Reviews with content warning for Blood - Happiness Falls

Enjoyed this a lot! It's a mystery that took me through a whole range of feelings about the narrator and her father. It also has some insightful commentary about privilege and abelism.

In parts I felt like it could have used an edit. The main character used the word inane/inanity often enough that it was noticeable. I also thought some of the footnotes could have been cut. All in all though would recommend!

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skbat's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

the more i think about this book, the less i like it. i think i like the premise and this was a book i couldn’t really put down. but the writing was definitely pretty clunky and the narrator was pretty irritating. there were a ton of aspects of the characters and plot that didn’t get flushed out. none of the characters felt well-rounded and almost all of them were incredibly unlikable.

also i hated the ending. i think it’s hard for authors to get away with an unresolved ending, and this one definitely did not get away with it. also i wasn’t willing to believe that they had no clue that Eugene could spell or have any intelligible thoughts at all. how do you spend all day and night with him without getting an inkling about it. at that point it just feels like blatant negligence and abuse.

there were also so many parts of the plot that were convoluted and pretentious. idk, i did like a lot of this but there was also a lot that disappointed me too. also, i am BEGGING authors to stop putting covid in the background of their books when that is not apart of the main plot at all.

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_david_'s review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

The book starts of with a cliché (a witness that cannot speak), but do not worry and stick with it, it's handled very well. I really appreciated the author's sensitive and thoughful portrayal of nonspeaking characters. It's clear that she researched and spoke to people who are nonspeaking themselves about it. This care is also evident in the author's notes and acknowledgments.

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.

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jocelyn62013's review

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

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katrinarose's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective 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

4.0

After reading the masterpiece Miracle Creek in 2022, this was my most anticipated book for 2023, and Angie Kim did not disappoint. She has such a skill for writing a mystery that has intrigue and suspense without neglecting great character development, prose, and interesting themes/discussion, which is a problem I have with most mystery books I read. While this book was never scary, the way the narration references things that come later (saying things like “if I only knew at that moment”) builds suspense very effectively.

I have to say my favorite part of this book are the characters, specifically the members of the family. Each one is so unique, and have such dynamic realistic relationships with each other. I love the flashbacks and asides that help us get to know them. Mia is probably the most realistic yet unique 20 year old character I’ve ever read about. So often adult authors seem to forget what young adults act like and Mia is a perfect blend of mature yet impulsive, intensely thoughtful yet still learning how to slow down and apply nuance, hard-headed yet soft. I can see how she may come across as annoying to some readers but I loved her personality. And her parents are given equal nuance which is often left out in young-adult narrated stories.

I don’t have any major complaints but I do think the mystery itself was the weaker part of the book, which doesn’t sound great but everything surrounding it is so well done that it didn’t matter to me. I’m so looking forward to anything else this author publishes!

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ncoletti's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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dixiecarroll's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.75

this was such a surprise to me because I could NOT PUT THIS DOWN. It isn’t a thriller or all mystery, but it was a page turner. A father goes missing and only his non verbal son witnesses what happens… mystery ensues! Except so much more because it’s a portrait of grief, general family dynamics, etc. I loved it so much.

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