"The Ones We're Meant to Find" is a sci-fi story for the ages. I have put off writing this review because I do not want to give one ounce of the story away as it is so amazing and the reader should truly immerse themselves into the world of "The Ones We're Meant to Find". I can honestly say I sat down at 10pm and finished the book at 3am not even realizing I had read for five hours straight. I was entranced from page 1 until the last page. I would not adapt this into my classroom curriculum however, I would suggest this to a lot of my students and include this book in our summer reading assignments.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.

After the conflicts with her prior publisher regarding her debut, I was glad to see Joan He was able to find another publisher for her sophomore novel, a sci-fi stand-alone, The Ones We’re Meant to Find. While somewhat stylistically different from her previous book, I enjoyed this one just as much.

The choices regarding the dual POV did take a bit to get into the flow with, as it’s told from the perspectives of the two sisters who are trying to find each other: Cee’s POV is in first person, and Kasey in third. But I think the respective choices suit each of them, as we follow Cee in a more intimate story of survival, and Kasey’s is more technical and she is more detached as a character. As a result, I did feel a bit closer to Cee than Kasey. However, I did ultimately enjoy both perspectives and what they brought to the story.

And He’s attention to detail is immaculate. There’s intricate world-building and a briskly structured plot with compelling plot twists that kept me engaged, culminating in an emotional punch.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and am excited to see what Joan He will write next! Fans of deeply emotional, character-focused sci-fi will love this.

Thanks to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group & NetGalley for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. My actual star rating is 4.5/5!

This story follows two sisters in the future who are trying to find their way back to each other in a world being slowly torn apart by corruption and extreme climate changes.

Wow, wow, wow. What a brilliant read from start to finish. I feel like it'd be really fun to re-read this several times and notice things that didn't make sense earlier but after reading it makes way more sense. Pretty incredible, honestly.

I will say that it's one of those books that have complicated sci-fi terminologies and new concepts that I personally haven't seen used before so it'll be difficult to get into immediately. However, it really hits its stride at 30%, so I recommend trying to keep reading up to that point to see if you're invested enough.

I have to knock some points off because yeah, it's really confusing in the beginning. The changing POVs don't help, though at least the sisters have distinctive voices so you know whose chapter it is. It's mostly the technology and background worldbuilding that threw me for a loop for a while in the beginning. I think maybe some tweaking with the editing of pacing would have helped a tiny bit too, though honestly, the book is so strong in its characters, worldbuilding, and core concepts that it's not that big of a deal.

I was honestly surprised to love it as much as I did, even though I wasn't really a fan of Joan He's Crane book. So, if you're like me and didn't like their previous book, this one is still completely different in terms of context, writing, etc.

What an incredibly complex but intellectually satisfying story!

joan he has done it again. after reading the masterpiece that was descendant of the crane, i jumped at the chance to read her next book, and i'm so excited to say that the ones we're meant to find did not disappoint in the slightest!

with her sophomore novel, joan he has cemented herself has one of my favorite authors. her brilliant sense of character and exquisite writing certainly exceeded my expectations.

cee and kasey are sisters, one longing for another and one longing to forget. cee is lonely, stranded on an island, left with nothing but memories of her sister. kasey is witty and smart, but wants to forget her lost sister, celia. they were once whole together, but were torn apart by waves of salt and differences in belief.

joan he's writing is absolutely nothing like i've seen before. she writes vivid language rendered in gorgeous prose, and the messages of this book are delivered without holding back. they left a huge imprint, crashing down upon me, a never ending deluge of words and emotion.

but above all, this book is about what it means to be human, how we're never alone, no matter how lonely we feel. and finally, it is about the ones we're meant to care for, desire, and love; the ones we're meant to find.

I knew it was over for me as soon as I read the epigraph: "For whatever we lose (like a you or a me), it's always ourselves we find in the sea" — e. e. cummings "maggie and milly and molly and may."

To get an idea of how much I loved The Ones We're Meant To Find: I devoured this story in about 4 hours, give or take. I usually can't read while traveling, but I just couldn't stop!! I couldn't stop thinking about the characters; I couldn't stop thinking about the twists; I couldn't stop that itch to want to know what happens in the end. Everytime I stepped away, The Ones We're Meant To Find pulled me right back in, just like the tide always comes back to wash over the sand on the shore.

