A review by abookandchai
How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao

1.0

update: lowering a star because i saw this book on my feed and was reminded of how much i didn't like it

there's nothing worse than a thriller which is not thrilling in the slightest.

i had high hopes for how we fall apart. while this book is what it promises us, dark academia with an asian-american cast, it fell flat. its not the best thriller out there but its pretty fast paced which was the only reason why i liked it. i did not feel the curiosity of finding the person behind it all as i should've been. otherwise, all the characters felt superficial and unlikeable. i really really wish they would've been more developed or had more of a backstory. not kidding when i say the gossip girl/pll vibes are deep rooted. most scenarios seemed ridiculous. i did find the whole mystery part predictable and the cause of jamie's death was way too simple. i was looking forward to this mainly because i thought it would discuss the problems of immigrants, asian immigrants at that, but the struggles were only mentioned throughout and again lacked depth. i understand the pressure asian parents put on children, so nancy's constant need to not disappoint them felt somewhat real.

uhh i feel like the ending was done like that just to make this a duology but anyway, i'm awaiting it to see what more clownery happens in sinclair prep.

thank you bloomsbury and netgalley for the arc