Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

50 reviews

jackbifrost's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer and Racism

Minor: Suicide

rushell070's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really disliked the narrator at the very beginning, but as the story progresses and the character develops, she becomes much more relateable and likeable.

This book got a rating if 4.5 instead of 5 from me because

while I normally enjoy books with open ended plots and a few unanswered questions, for some reason the lack of complete resolution killed me with this one! Why didn't Mia ask her family more direct questions? Did she or didn't she press zero when trying to unlock her dad's  phone? Why didn’t she want to know the truth??

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Grief, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Cancer, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

amachonis's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, Suicide, Police brutality, and Grief

Minor: Terminal illness

fancyjess_party's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

szuum's review

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Death of parent

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Rape

rsagarin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Grief

minniepauline's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The story gets bogged down in all of Mia’s/the author’s research, musings and sidetracks. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Police brutality

evoniere's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Police brutality, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Racism, Rape, War, and Deportation

bella_cavicchi's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this. It took me a fair bit to settle into the narrative voice -- Mia sure does love a footnote -- but I came to love how her tangents and (sometimes contradictory) rambles mirror our thinking in everyday life. And Eugene! The sheer love and research that went into crafting his character is a true highlight.

In short: another Angie Kim winner. I'm pleased.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Infidelity, Racism, Xenophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Rape, Violence, Colonisation, and War

isabellamarg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It is 2020, COVID is rampant, and the father of the Korean-American Park family goes missing on a Tuesday morning. The family's lives are upended in the wake of their fathers disappearance, including Mia who initially dismissed her fathers disappearance, and Eugene her younger brother who returns from the park he and his dad frequented bloodied and alone, without his father. 

Happiness Falls follows the ensuing investigation into the disappearance of Adam Parson and how the family and their secrets may have played a role in why he went missing. Eugene, the youngest son, is autistic and has Angelman syndrome which prevents him from being able to communicate verbally. This complicates the investigation as Eugene was the last person to see his father, and also makes the authorities suspicious of him as well as the Park family.

This book combined two of my favorite genres: mystery and family drama. There were plenty of shocking twists and the book posed many deep, philosophical questions about the assumptions we make about language, race, disabilities, immigrants, our family, and ourselves. I love that one of the reasons Angie Kim wrote this book was to highlight that "just because you can't speak doesn't mean you can't think or understand." Eugene and his disabilities play a large role in the treatment of the Park family throughout the investigation into the disappearance of their father. Eugene is labelled as "non-verbal" and the novel explores the implications of this title and how harmful it can be when thinking about how people express themselves and the limitations we place on others. This novel also focused on the aspect of happiness: what it means to be happy and how we can make ourselves and our family happier. As a family deeply affected by a child with a disability, how does this create guilt and resentment with the other siblings Mia and John as well as within their parents themselves? 

Overall, I went into this novel expecting a really intriguing and dark mystery and I was not disappointed. I did not expect the novel to focus so much on the aspect of language and verbalization, but I thought it was unique and allowed me to learn more about different speech therapy methods and hopefully un-train any biases I have regarding oral fluency being equated with intelligence. Happiness Falls beautifully captured the complexity and love of a family that is still learning to communicate with each other.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic