Book Review // The Ones We’re Meant To Find By Joan He

Well thanks for being the third author in a ROW to break my heart, Joan He (oh, and you did it twice, too. You’re waaay to good at crafting characters I looove).

First Veronica Roth, then Laini Taylor, then Joan He. In. A. Row. The wooorld is falling apart.

Anyway! It’s Naomi, and welcome back (or welcome) to the SSCC!

Today, I have a book review for ya (Cause the title doesn’t literally say book review. I mean, Naoooomi…) (HMMMPH!)! It’s a non-spoiler review, you are VERY WELCOME. It took much self control to make it that way!

So… shall we?

*ahem* I sound like I’m asking you to um…. dance…

Let’s!

Title: The Ones We’re Meant To Find
Author: Joan He

Blurb:

Cee has been trapped on an abandoned island for three years without any recollection of how she arrived, or memories from her life prior. All she knows is that somewhere out there, beyond the horizon, she has a sister named Kay, and it’s up to Cee to cross the ocean and find her.

In a world apart, 16-year-old STEM prodigy Kasey Mizuhara lives in an eco-city built for people who protected the planet―and now need protecting from it. With natural disasters on the rise due to climate change, eco-cities provide clean air, water, and shelter. Their residents, in exchange, must spend at least a third of their time in stasis pods, conducting business virtually whenever possible to reduce their environmental footprint. While Kasey, an introvert and loner, doesn’t mind the lifestyle, her sister Celia much preferred the outside world. But no one could have predicted that Celia would take a boat out to sea, never to return.

Now it’s been three months since Celia’s disappearance, and Kasey has given up hope. Her sister must be dead. But nevertheless, she decides to retrace Celia’s last steps. Where they’ll lead her, she does not know. Her sister was full of secrets. But Kasey has a secret of her own.

-Joan He

“No one enters this world by choice. If we’re lucky, we can choose how we leave.”

The Ones We’re Meant To Find by Joan He

So, turns out I need help being hard on books.

Especially the ones that I kinda love and am kinda obsessed with…

Yeah right. KINDA love?

So so so, I don’t REALLY know where to begin. Amazing cli-fi aspect? check (more on that shortly), Beautifully written? check, Wonderful characters? check, Mystery that kept me guessing? check, Great plot twist? check, Unique idea? check.

Listen. I LOVED this book. So. Very. Much. The writing style is BEAUTIFUL, and the world building is so full in a way that doesn’t take OVER the plot, but 100% adds a new element. I just… wow. Shall we take it apart a bit? I think we shall!

Cee. Celia. Hero. Kasey. Actinium.

BEAUTIFUL characters, all with their different flaws and worldviews.

I love Hero sooo much. Never mind he tried to uh… kill a certain someone that uh… that wasn’t his fault, ok?! He was such a sweet character with so much depth- He is a BIT of a Peeta character (I hate Peeta, but I still love Hero)…. And Cee was such a lovely character, with so much energy and depth, especially after the plot twist! Kasey was quite flawed, but her character journey was amazing, and I actually enjoyed reading her POV- it was so different! She’s analytical, and has had problems because she doesn’t feel like she feels normal human emotions. Cee, on the other hand… she’s such a vibrant and beautiful character who wants to live so badly. And Actinium is… Actinium. I have to say I’m not a fan of him, but ya know, he’s a good character. *ahem*

I got SUPER invested in all the characters which is why, um, my heart is broken.

I can’t talk about the plot VERY well without… spoilers (still not good at this whole let’s-not-put-spoilers-in-a-review thing), but I shall make a valiant effort here! I really enjoyed the plot twists, and the pieces that didn’t QUITE FIT until the final GIANT turns-your-world-upside-down plot twist, and then it all fell into place BEAUTIFULLY! It all made sense, and it worked so well. It was such a unique plot and storyline!

It alternates between the POVs of Cee and Kasey- Cee is stuck on an abandoned island with only a few memories and an urgent need to find her sister (Kasey). Kasey is living in an ECO-CITY and is dealing with the death of Celia (Cee, ya know? Which… eeerm, Kasey honey we’re actually hearing from her. It’s so weird!). Kasey is trying to figure out what happened to Celia, while Cee is on an abandoned island trying to get to her… And there are sort of… HINTS that like they’re in different time frames – it was all so crazy and didn’t make any sense- UNTIL THE END!

Joan He’s writing style is beautiful, and I quite appreciated how it was different when each sister talked! And the themes were wonderful as well. A lot of it was about finding yourself, but also about how our actions have consequences. It was WONDERFUL!

There was A LOT more of the climate change part then I thought there would be. A lot of the plot actually REVOLVES around climate change, and while I can’t reveal WHY, the plot twist actually has to do with Kasey’s idea to help!

It was both realistic and sort of hopeful – natural disasters were happening, people were dying, the sea was poisoned. But those with a high enough rank (determined by the carbon footprint of you and your ancestors) were living in eco-cities IN THE SKY like come on I want to live in an eco-city in the sky. In these cities, they basically use VR to get around – much less of a carbon footprint that way! But those with lower ranks who aren’t in eco-cites are dying, and part of Kasey’s journey over the course of the book actually revolves around the solution (which I can’t quite reveal, because uh.. well SPOILERS!).

This book along with Descendant Of The Crane has made Joan He an author who’s next book I will pick uuuup automatically! I mean, she has a habit of breaking my heart, but sacrifices have to be made for books you love.

This book gets 5 stars from me if you couldn’t tell from the review that was me screaming I-love-this-book!

And that’s that! I’m a beginner book-reviewer please don’t tell me that’s not a word, and I really really loved this book, so the review wasn’t the BEST, but all I can say is go read it and we can talk theeen!

QOTD: Have you read, or do you want to read, The Ones We’re Meant To Find? If not, just tell me this: have you read any cli-fi of late?

See you in the comments (or, ya know, your WORDS. But aren’t your words sort of you? Cause like, what you say is sort of what you are and… wow that got philosophical FAST. Maybe tell me in the comments what you think)! Byee!

Oh YES I figured out how to order my outtro!