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siobhanward's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and War
rsagarin's review against another edition
- 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
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
bella_cavicchi's review against another edition
- 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
In short: another Angie Kim winner. I'm pleased.
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
- 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
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.
Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
_david_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The main character shows some bad behavious: making quick assumptions, speaking around a nonspeaking character instead of to them, and just acting as a general teenager. However, the future main character, whose POV we're following, calls her past self out on it and voices her shame. In general I feel like Mia would've made more sense as a teenager than someone in college/uni.
The author's background in philosophy shines through, especially in the exploration of happiness. It's clearly written by someone with an academic background.
The ending left a positive lasting impression. I'm sure I will think back on it often during the rest of my life.
The reason that I'm giving the book 4 stars instead of 5 is because the writer POV often annoyed me with her perspective. I specifically refer to all the moments which said something along the lines of "but with the information I know now, why [odd thing] happened made sense" without any further explanation. It happened too much and sometimes for relatively minor occurrences. It disrupted the flow of the story and was hard to take serious after a while. A small point that I disliked but not enough to affect the score, that only Mia, Adam (the dad) and Eugene were well rounded characters. Hannah (the mother) and especially John were quite flat eventhough they were very important to the story.
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Chronic illness, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Cancer, Toxic relationship, Dementia, and Classism
jocelyn62013's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Racism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and Medical content
Minor: Rape and War
arayo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Police brutality and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Cancer, Infidelity, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Car accident, and Abandonment
yeaeun's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Minor: Ableism, Death, Hate crime, Rape, Violence, Xenophobia, and Death of parent
rainbowfairie's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Violence and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Cancer, Suicide, and Terminal illness
Minor: Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Police brutality, and War
tiareads's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Ableism and Violence