Wow. That's my major takeaway from this book. The mystery was intense, the perspective of the main character, Nancy Luo, was so sincere it was almost more terrifying. At first I was worried, with such similarities to One of Us is Lying, I didn't want the book to fall flat. But instead, the four perspectives were far more inclusive and intriguing than OOUIL, and way more in depth too. I know there were a number of reviews that slated the book as not being thrilling enough, but I think there are too many preconceptions about what "thriller" represents as a genre, and this book hit all of the relevant pillars with perfection. The thrill was more psychological, the threat was everywhere and nowhere and happening in your own highschool, what could be more frightening? I honestly can't wait for the next one!

How We Fall Apart was a RIDE. I'm usually not a contemporary thriller sort of person. I need some sci-fi, magic, or even extreme horror to add some sparkle to the genre, but I really didn't think about that once while reading this book. It definitely gave me Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars vibes because of the threatening anonymous person, but I loved that this book was much more realistic than those two examples I gave. I always rolled my eyes about the intensity of the situations, but this felt REAL. Not to mention I saw Katie mentioned in her note that this was originally inspired by an actual event of a murder. Overall, I wish this book was quite longer, and I wish Jamie had been alive during the book. I could see myself reading a detailed 500 page book of this!

I found this book to be so intriguing. I will be honest and say that I cared much more about the individual students' secrets than I did who was behind all of it. Plus the plot twist did not feel as satisfying to me as I thought it would - while it all made sense and should not have felt like it came out of nowhere, I felt blindsided and not in a good way. However, I found the discussion on academic pressure and what some students feel like they have to turn to very relevant and meaningful, similarly to the themes of classism and privilege.

I received this novel as an e-book advanced readers copy by NetGalley. Any and all thoughts are my own.

I think I might have found one of my fave new mystery novels? How We Fall Apart follows Nancy Luo, a scholarship student at one of the most prestigious private institutions in the country, and her friends as they discover that their spoiled "friend" Jamie is now dead. While trying to discover who had done it, another threat of the anonymous Proctor looms over them, threatening to let loose their secrets to the school and ruin their reputations. Will Nancy and crew discover the truth, or will their truths destroy them?

This story left me gasping and close to throwing my Kindle across the room in the best ways. There were some good twists that left me shook, but others that I did end up predicting. I can say that I definitely did not guess the identity of the Proctor though. The other main mystery of Jamie I did end up guessing after halfway through the book or later. And I do think it was foreshadowed in the best ways, which I sadly can't get into because of spoilers, but it was a mystery I'm glad was done the way it was.

One of my favorite aspects of the story wasn't the mystery or the thriller, but about the important discussions that resulted from the narrative. There was a LOT of inner dialogue and description throughout the story about cultural expectations on kids that don't come from typical American families. There's a push for them to be great because of what the family went through to get to where they are at this point in the story and what downfalls may come from such a push. We see this primarily I believe in Jamie, who always thought she was better just because of her status. But there is always so much more happening under the surface and it was shown beautifully in the most painful ways.

I also really liked the relationship dynamics between characters. There was Peter and Nancy, which highlights the toxic dynamics that can result from teacher and student relationships. But my favorite had to be with Nancy and Jamie. Their "friendship" and the tension between them is exactly what I experienced from a toxic friend, now ex-friend. There will always be those moments that will try to convince you that this person is good deep down, but their actions and their way of "excusing it" reflected a lot in what I dealt with. You want to help them, but sometimes you can't, and they need to be the one to realize that they are in the wrong and they need to learn from that on their own. Nancy and Jamie's past showed the highs and lows, not just the bad, and really emphasized the brutality of a toxic friendship.

I will admit that a few of the flashbacks felt a little unnecessary as they rehashed some points already made, but most of them felt pretty helpful to understand characters more, especially when it came to Jamie. Another point to touch on is that it felt like the addiction that one of the characters faced was undermined, specifically when it came to the lack of withdrawal, which is a bit of an issue.

On another point, there was also a content warning as well as a huge dedication to book influencers at the end, which really made me feel valued at both the beginning and the end of this novel.

How We Fall Apart is the diverse, jaw-dropping, powerhouse mystery that we have needed for so long, and I cannot wait to dive into more of this world!

Rating: 4/5 stars

This private school, murder mystery thriller, had me on the edge of my sit the entire time I was reading. The characters were very flawed and didn't always make the best decisions, but I grew to love them and their friendship. I enjoyed the flashbacks because they gave more insight on the past of the school and the characters. The writing was very addicting and the plot never failed to keep me entertained.

The book is told from the perspective of Nancy Luo. She is the child of Chinese immigrants who work hard to support her academic success. All her life Nancy has had the pressure of having to be the best at everything she tries, but at Sinclair Prep her rival/friend Jamie always seems to be one step ahead. Until Jamie dies and a secret hacker starts revealing the deepest, darkest truths of Nancy and her friends.

I am very excited for the next book in this duology. I was suspicious of everyone and still was not able to solve the mystery. The book delves into deeper topics such as mental health, parental pressure, and drug use.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC.

I think the author is very skilled but the way this arc was formatted really hindered my reading experience. I’m still recommending this to anyone who wants to read some modern day Dark Academia with some characters of colors. Camt wait to read more books by this author,

3.5 full review to come.

I absolutely loved this YA. It kept me guessing up until the very end. Zhao does a fantastic job of featuring morally gray characters that you still care about and root for. Highly recommended.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury YA for a digital ARC of How We Fall Apart!

CW: Violence, death, murder, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, abuse, drug use, student/teacher relationship, racism, classism, parental neglect

When I first read the synopsis for How We Fall Apart I was immediately in - Pretty Little Liars with a completely Asian-American cast? Say less.

This book certainly delivered with the Pretty Little Liars vibes. Unfortunately, while the plot idea was great, the execution fell a little flat, especially towards the end. I will say that while the big reveal wasn't gasp worthy, I did not guess it fully which is a win for this book in the thriller/mystery genre. I do wish there had been more time given to the discussion of mental health, especially as it pertained to the core 4 characters. This could have provided more depth to their personalities as well.

Where this book really shines is its depiction of the expectations and pressures that come with being Asian American, particularly a first-generation Asian American student. From the model minority myth, to family expectations, and the pressure you put on yourself to succeed, the stress can be overwhelming. Personally, I am the eldest daughter of a Taiwanese immigrant. Trust me, the pressure is very real. I could especially feel for Nancy throughout the book as someone who didn’t have much growing up while also dealing with society's expectations. This book provides an exploration of the dark potential for these unrealistic expectations as well as competitive educational environments. Hopefully this will serve to provide some insight for non-Asian Americans while also challenging these issues that are still quite prevalent throughout our current society.

I hope to see more character development and exploration of the mental health aspects in book 2 which I will definitely be reading since this one ended on a cliffhanger!

This is a very straightforward teen mystery in a prep school setting. One thing that I really enjoyed about this book was the diversity. I loved the Asian representation, particularly since most books that I've read in this genre are generally not diverse at all. I also really liked the use of technology within the book, which I think most teen readers will relate to. That being said, it could end up dating this book as time goes on.

I do wish the writing had been a bit stronger. I think it was a very simplistic style and there was a lot more telling than showing. The story was also a bit clunky. The plot is the driving force of this book and not much else happens outside of it, so it feels more like a series of events and the reader is being pulled jerkily along to each one. For being a murder-mystery story, there's not really much investigating going on. It's more just a story of a group of kids who want to figure out who is targeting them and them standing by and watching as each thing happens to them. They try two things, but otherwise don't really do anything. There's really not much action on part of the main characters. They all end up being very passive, so there wasn't a whole lot of intrigue or fun from trying to solve the crime. It also made it impossible to guess who the culprit is, which will probably disappoint some. I chalk this up to this book being a debut and the author seemed more focused on internal dialogue than the crime solving aspect of the story.

Otherwise, I think this book is enjoyable enough to read and teens will probably like it. It did not stand out to me. I wanted to like it more, but it seems very similar to other books I've read in this genre, with the bonus that at least it's diverse.

I read this in one sitting, and it was definitely compelling, but I thought it could use another round of editing. A lot didn't align or seemed to fall into repetition and it became a bit overwrought. I would still read a sequel, though.

DNF ~ 33%

Katie Zhao's writing is very readable and initally I found How We Fall Apart to be fast-paced (in a good way), so I thought I was going to breeze through this book. However, about 100 pages in, I just found most of the cast to be uninteresting. It felt like the author had ideas for what each character would be, but only scratched the surface and created stock characters instead. The mystery behind what happened to Jaime didn't hook me in either. I'm kind of amazed that a student died under mysterious circumstances and some of the teachers are just like "Ok guys, we have an AP test to study for."

The contrast between rich and poor Asian American families was portrayed too black and white for my liking, but admittedly I didn't stick around the entire book to see how deeper the author would explore this topic. Of course, I found Nancy's family situation to be very relatable from the get go, though part of me wishes we had more than just the two extremes of the Asian American teen hyper-competitive academic struggle bus represented by Jaime and Nancy.