There are some writing styles that I absolutely adore, and Joan's style is definitely one of them. Her care and clear deliberateness of using each word and constructing sentences blows me away. It really is quite incredible to realize how much can be revealed about the characters and the environment they live in through seemingly simplicity of language. When I think about Joan's writing style, I picture delicately peeling back the layers, but in Joan's books, it's peeling back the layers of humanity, human nature, and a person themself.
The Ones We're Meant To Find is incredibly visual (seeing the art beforehand also helps to ground the reader). Every single line cuts to the heart of the action, the emotion, the struggle a character is going through at that very moment. The last time I truly felt this way about how language is used in a book is Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. (I'm still not over that book).

Something that is established quickly is that Cee's chapters are told in the first person, while Kasey's are in the third. Plus, Cee's are in the present, while Kasey's are in the past...which is a point to dwell on...

I also made a few notes about the transitions between chapters, since the story alternates between the two sisters. One might do a certain action, for example, and then the next chapter automatically begins with the other sister doing the exact opposite. In this house we love good juxtaposition!!

Lastly, a small thing: In TOWMTF's world, the exclamation of surprise is "joules," a unit of measurement for energy. I loved this detail because energy is no longer sustainable in their environment overtaken by mass climate change and natural disasters.

The worldbuilding was fascinating!! I think, for me at least, seeing the pre-order artwork helped me a lot to visualize the world. I had this general feeling/touch of the world through these images and Joan's writing, but I also could visualize very specific locations.

There's the "eco-city," aka the floating city, which fascinated me. Meanwhile, the rest of the world (aka territories) are below this "eco-city." These territories are exposed to the (very dangerous) elements, and their world is rapidly being destroyed before their eyes. In the TOWMTF society, everyone is ranked based on how sustainable their lifestyles are and those with higher ranks get more privileges. Those with the highest ranks live closer to the sky, where they are further away from the destruction on Earth.

A Joan He story is not complete without twists and "what the—" moments. The first half of TOWMTF was a wild ride of questions. Joan drops just enough hints that if you're paying attention, you start having some suspicions about where the story is heading.

By the end of The Ones We’re Meant To Find, readers are left mulling over a few things: Are there any boundaries to science? Can the argument of “for the common good” always another opinion null? Will there be family, humans, a home if we keep destroying the world we call our own? Is there anything to reconcile the environmental damage done since the dawn of human beings? Oh. And names have power.

4.5
This is a lush, speculative story of sisterhood and climate change.

The writing is honestly phenomenal. It's poetic and atmospheric, without becoming to airy to hold on to, and draws you in like a deep breath. The pacing and tension is handled well enough that it's hard to put down, and never really stumbles. From the technical ability alone it's a really enjoyable read.

And then you have the actual concept, which is unique and compelling. I love the dual narratives, and the way they begin to break just enough to think that maybe you see the shape of something arising. It's done so carefully, the laying out of details and handling of the mystery and grief together. It's also an incredibly speculative story, and it's unafraid to take you away on its own ideas and concept. The idea of two sisters, one on an island of broken things and one in a world just as full of broken things, where virtual reality is favored, both searching for each other, is impossible to resist, and once it hooks you it doesn't let go.

The connections in this book are so interesting. The sisterhood is not the soft and gentle one of romanticization, and also not the stubborn headbutting that you get in a lot of modern media. Their personal dynamic, explored solely through memories, has a depth to it and a feeling of realness. The other relationships too, feel layered and flawed enough to be organic. Kay's relationship with Act grows in a way that both makes sense and is very compelling, and Cee's bond with Hero has a completely unique quality to it.
I'll also say, Hero himself is by far my favorite character in this book, both conceptually and due to actual personality.

The characters themselves, for the most part, felt weak to me. While neither Kasey or Cee are At all cookie cutter protagonists, it felt impossible for me to get invested in them as people because they never felt fully developed. In some ways, in some places, it does make sense to have that quality, but most of them time it just felt like there was a distance between the character and the reader, possibly because both their intentions were so firmly set on their sister that it forms something of a wall. I only know them as their roles, I don't feel like I know either of them as people.
All the other characters fall more or less to the wayside as the only ones allowed to be important are Kay and Cee, Hero, and Act, so even if they bring some variety it doesn't do enough for the story. Hero, as I said, is a really great character, but Act, while conceptually interesting, felt like the leat realistic cog in this machine. He felt like JD from Heathers mixed with a sci-fi video game protagonist, and I couldn't take him seriously by the end of the story.

