The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He is a poetic work of eco-fiction that’s told from the alternating perspectives of two sisters trying to cross the ocean that divides them.
Cee:
It’s been three years since Cee washed ashore an island. She has no recollection of how got there or much of her life before. All she knows is that she has a sister named Kay and that she must get back to her.
Kay:
Kay is an antisocial STEM prodigy who lives in a high-tech eco-city—one of the last safe havens from the effects of climate change. Following her sister’s disappearance, she tries to retrace Cee’s footsteps and figure out what made her to leave in the first place.
Overall, asides from Cee’s struggle to survive on and leave the island, I found the technology aspects of the book to be the most interesting part of the story. Joan He introduces some really cool conceptual ideas here that remind me of Black Mirror. For instance, the citizens of eco-cities live out the non-essential parts of their lives in virtual reality to conserve resources by “holoing.” They also have Interfaces built into their brains that allows them to record and rewind memories, and it even offers dialogue suggestions for conversations with others.
The story started off so promising to me.
However, about 1/3 of the way in, a boy is introduced for each sister and romantic tension ensues. These romantic subplots felt awkward and more like a distraction to what could have been an incredible story. This might be more of a “me issue,” but I would have much preferred the story had further explored its environmental and familial love themes as opposed to relationship drama with strangers. The former I would have found much more compelling.
All in all, this book teases deep philosophical questions without giving satisfying answers, and the ending was so abrupt that I had to do a double take to see that I had indeed finished the novel and this was indeed a standalone. In the end, its story feels sadly half-baked and incomplete to me, which is a shame since this had been one of my most highly-anticipated novels of the year.
Thank you, NetGalley and Roaring Book Press, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Cee:
It’s been three years since Cee washed ashore an island. She has no recollection of how got there or much of her life before. All she knows is that she has a sister named Kay and that she must get back to her.
Kay:
Kay is an antisocial STEM prodigy who lives in a high-tech eco-city—one of the last safe havens from the effects of climate change. Following her sister’s disappearance, she tries to retrace Cee’s footsteps and figure out what made her to leave in the first place.
Overall, asides from Cee’s struggle to survive on and leave the island, I found the technology aspects of the book to be the most interesting part of the story. Joan He introduces some really cool conceptual ideas here that remind me of Black Mirror. For instance, the citizens of eco-cities live out the non-essential parts of their lives in virtual reality to conserve resources by “holoing.” They also have Interfaces built into their brains that allows them to record and rewind memories, and it even offers dialogue suggestions for conversations with others.
The story started off so promising to me.
However, about 1/3 of the way in, a boy is introduced for each sister and romantic tension ensues. These romantic subplots felt awkward and more like a distraction to what could have been an incredible story. This might be more of a “me issue,” but I would have much preferred the story had further explored its environmental and familial love themes as opposed to relationship drama with strangers. The former I would have found much more compelling.
All in all, this book teases deep philosophical questions without giving satisfying answers, and the ending was so abrupt that I had to do a double take to see that I had indeed finished the novel and this was indeed a standalone. In the end, its story feels sadly half-baked and incomplete to me, which is a shame since this had been one of my most highly-anticipated novels of the year.
Thank you, NetGalley and Roaring Book Press, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Book Details:
Publication Date : May 4, 2021Publisher : Roaring Book PressISBN : 1250258561
Pages : 384
Pages : 384
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