HOW WE FALL APART is a dark academia thriller where four Asian-American high school students have to find their former friend's true killer before their darkest secrets are dragged into the light.

I love Nancy as an unabashed morally grey character. She has things she wants and lines she won’t cross (at least so far), but those lines don’t seem to be dictated by other people’s expectations. It’s the difference between wanting to not be bad and not wanting to get caught. Jamie Ruan, only present in flashbacks, is a fascinating and complex character, shown in a way that makes it easy to understand why Nancy would both hate her so much and have been her friend for so long. I don't feel like I really got to know Krystal and Akil that well in the present, Alexander had much more of a presence, and Jamie's shadow loomed large over the whole thing.

I wish “The Incident” hadn’t spent so long being teased before finally being explained because I prefer feeling like I could guess what’s happening before it’s revealed and this style meant I couldn’t, but the payoff was worth it and I ended up liking the final revelation. Glancing back through the early parts of the book, it had some pretty consistent but subtle foreshadowing as to who was involved, even thought I'm pretty sure it would be tricky to guess why one a first read.

The ending begs for a sequel and it looks like one is planned. As it stands, there’s enough closure to be satisfying, but it teases potential future developments that I hope can play out in another volume.

“How We Fall Apart” is Zhao’s debut YA novel. And what a debut it is. I hadn’t read anything else by Katie Zhao so I didn’t know what to expect. I’m so glad I requested an ARC from NetGalley and was provided one by the publisher (Thank you!).

The novel centers around a murder of the top ranked student at a private high school. When Nancy and her friends become prime targets due to the secret revealing menace known as the Proctor, the story really takes off. Dark academia ensues in this engaging debut.

I finished reading it in a couple of days and I’m looking forward to the next chapter in this story.

I think the story was very interesting. The only thing I wanted was more depth to the big reveal. However, the ending helped pique my interest right back up.

I’d definitely recommend this to others! Hopefully this can be adapted to a TV series.

EXCERPT: “How We Fall Apart is a murder mystery with a vivid atmospheric setting … an exciting reinvention of previous tropes and a gripping addition to the young adult mystery and thriller genres.“

Full review published online at Asia Pacific Arts Magazine.

I went into this very excited. I mean, comparing it to Gossip Girl and One of Us is Lying? You get me. Sign me up. Sadly, it was a solid three stars for me - not bad, but it had so much more potential. I got into it and ultimately enjoyed it, but it required a whole lot of suspension of disbelief. The premise is solid and what made me drool at the thought of reading an advanced copy, but I thought the characters could have been much better developed, and some of the key plot points were tough for me to get on board with. The Proctor, for instance, is pretty central to the entire story, but...why is anyone taking this person seriously? This is the Tip Tap post that pins all the suspicion on Nancy and her friends:

"Jamie has four former friends. Each friend has a secret. One day, Jamie goes missing. Which friend is guilty and deserves punishment?

c) the one hiding a criminal
d) the one who traded conscience for grades
a) the one who sunk the lowest to get highest
b) the one who ruined a girl three years ago

Happy testing. The Proctor."

I can't be the only one who finds that incredibly flimsy, and it only gets weaker as each secret is revealed. Most of them are pretty generic, and I would be shocked if the friend group were the only people at the school who had them. I don't want to get too deeply into it and give stuff away, but reading this it seemed like there was an outline and it was followed, but outside of the key plot points nothing got fleshed out. Give me more!

I had the same issue with the characters. Flashbacks to Jamie revealed her to be a pretty unforgivably terrible human, which regardless of how rich she was made it difficult to believe that she had close enough friends that they would let her learn secrets about them. There were some vague attempts to introduce some nuance, but they weren't developed enough to redeem her. Then the other characters were all very cookie-cutter. All her friends act exactly the same, everyone at the school is super generic...meh.

Finally, the way that self-harm and suicide are handled felt really weird and uncomfortable to me. I know that the whole point of the book is that it's a really high-demand school and basically everyone is stressed to the point of falling apart constantly, but it was strange that literally no one seemed phased by that. Not a single person?! Even after Jamie dies, the teachers and school leadership are still just like 🤷 This school is hard, lol! Talk to a counselor between classes if you're bummed your fellow youth died. Uhh ok, Headmaster Charleston. Even "tough" educators have like a modicum of empathy, don't they? I feel like at least one reasonable soul should have stepped up and been like "so this is insane, right?" even if everyone else told them to shut up. That would have made things much less strange for me.