But all in all, I think this story made less of an impact on me than I know it has and will on other people because it didn't feel like it had a clear theme to it besides sisters and climate control. The writing and level of concept made me expect something with a strong lesson or theme and there isn't much of one. I mean, you can definitely cobble some together, but you can say that of any media, particularly science fiction. So things like the ending didn't work for me because I didn't see how they were supposed to add anything to the story or what statement they were meant to make.

The writing in this book is lovely, it easily transports you to a new and alien world, and it's hard to put down. I was expecting a bit more depth, but I still really enjoyed reading it.

I received and ARC of this book from the publisher to review. I DNF'd this book. It was just much too confusing for me. Nothing is really explained and you go from the main characters flashbacks to present time with no indication of which is which. Everything is personified for example the house and a robot but it seems as if she's talking about a person and you REALLY have to pay attention to understand that she's simply referring to a house. This book just wasn't for me but I'm certain plenty of other people will enjoy it.

4.5 Stars

CWs: familial death and disappearance; internalized ableism; some descriptions of blood and graphic injury; self harm, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts; references to terminal illness; some sexual content

This book absolutely fucked me up, and then continued to fuck me up in the absolute best and most relentless way.

I already loved Joan He from her debut, Descendant of the Crane, which is one of the most distinctive, evocative, and emotional historical fantasy stories I've ever read. To then see her turn around and write this fast-paced, mind-blowing, intricately-imagined dystopian sci-fi that contains approximately 5,000 plot twists just leaves me in complete awe of her range and talent as an author. Joan He was already an auto-buy author for me, and this incredible sophomore release just completely validated that choice on my part.

The Ones We're Meant to Find is like if Want by Cindy Pon met Ready Player One but then the violent ramifications of climate change entered the chat. And yet even that description doesn't do it justice, because it's wholly and completely its own. This is a story that imagines such intricate technologies and futuristic ways of life, and projects the very real environmental crises we face today to the absolute extreme, and questions how we use technological advancements to either address those issues or shield ourselves from them.

It's very much a story about privilege and power, and how they interact with and contribute to humanitarian crises. One of the main characters, Kasey, definitely comes from a rich and powerful family, with access to many technological resources, and the story explores how she is both complicit within the system but also has the means to destroy it and create something to help all of humankind, not just the mega rich who can afford to live in sky cities and spend all their time in virtual reality. In fact that's a major theme in the story: how corporations and individuals are both complicit in the erosion of the world and victims of that very same phenomenon.

At the end of the day, this is a story that asks what kind of future we can look forward to if we continue on our current trajectory, and are any of us owed a future at all if we only ever choose to look away from the systems that harm us and others? It's about a deeply broken and and complicated bond between sisters and their endless need to prove themselves to each other. It's about reclaiming agency and your right to choose, especially when it seems like the fate of the world has already been decided for you. It's about how our ability to choose is what makes us human, but it's also a story that questions where humanity begins and ends.

The only thing that kept this from being a five star book for me was wanting a little bit more from a couple of the relationship dynamics. The two sisters each have respective relationships with two other characters we meet throughout the story, and I would've liked to see those connections explored even further to really drive home the moment when those relationships break. I also felt that Kasey was strongly coded as neurodivergent, what with the difficultly she has socializing and relating to other people and her hyperfixation on data as her main source of comfort. But it's never explicitly said in the book, despite being heavily implied, and I can't help but think that seeing that kind of representation would be really important to some readers. But like I said, it is very heavily coded, in my opinion, regardless.

With that said: there's intense mystery, there's action, there's romance, there's social commentary, and the last quarter or so of the book will make you question everything you thought you knew about the story twenty times over without giving you so much as a second to breathe. Trust me when I say it's a reading experience I won't soon forget.

