lulaabees 's review for:

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao

2.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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pretty much a complete miss for me due to the main characters not figuring out obvious avenues of investigation and being frustratingly passive (like... if i the reader, as in me, can figure out several plot points as soon as the initial hints come up, aren't these super intelligent prep kids meant to, i don't know, be self-aware for a second if so much is at stake?). the character development also was a really weird curb and i get what the author was going for but it doesn'tttt work because it didn't feel like they would end up in the place they did, so it's cool in concept but feels really abrupt and weird the way it's brought about. the themes were also executed in this really unsubtle, heavy-handed way, such as the abuse or the feelings on the main character having to push themselves for grades status etc, to the point it didn't hit the emotional notes it should have...