Anyway...at the end of the day, this wasn't bad, but it was disappointing reading it and seeing how it could have been so much better. I'm interested to see if the next book in the series is stronger, now that the world and characters are established. I suppose we shall see.

Oh. My. Goodness. The most binge-worthy book of Fall 2021 right here. It has horror, drama, murder, and unreliable characters like you've never seen before. I just...I can barely put into words how bingeable this book is.

Nancy attends Sinclair Prep, an elite private school in Manhattan where she was once a part of the most sought after friend group: Nancy, Krystal, Alexander, Akil, and, of course, Jamie. Jamie Ruan is essentially the Regina George of Sinclair Prep, except rather than just being...really pretty you know...she's got the top grades, the top opportunities, and will let nothing get in her way. And then the Incident occurs Sophomore year and the friend group breaks apart, Jamie's dad gets involved in a huge scandal, and seemingly out of nowhere, Jamie's dead with her four former friends being accused of killing her.

Enter The Proctor. On the school's anonymous posting app, Tip Tap, a person only called The Proctor threatens the four with their deepest secrets being revealed to the school if they don't confess which one of them killed Jamie. They'll do anything to stop the Incident and their own personal secrets from being revealed. Nancy knows just which secret The Proctor will tell the school about and she will not let that happen. As more gets revealed and time begins to run out, will any secret be left or will they all be unturned?

I'm just going to come right out and admit it: there isn't a single likeable character in this book...well, except maybe Alexander. Maybe...Everyone else is terrible and that's part of what makes it so great. You even want to hate Nancy by the book's end. Very rarely do you get books with either unhappy endings or intentionally unlikeable characters, but this heads down that path gladly with fireworks spinning in both hands. It's brilliant. If you're ever seeking a dramatic read that can be devoured quickly while keeping you on the edge of your seat, take a chance on this read! It'll do just that!

~How We Fall Apart Review~
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2/5
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I saw someone talk about this on TikTok so you know i had to request it! I love a good majority Asian cast and i’ve been in the mood for a murder mystery so I’m so thankful I got approved for this one on Netgalley! It’s been described as Asian Gossip Girl meets One Of Us Is Lying and I can’t wait to explore the drama!
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Pros:
+ I love how this begins with going over the trigger warnings. I think it’s super important because there are a lot of darker themes in this book. Please make sure to check the TW’s before starting!
+Will once again mention how much I love seeing Asian main characters!
+sometimes dramatic stories like this one are super fun. like yes i know that everything and everyone in this is a stereotype but a good cliche story never hurts.
+it’s like fan fiction writing!!
+Revolves around a pretty important topic. There is so much pressure on kids these days to be perfect and do too much. college admissions is a broken system
+ bi and lesbian characters
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Cons:
-books that jump around in time always confuse me. i know why it has to be done but it doesn’t mean i have to like it
-writing is a bit repetitive at times
-a bit faced past
-honestly pretty predictable and at times boring
-couldn’t root for any of the characters because you didn’t really get to know them at all past their stereotype and secret
-the big reveal fell flat and the end wasn’t satisfying imo
•
I can’t say i hated or loved this book. I finished it cause i had to but i don’t feel like this is a book i’ll remember in 2 weeks. there were some important lessons squeezed into the pages but the overall dramatic ness of the book makes it hard to like. I’d recommend checking it out for yourself to see if it’s something you’re interested in!

there's nothing worse than a thriller which is not thrilling in the slightest.

i had high hopes for how we fall apart. while this book is what it promises us, dark academia with an asian-american cast, it fell flat. its not the best thriller out there but its pretty fast paced which was the only reason why i liked it. i did not feel the curiosity of finding the person behind it all as i should've been. otherwise, all the characters felt superficial and unlikeable. i really really wish they would've been more developed or had more of a backstory. not kidding when i say the gossip girl/pll vibes are deep rooted. most scenarios seemed ridiculous. i did find the whole mystery part predictable and the cause of jamie's death was way too simple. i was looking forward to this mainly because i thought it would discuss the problems of immigrants, asian immigrants at that, but the struggles were only mentioned throughout and again lacked depth. i understand the pressure asian parents put on children, so nancy's constant need to not disappoint them felt somewhat real.

uhh i feel like the ending was done like that just to make this a duology but anyway, i'm awaiting it to see what more clownery happens in sinclair prep.

thank you bloomsbury and netgalley for the arc

4 stars

'how we fall apart' is a YA mystery-thriller set at a prestigious school. it's a book that screams dark academia, with subtle notes of gossip girl and crazy rich asians. it's similar to books like 'one of us is lying', 'the ivies', and 'people like us', all books i liked.

