Member Review
Review by
Julia H, Media/Journalist
I didn't think it would be possible to love this book more than I loved Angie Kim's debut, Miracle Creek, but I absolutely did. Was this the Happiness Quotient at work? Perhaps. But it doesn't change the fact that this book is a masterpiece - fast-paced and exciting, smart and thought-provoking, beautiful and emotional. I can't think of enough adjectives to describe this book!
There is a lot in this book and I don't want to give anything away, so I will try to keep this review spoiler free while also describing why I loved it so much. The first thing I loved was of course our narrator Mia, the older sister, and getting her inner thoughts throughout the book. She is such a complex character. She's incredibly smart, but she's also moody and sometimes comes across as arrogant. She loves her family but you can tell she feels a bit like an outsider. And she's really funny which comes across not just in the main text but the footnotes.
The use of footnotes was a great device that helped us learn more about Mia. Through the footnotes we get a lot of flashbacks and insights into her feelings and motivations as well as the motivations of the other characters, not to mention a lot of interesting facts. There's one footnote that talks about the model minority myth and why most Asians hate the assumption that they are good at math - because if you are good at math, well then that's no big deal you're supposed to be. And if you're not, you're a huge disappointment. It's a lose-lose situation.
And finally (for this review anyway), I loved how Angie writes the character of Eugene. I don't know a lot about autism, and next to nothing about angelman's syndrome, but Angie writes with so much care and empathy, and with so much research backing it up, I feel like i learned so much. And you can tell that a TON of research went in to making sure this character was written respectfully and with real dimension. Bravo.
Angie Kim is not one of those authors who puts out a book every year, but I think Happiness Falls is absolutely worth the wait. It comes out in September so get your pre-orders in now!
There is a lot in this book and I don't want to give anything away, so I will try to keep this review spoiler free while also describing why I loved it so much. The first thing I loved was of course our narrator Mia, the older sister, and getting her inner thoughts throughout the book. She is such a complex character. She's incredibly smart, but she's also moody and sometimes comes across as arrogant. She loves her family but you can tell she feels a bit like an outsider. And she's really funny which comes across not just in the main text but the footnotes.
The use of footnotes was a great device that helped us learn more about Mia. Through the footnotes we get a lot of flashbacks and insights into her feelings and motivations as well as the motivations of the other characters, not to mention a lot of interesting facts. There's one footnote that talks about the model minority myth and why most Asians hate the assumption that they are good at math - because if you are good at math, well then that's no big deal you're supposed to be. And if you're not, you're a huge disappointment. It's a lose-lose situation.
And finally (for this review anyway), I loved how Angie writes the character of Eugene. I don't know a lot about autism, and next to nothing about angelman's syndrome, but Angie writes with so much care and empathy, and with so much research backing it up, I feel like i learned so much. And you can tell that a TON of research went in to making sure this character was written respectfully and with real dimension. Bravo.
Angie Kim is not one of those authors who puts out a book every year, but I think Happiness Falls is absolutely worth the wait. It comes out in September so get your pre-orders in now!
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