This is a fascinating, twisty feat of a novel that does not remotely end where I thought it would, particularly given the vibe of the cover. I love that this is a firmly sci-fi/cli-fi near-apocalyptic novel with an assertedly naturalistic/low-fi cover, and the dissonance that created for me, as a reader, very much suited the novel itself. The way the novel splits its time and chapters between the two sisters' experiences and points of view (one first-person, one limited-third) was a bit difficult to get into for the first couple of chapters, but after that it was actually a great plot propulsion device to keep pivoting between the two, as every ending was a form of a cliffhanger. Thematically, the way this novel dealt with technology, family, neurodivergence/neurodiversity, love, and justice/punishment were fascinating in ways that were deeper than some YA novels choose to tread. I loved it.

Huh. I honestly don't know what I think of this book. It was very well-written and crafted, but not really a genre I like.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He is a YA sci-fi stand alone novel that is twisty and and confusing until about half way through where things finally start to click. This story is set in a future where the climate is awful and steadily getting worse.
The story follows two sister who are trying to find each other, the chapters alternating between them. Cee is on an abandoned island without much for memories other than she has a sister and she has to get back to her, but she’s not sure where her sister is or how to get to her. She has been on this island for at least 3 years. Crossing the ocean so far hasn’t worked very well for her.
Kasey, Kay, is the younger sister. Incredibly intelligent but lacking in people skills Kasey wants to know where her sister disappeared to and why. She knows her sister was going to the lower stratum to get closer to the ocean but she doesn’t know why her sister got into that boat and didn’t come back 3 months ago and she is steadily losing hope. The more she looks into it the more she finds out about her sister and the more we find out about Kasey because Kasey has a pretty big secret of her own.
***
This book was not at all what I expected I was going to get from the summary. Not at all, but then I hadn’t expected everything I got in the author’s first book either, Descendant of the Crane, and that book was also really, really good.
I found myself so confused for the first half of this book, with absolutely no clue what was going on until about the midway point when a chapter from Kasey’s POV finally made things click for me and I started to reframe everything I’d already read to understand what was going on. It’ll be like that, just keep going. It’s worth it.
Joan He writes an incredibly amazing story about 2 sisters reaching out for one another in their own way and the way they come together will blow your mind.

Friends, let it be said that Joan He is a master wordsmith. Her words resonated within me, swept me into the world straight away and kept me hooked until the very end. This is a critically important and innovative story addressing a very potential future if the climate crisis continues without intervention, and makes me want to spend some extra time outside because I take it for granted.

"The dominos had been set centuries ago. One quake, and they all fell."

The Ones We're Meant to Find is science fiction, and I'd classify it more on the hard sci-fi realm in that the technology of this near-ish future world plays a big role in the plot and it isn't explained all at once. It's a story of technological innovation out of necessity, but also delves into the psyche of human nature to explore why society reaching this point is basically inevitable. The author doles out information about the world slowly so the reader is never buried in an infodump, but also provides context clues about everything so the reader can piece everything almost completely together before it's confirmed in text. Some readers may struggle with not understanding the technology or status of the world, especially if they don't read a lot of science fiction, but trust that it will be explained and that at its heart this is a book about the bond between two sisters.

"Obviously, my sister isn't here. But the Kay-of-my-mind is right: I am forgetting. When I dream of her, it's in vibrant color, unlike the gradients of gray of my monochrome days. But everything is hazy when I wake. The details merge. The colors fade."

There are two distinct voices in the dual narratives, and let me tell you that Cee's POV will pull at every single heartstring that you have. Cee and Kay are so different and their chapters' tones reflect that. I adore Kay's pragmatism and honestly want to protect her from feeling 'defective' or 'wrong.' A common thread between the perspectives is loneliness: Cee all alone on an island trying to find her way back to Kay, and Kacey disconnected from the people around her. The loneliness is almost a character in its own right, an amorphous thing lingering just out of view of our main characters. Also, it needs to be said that I love Hubert.

"Alone is an island. It's an uncrossable sea, being too far from another world, whereas lonely is being too close, in the same house yet separated by walls because we choose to be, and when I fall asleep, the pain of loneliness follows me."

The writing is simply beautiful and the world is so interesting, fully realized, and honestly hauntingly prescient. I adore the world created: I think it's such an imaginative and logical human explanation to the climate crisis. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather recycle and give up my car so I don't have to live in like 50sqf in a tower in the sky and have to do 33% of life through VR. One of the most compelling things though is how people held onto their selfishness by bring so resistant to small personal sacrifices. It reignites my desire to do what I can for the environment; even if it's but a drop in an ocean, it's better than nothing.