so it's no real surprise that i ended up LOVING this book. it follows nancy (our main character) after the murder of her former friend and it-girl of sinclair prep, jamie ruan. shortly after jamie's death, an anonymous poster - called the 'the proctor' - incriminates nancy and her friends in the crime and threatens to spill their darkest secrets. the four of them race to find the true killer before they face consequences they can't afford, such as nancy losing her scholarship

+ the representation in this book was amazing to see. our main cast is asian and a good chunk of the supporting characters are POC. as an asian-american, it was refreshing to see characters that resembled me in a way. the characters were also relatable, especially as someone around their age. i could sympatbize with their academic struggles and the pressure that comes with wanting to be successful.

nancy especially was someone i saw myself in. her parents were immigrants, much like mine were, and her situation was one i could relate to. like nancy, i want to be successful to make my parents proud and to make their sacrifices worth it.

this was also an extremely well-written book. it was so easy to imagine everything going on. there was a noticeable shift in the atmosphere as the story progressed and things got more serious. it was almost as if i was in the book itself.

finally, that final plot twist was one i NEVER saw coming. i had a lot of theories on who the culprit was and i was shocked when everything was revealed

- i found that the dynamics between the characters weren't as fleshed out as i liked it to be. there was inklings of a romance between two characters and while i could certainly see the chemistry, i felt like it advanced in a way that unnatural.

i also thought that the friendship between jamie and the main characters could have been covered a bit more. i feel like it had so much potential and was pushed aside for the mystery. i don't fault the author for that at all, i just would have liked to see more of it as it can be so complex considering their characters

i wish the other three main characters (krystal, akil, and alexander) had more time to shine than they did. their parts in the mystery were as big as nancy's, yet we didn't learn much of them besides their secrets.

overall, this was a fast-paced mystery i'd recommend to everyone, especially those that love YA mysteries and thrillers. the ending left much to be discussed and i hope to see a second book exploring the golden trio's secret.

Likes:
How We Fall Apart is a look into Asian students at Sinclair Prep, trying to stay on top of the pack with perfect grades. When top girl Jamie Ruan is found dead, someone accuses her closest four friends of committing the crime. But who really killed Jamie and why?

This story is told by Jamie’s best friend/nemesis, Nancy Luo. Nancy isn’t rich like her other friends. Her mom was the maid for the Ruan family so Nancy always envied Jamie’s power and wealth – but was that enough to be a motive for her to kill her? I liked how we didn’t really know who could be the killer. “The Proctor” is dishing out secrets on Jamie’s best friends and the secrets are juicy and scandalous – Nancy’s being the worst, I think.

I think we get a good glimpse of the issues between Asian students – rich and poor, the competition, the pressure to succeed that is put upon them by their families. There was also the issues of Asian students dealing with their peers who are not Asian, who had prejudices against them because of their race – like automatically being “smart” because they were Asian. I liked how Nancy felt anger about that, knowing how hard her parents worked to put her through school.

I liked the second half of the book more than the first because the secrets were being revealed and the story moved faster. There’s a twist at the end that explain this Incident that Nancy and her friends keep mentioning but never goes into detail about and it was nice to finally know what happened during that event. It wasn’t what I expected which was good.

Random Notes:
Trigger: suicide, murder, drug use, bullying, teacher/student affair, abuse, mental illness

I wasn’t connecting to any of the characters until the second part of the book. I found Jamie the typical rich girl bully who gets her way, Nancy is her shadow. Akil, Krystal and Alexander were there to round it out but this story is mostly about Jamie and Nancy. I think I wanted more from Nancy, but that really doesn’t come into play until the last few pages. So for most of the story she was a bit lackluster to me.

The ending is left open for a book two. Is this where Nancy really reveals her personality? That would be intriguing. It did make me curious about what The Golden Trio did that Alex knows about.

The teacher/student affair was a no for me. I get it was deliciously scandalous though, Nancy’s secrets were the most dangerous ones. But Peter needs to be taken down.

Final Thoughts:
I think this book will appeal to a lot of people who like dark academia with all the scandals taking place at Sinclair Prep, it definitely is a story that keeps you on your toes. I did like how it addressed some issues that Asian students deal with in a prep school setting, the crazy pressure and competitiveness they experience on unhealthy levels. We get a glimpse of all the darkness that comes with trying to stay on top like abuse, drug use, and parental neglect. It just shows money can’t buy everything. I do wish it had a little more intensity because it’s a thriller and I did want more from Nancy as well. But overall it was a quick read with an interesting twist at the end and a lead up for book two.