However, I did really like the Tip Tap posts at the beginning of each chapter, since they framed the events nicely. There was definitely money, influence, stupidity, and too much emphasis on grades encompassing your worth and being perfect on paper.

Content and Trigger Warning: This book contains content that may be triggering to some, which we will try our best to provide below the synopsis. It helps create a tension and pacing as it’s clearly they’re come out across the book, so they’re are almost like little milestones to reach. Jamie suddenly finds herself with unwanted attention as her father has been imprisoned for embezzlement.And, by the laws of narrative tension, you know that each secret will get bigger (and affect the MC more) as you go through, which helps to keep the pacing up and you reading onwards. The petty drama surrounding Nancy and her friends was addicting to read about and left me wanting more. I really enjoyed it, but wish some of the situations that were a bit of a reach were more believable.

I do think the characters were overdramatized to the point where it seemed too unrealistic, like how some of the group's 'secrets' were more believable versus some that were way over the top (I won't mention who to avoid spoilers, but if you read this you'll know what I mean). How it explains the ways Nancy feels like she must always succeed because it isn't only about her future, but about her past. 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.As much as it would’ve been interesting to see the story from Krystal, Akil and Alexander as well, I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed the story as I would’ve with just Nancy’s perspective. Students at an elite prep school are forced to confront their secrets when their ex-best friend turns up dead.

If the Proctor makes good on their threats, Nancy and her friends could lose everything--including Nancy and Alexander's coveted scholarships. Zhao examines the privilege differences between Nancy and her peers, the microaggressions against her, and how she feels out of place almost everywhere. How We Fall Apart has four main characters (Nancy Lou, Krystal Choi, Akil Patel and Alexander Lin), all of who were once close to Jamie Ruan, who is found dead. Nancy is even more shocked when word starts to spread that she and her friends – Krystal, Akil, and Alexander – are the prime suspects, thanks to ‘the Proctor,’ someone anonymously incriminating them via the school’s social media app. The "incident" seemed to play out too conveniently to be realistic and the secrets exposed on the gossip app seemed almost glossed over?If you’re looking for a fast-paced story with a necessary investigation of academic pressure, particularly within the Asian American community, this is the one for you! 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. Dark, deceptive, and deliciously deadly, How We Fall Apart cuts to the core of the Asian American experience through a fast-paced, twisty academia thriller. I loved reading the story from Nancy’s perspective as a student who didn’t grow up as privileged as most of her classmates and having to be twice as ambitious to carve her place into their world. When Jamie doesn't show up for Honors night, Nancy thinks it's her chance to step into the spotlight and finally claim her spot at the top.

I was a freshman in high school eight years ago (holy shiz 😬), but there are things that I remember like it was yesterday. And Zhao extends this character development and backstories to so many of the other side characters. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA in English and a minor in political science; she also completed her master’s in accounting there.Nancy endures school stress, the impact of social media gossip, low self-confidence, and the high expectations of her parents, who are Chinese immigrants. It is a critical commentary on the toxicity of American academics and the pressure to be more than the best at all times (especially coming from Asian families). Nancy's story alternates between the past and present as she remembers how Jamie belittled her, instilled fear into her, and used her own good deeds to get Nancy to do whatever she wanted. 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. Through the eyes of her fierce, determined, and morally grey protagonist, Zhao unflinchingly exposes the pressures of elite high schools.