceeded to blow me away.
"The Ones We're Meant to Find" is a dystopic science fiction novel that takes place on Earth in a future marked by climate change. Humanity has kept destroying our planet. While a large percentage of humanity still lives in various territories on Earth, a smaller percentage is allowed to live in eco-cities in the sky, living most of their lives in holographic form in order to save what's left of the planet. This is where Kasey, one of our two protagonists live. Cee on the other hand, the second protagonist, wakes up on a deserted island without any memory of who she is and how she came to be here. This is really all I want to say about the plot, the rest of it has to be experienced.
This is a painful novel, a deeply emotional journey that asks important questions while still offering an exciting plot full of twists and unexpected turns. It is never, not once, boring. The world building is spectacular, sucking you in from the very first page, making the world come to life. It's gut wrenching at times, especially when it really shows what humanity did to this beautiful planet. The writing is simply spectacular and the plot so well constructed that I'd genuinely call it a small literary masterpiece. The characters are intriguing, deeply complex and caused me to shed a tear or two more than once. He's choice to use different perspectives to tell the story and stylistically differentiate them as well - Cee's story is told in first person, Kasey's in third person - provides even more layers to an already layered story with layered characters. The sister relationship is incredible and still makes me emotional just thinking about it, and the romance was cute, too, and never too much of a focus of the plot.
This is a more than solid 4,5 stars for me, with my only very minor complaint being that the beginning is a little confusing, but I gladly round it up to 5 stars because it leaves a lasting impression. I won't forget this book and my time with it.
Many many many thanks to Text Publishing and Netgalley for this amazing arc!