"None of us live without consequences. Our personal preferences are not truly personal. One person's needs will deny another's. Our privileges can harm ourselves and others."

Unfortunately, there's something about the dual perspectives and the way the information about what happened with Cee & the worldbuilding is parsed out that didn't quite work for me, and I can't put my finger on it. There's a lot of moving parts to follow, and the author intricately plotted everything incredibly well, but my need to pick apart everything as I go and understand it definitely played a role here. That being said, I loved the sense of accomplishment I felt time and again when my guess was confirmed! But I did find the pacing of the book to be a little slow at times; the book really picks up running full-speed at 60% and everything slides into place then.

"The problem with oceans? They always seem smaller from the shore."

If you are a reader who likes wrapped up endings, I recommend you adjust your expectations now so you aren't blindsided by the book's open ending. The main reason that this is a 4-star read for me instead of 5-stars is my overall enjoyment of the book was brought down a little bit by the ending because... it kind of feels like it's missing an ending altogether. Where the slower pacing and reveal about halfway into the book felt satisfying to read, for me the ending is far too open to interpretation for my liking but that's a personal preference thing.

"As long as you exist, your hope will, too."

All in all, this is a poignant and heartbreakingly beautiful book that will tug on your heart. It's ultimately a story about sisterly love, but it's also about human nature and forces the reader to acknowledge the climate crisis and how important it is for each person individually to give up a little freedom for the good of everyone else. While the ending left questions about our characters unanswered, The Ones We're Meant to Find is a book I adore and recommend to fans of sci-fi and speculative fiction. (It's funny because this is similar to how I felt about Wilder Girls, only in this book I'm wanting for the character closure instead of worldbuilding closure.) It's a book that left me a little emotionally devastated, but still full of so much hope and a story I will cherish.

Content Warnings: climate crisis and apocalyptic themes, death, depictions of grief, loss of a parent, physical violence, suicidal thoughts, suicide, terminal illness

eARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley for my honest review. This has not affected my opinions of the book nor the content of my review. Quotations are from an unfinished proof and are subject to change upon final publication.

I absolutely love this book as my 2 am Goodreads rave suggests. The Black Mirror element is shocking ad twists the whole book on its head, and I'm obsessed. It's a challenging read that discusses love, loss, and the sacrifices humanity makes for the greater good of the planet. I love how in-depth the world-building is, and experiencing the lives of the two sisters on their simultaneous quests was both fun and nerve-wrecking.

This book was very interesting. I loved how it related to the environment and how us as humans affect it. I also enjoyed the character of Cee very much. I really loved hearing her side of the story. Unfortunately, I found the book to be a bit confusing.

This book is epic. The story is one of two sisters desperately seeking answers. Desperately trying to find each other. It's told in dual POV--one of Kasey, the reluctant socialite, and Cee--the lost sister desperate to get back to Kay. The worldbuilding is fantastic. It's so rich and developed, it feels like you're actually living in this dystopian world where nature has turned against humans. Kasey's chapters have the most "glitter" in terms of futuristic worldbuilding. At times, it was a lot to follow, but I greatly enjoy her chapters. I was most drawn to Cee, who's living on an abandoned island. There's something about her desperation that calls to me. I couldn't get enough.
This is a story about love, loss, secrets, and climate change. It's one of the few books I literally couldn't predict what would happen next. The prose is stunning and so emotional. This book is also haunting, the type you can't stop thinking about and know you will keep coming back to years after it's over.

Once again I was emotionally devastated at the hands of fiction. Joan He has the exquisite gift for storytelling not just to the reader but to our emotions as well. I'm not entirely sure how to review this book other than to say the Cee and Kasey are two sisters separated by to much more than distance. A scifi separation story that keeps the reader guessing and anxious while tugging at the heart strings all the while. Joan He has done it again with another amazing story for young readers.

Wow what a fantastic novel! Great storyline, with really great elements of real world issues woven in to create the perfect balance between fiction and not. I am truly surprised at the direction this book took, something that hasn't happened to me in a long time reading a book. The way Joan He writes, the twists that her story took, the perfect merge between two seemingly separate story lines... it was a testament to her tremendous skill as a writer.

