How We Fall Apart

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the big reveal about who caused jamie's death was absolutely ridiculous - there are limits to how much disbelief i can suspend. also, i'm really tired of seeing mental illness/depression being used in a dramatic twisty kind of way in such thriller stories instead of actually being explored with care.

I had so much fun with this story. Pretty Little Liars meets Gossip Girl with an Asian MC and some dark academia vibes - what is not to love there? This was full of teen drama, lots of angst, and many mysteries. The ending turned a little unbelievable but I had a fun time throughout and am so eager for book two's release. I’d like to add here from the start, I do respect the author, Katie Zhao, for her efforts. Writing a book is hard. Pleasing everyone who reads it, even harder. But this, this was not it. She is soooo sweet and as a person seems like an amazing human being, but the book is not even a mile close to my expectations, which were not that high, by the way. I loved the message she tried to give. Most Asian-American students are under the pressure of being the top student of the school and getting accepted into the Ivy League schools, you know. But in my opinion, this was nowhere near the message. The only factor I liked was non-fetishized, unconventional and morally gray Asian characters. I loved how terrible they were..With HOW WE FALL APART, I hope to entertain readers with an edge-of-your-seat thriller story that offers an inside look at an Asian American upbringing; but beneath the surface, this story raises questions about the structure of our hyper-competitive school environments, strict upbringings, racial identity, the model minority myth, and the sacrifices we make to maintain the narrative and image of immigrant success--which may or may not be worth it, in the end. Throughout the book, Nancy pushes herself to live up to her mother’s impossibly high expectations. To her, the idea of disappointing her mother, and herself, is worse than anything else, including…well, some unspeakable acts that I won’t name here because spoilers. By the end of the book, Nancy and her mother reach more of an understanding that the pressure Nancy’s mother has always placed upon her, a pressure that is often placed upon children of immigrants, is extremely damaging to her, and has strained their mother-daughter relationship. The book doesn’t fully resolve the relationship conflict, but it does hint at Nancy and her mother moving toward a more healthy relationship in the future. Paula from CtThis is a powerful song. I also lost my dearly loved mother and miss her so much. Much of the video was my life with my mother ie: medicine bottles etc all over the house. What really drew me to this was my broken heart, of things not the way I’d like between my 2 girls and felt like I was falling apart. That is scary but then I heard this song and it spoke hope and healing to me. Blessings to you and thank you so much. Even though her mom doesn’t know much about everything Nancy is dealing with throughout the book, Nancy is always aware of parental pressure to succeed. How does Nancy’s relationship with her mom change by the end of the book, if at all? When a star student at this elite Manhattan prep school winds up dead, her ex-best friends – Nancy Luo, Krystal Choi, Akil Patel and Alexander Lin – are the prime suspects, thanks to the Proctor, who is anonymously incriminating them through a social media app called Tip Tap.

i think this story does a great job as shedding light on what i am sure is the common pressure many asian american students face. while the vast majority of readers will never be able to identify with the wealth some of these students come from, their educational environments, racial identities, and emotional struggles are relatable to many. and its this kind of representation that makes the novel worth reading. and i actually wish this story was a realistic/contemporary fiction because the mystery/murder aspect is surprisingly quite disappointing. Today we’re pleased to welcome Katie Zhao to the WNDB blog to discuss her young adult novel How We Fall Apart , out August 3, 2021! Read an excerpt from HWFA.

Dark academia murder mystery thriller, need I say more? As soon as I heard this book was pitched as Crazy Rich Asians meets One of Us is Lying, I was totally sold. I definitely got some Pretty Little Liars vibes as well so if any of those are favorites of yours, you’ll definitely enjoy this book!

Pitched as One of Us is Lying meets Crazy Rich Asians, and for fans of Gossip Girl, How We Fall Apart follows Nancy Luo, Akil, Alexander, and Krystal shortly after the disappearance — and murder — of their former best friend, Jamie Ruan. When someone named “The Proctor” starts threatening them and leaking their secrets on the school’s social media app, Tip Tap, the four band together once again to uncover who The Proctor truly is, and before all their secrets are revealed. They all used to be Jamie’s closest friends, and she knew each of their deepest, darkest secrets. Now, somehow the Proctor knows them, too. The four must uncover the true killer before The Proctor exposes more than they can bear and costs them more than they can afford, like Nancy’s full scholarship. Soon, Nancy suspects that her friends may be keeping secrets from her, too. cws: mention of parental abuse, mention of self-harm, parental abandonment, drug use, racism, suicidal thoughts, murder, suicide In a YA thriller that is Crazy Rich Asians meets One of Us is Lying , students at an elite prep school are forced to confront their secrets when their ex-best friend turns up dead. A recurring theme in the novel shows the sinister effect of how enmeshed the students’ lives are with the school. One notable example is when the school motto is inscribed in a student’s coffin – disturbingly showing how the school claims its students, even in death.With the help of her friends, Nancy is determined to identify the Proctor before they reveal her – even if she dies trying. As they delve deeper into the mystery, the stakes get higher, and they end up in a dangerous situation in which they must decide whether protecting their secrets is worth sacrificing their friendship. i entered this book with high expectations: it had a brilliant cover and title, which caught my eye and caused me to add it to my pile of library books to begin with. the blurb promised asian-american dark academia, and i hoped it would be a more diverse version of ‘one of us is lying.’ unfortunately, i left this book disappointed.

This is reflected in the life of Nancy, a child of Chinese immigrants. Not only does she have to deal with racist micro-aggressions at school, like when a white student accuses her of having good grades because she is Asian, but she also must endure pressure from her single mother to succeed. Because of her family’s limited finances, Nancy feels that all she is good for is getting into a prestigious university, which she believes will bring honour to her mother and herself. At the time I’m writing my responses to this interview (early May), my publisher and I have not yet formally announced YA #2 yet, though I’ve been dropping hints everywhere on my social media. Hopefully, the details have been revealed by the time this interview is live! So I’ll just say what I can at this point in time. Once upon she and her three best friends Akil, Alexander, Krystal were Jamie’s friends but after the incident they’ve been through two years ago and her father’s conviction, they got estranged and now Jamie’s missing.If there’s only one thing HWFA accomplishes, I hope that it reaches the readers who need it most – to reach the isolated, intense, grade-obsessed, on-the-verge-of-breaking-down students, as I once was. I hope HWFA makes them realize they are not alone and that there is nothing wrong with them for not being able to achieve everything they’re asked to do. In high school, I didn’t have anyone or any book to tell me that being imperfect was okay, that getting a poor grade or not getting into an Ivy League wouldn’t mean the end of the world. I know this mindset seems very extreme. It was. And I wish that all students, especially those who are under immense familial pressure to succeed, understand that the “success” they dream of can often come at a very high price, and one they may regret paying.