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Review: How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao
Sep. 26th, 2021 12:48 pmHow We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao
Genre: YA thriller, dark academia
Content warnings: drug abuse, parental abuse, suicidal ideation, adult/minor relationship (20 vs. 17 years old)
I hate comparing books to other books in my reviews, but when I finished this one, all I could think was that The Ivies by Alexa Donne and Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike-Iyimide were better-executed academic thrillers.
How We Fall Apart really feels like it falls between those two books—it has the murder mystery set in the world of cutthroat academic competition of The Ivies, and it has the Gossip Girl-like mysterious texts that slowly reveal the main characters' secrets the same way as Ace of Spades does (as well as One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus). I enjoyed both The Ivies and Ace of Spades immensely, and I was honestly ready for more dark academia/academic murder mysteries.
But How We Fall Apart doesn't quite measure up to the other books. It doesn't have the cinematic quality of The Ivies, and the character work and messages weren't quite as compelling to me as in Ace of Spades. I am a second generation Asian American; I am aware of the immense pressure Asian Americans feel in high school, although I am over a decade removed from that stage of my life. And while I think it's admirable that How We Fall Apart tries to tackle that experience, I wasn't really left satisfied by how it did so. I don't think it built up enough to the message that familial pressure can cause Asian American teens mental health issues. Plus, while How We Fall Apart left off on the same uneasy ending note that most thrillers end on, it almost felt too uneasy, in a way that made it difficult to sympathize with Nancy in certain ways.
I feel a little bad saying this, but I almost feel like this was a book that would have benefited if the author were older. The author is fairly young, I believe (early-mid twenties?), and I know that personally, I had a very different perspective about my academic experiences as an Asian American when I was a teen/early tween versus ten years later.
Also, having read The Ivies, How We Fall Apart feels a little unrealistic in certain aspects. Like why weren't the police or any of the rich kids' family lawyers involved? And there was one detail that struck me as hard to believe, but I'll put it under a spoiler cut.
( ** SPOILERS BELOW ** )
Genre: YA thriller, dark academia
Content warnings: drug abuse, parental abuse, suicidal ideation, adult/minor relationship (20 vs. 17 years old)
I hate comparing books to other books in my reviews, but when I finished this one, all I could think was that The Ivies by Alexa Donne and Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike-Iyimide were better-executed academic thrillers.
How We Fall Apart really feels like it falls between those two books—it has the murder mystery set in the world of cutthroat academic competition of The Ivies, and it has the Gossip Girl-like mysterious texts that slowly reveal the main characters' secrets the same way as Ace of Spades does (as well as One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus). I enjoyed both The Ivies and Ace of Spades immensely, and I was honestly ready for more dark academia/academic murder mysteries.
But How We Fall Apart doesn't quite measure up to the other books. It doesn't have the cinematic quality of The Ivies, and the character work and messages weren't quite as compelling to me as in Ace of Spades. I am a second generation Asian American; I am aware of the immense pressure Asian Americans feel in high school, although I am over a decade removed from that stage of my life. And while I think it's admirable that How We Fall Apart tries to tackle that experience, I wasn't really left satisfied by how it did so. I don't think it built up enough to the message that familial pressure can cause Asian American teens mental health issues. Plus, while How We Fall Apart left off on the same uneasy ending note that most thrillers end on, it almost felt too uneasy, in a way that made it difficult to sympathize with Nancy in certain ways.
I feel a little bad saying this, but I almost feel like this was a book that would have benefited if the author were older. The author is fairly young, I believe (early-mid twenties?), and I know that personally, I had a very different perspective about my academic experiences as an Asian American when I was a teen/early tween versus ten years later.
Also, having read The Ivies, How We Fall Apart feels a little unrealistic in certain aspects. Like why weren't the police or any of the rich kids' family lawyers involved? And there was one detail that struck me as hard to believe, but I'll put it under a spoiler cut.
( ** SPOILERS BELOW ** )