The book follows Cee who has been on an abandoned island for three years, and Kasey the sister who was left behind. I enjoyed getting to know each character and journeying through their lives with them as they uncovered truths and discovered themselves. The plot itself is widely based on the world "ending" in a way due to the environmental strain that humans placed on the Earth for so long. The author's world of cities in the sky with holograms and stasis pods was masterfully created. The book didn't end the way I expected or thought I wanted, and yet it fit the story perfectly.

Overall, I recommend everyone give this book a try regardless of age or favorite genre. I think it has something for everyone - lovers of mystery, romance, thriller, fiction, fantasy, etc. Go in with an open mind... don't try to guess where it's going because you'll be wrong every time lol. Just read and enjoy.

Well, it's official. I will be throwing THE ONES WE'RE MEANT TO FIND by Joan He at everyone I know. Those who love science fiction (YA and adult), cli-fi, quiet books, mysterious worlds, sweet romance as B-plot, STEM characters, ingenious tech, and imaginative twists: listen up. The One's We're Meant to Find is a beautifully written, tightly woven story of two sisters, one who is trapped on an island with barely any memory of who she is, and the other who is a STEM-prodigy living in an eco-city. They are searching for each other, but no one can prepare them for what they find.

Its Black Mirror chills meets a post climate apocalyptic world where humanity hangs in the balance. Smart and soul-stirring, sometimes haunting, this book gave me all the feels.

Thanks to the publisher for granting me the eARC.

I had a difficult time getting into this book. I tried multiple times to read it, thinking that perhaps it was just my mood for that particular time. But I just couldn't muster enough interest to read on. I still do think this is worth having in our YA collection as I find the premise intriguing, and I like that the main characters are Asian and sisters. I will give this another go in the future.

This was one of my most anticipated reads this year, so I was ecstatic to receive an eARC from a giveaway. I fully endorse the logline “We Were Liars meets Black Mirror, with a dash of Studio Ghibli.” The Ones We’re Meant to Find was mysterious, dystopian, and, most importantly to me, beautifully written.

This is why I love love love books that center around sibling dynamics. He approached the complexity of the relationship between sisters Celia and Kasey with a lyrical vulnerability. The sisters’ personalities are vastly different, with Celia being more emotional and Kasey being more logical, and the narration of their respective chapters bestows each of them with a unique voice. In other reviews, I’ve noticed that people said they had a harder time investing themselves in Kasey in comparison to Celia, but I didn’t experience this problem. Although I do think that Celia’s storyline evoked more visceral reactions from me, I enjoyed how I was able to follow all of Kasey’s reasoning so clearly.

“Every other sleep, I dream of swimming to the horizon and finding my sister at the edge of the world.”

There was a romantic subplot, but it felt a bit swallowed by the strength of Kasey and Celia’s longing to find one another again. Take that with a grain of salt, though, because going into this story, I was already less interested in potential romance than other readers tend to be. I could honestly ramble about Kasey and Celia’s relationship for so long, that’s how well He created it. Even when the eco-cities literally started to fall, the catastrophe only further emphasized Kasey and Celia’s development. However, this doesn’t mean that the sci-fi elements felt lackluster—they just also served as ways to frame the main character’s emotions and motivations. To match the cli-fi setting, He also spent a lot of time describing natural environments, like the sea that’s featured prominently on the cover, and this helped balance the scientific and technological elements.

“Her mistake wasn’t trusting the tech. It was trusting the humans the tech served.”

I’m also obligated to admit that I didn’t predict the major twist at all. I did recognize many of the clues scattered throughout the first half or so of the novel (my many Kindle highlights can attest to that), but I didn’t put the pieces together until the characters did. And let me tell you...that reveal was huge! It completely reoriented the story, especially its chronology. Something subtle I also appreciated was how seamlessly each chapter merged. Although the chapters alternated between Celia and Kasey’s perspectives, the situation/dialogue at the end of one chapter would often mirror the situation/dialogue at the start of the next, creating fluidity between them.

I would have given the middle third or so five stars. The first third was a bit slow, and then the last third felt a bit too fast for my brain to keep up. For me, I think most of this difficulty stemmed from the sudden change in chronology. It’s necessary, but it’s also disorienting, and I wished some of those scenes had been extended.

In conclusion, The Ones We’re Meant to Find was gorgeous and thought-provoking, and I’ll happily devour whatever Joan He writes next.