Cee has been trapped on an abandoned island for three years without any recollection of how she arrived, or memories from her life prior. All she knows is that somewhere out there, beyond the horizon, she has a sister named Kay, and it’s up to Cee to cross the ocean and find her.
In a world apart, 16-year-old STEM prodigy Kasey Mizuhara lives in an eco-city built for people who protected the planet―and now need protecting from it. With natural disasters on the rise due to climate change, eco-cities provide clean air, water, and shelter. Their residents, in exchange, must spend at least a third of their time in stasis pods, conducting business virtually whenever possible to reduce their environmental footprint. While Kasey, an introvert and loner, doesn’t mind the lifestyle, her sister Celia hated it. Popular and lovable, Celia much preferred the outside world. But no one could have predicted that Celia would take a boat out to sea, never to return.
Now it’s been three months since Celia’s disappearance, and Kasey has given up hope. Logic says that her sister must be dead. But nevertheless, she decides to retrace Celia’s last steps. Where they’ll lead her, she does not know. Her sister was full of secrets. But Kasey has a secret of her own.
I wake on my feet, wind tangled in my hair.
How does one even begin to describe The Ones We’re Meant to Find? It is a book that you have to go into knowing that you will be confused for most of the first half but the experience is worth it. Joan He is intentionally keeping the reader in the dark and setting them up for everything that is revealed in the second half.
I would classify this book as speculative Sci-Fi and it is so beautifully written and thought-provoking. It makes you want to sit down and have a conversation with Joan He to understand how her minds works. I truly thought that the way it all came together was brilliant!
I read The Ones We’re Meant to Find as a buddy read on Instagram, and if it is possible to read it for a book club or with a friend, I would highly recommend it. Part of the fun was talking through theories and excitedly talking about the ending with others!
At its core, this is a book about sisterhood, which is something that I love. I appreciated that we got the perspectives of both sisters and we could see how different they were but what they meant to one another. The book was more character-driven than I expected, which I loved, and though the world was confusing at times, it was utterly fascinating.
The Ones We’re Meant to Find is beautifully written, wholly original, and very bittersweet. Read it if you love speculative fiction, stories about sisterhood, and/or books that will leave you asking yourself a lot of questions.
- Characters: 9
- Atmosphere/Setting: 10
- Writing Style: 9
- Plot: 8
- Intrigue: 9
- Logic/Relationships: 9
- Enjoyment: 10
Overall CAWPILE score: 64/7=9.1
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Thank you for this review. I’ll be adding this to my To Read pile!
Love hearing that!!
Great review! I found this book so fascinating, and like you, I thought it was genius of Joan He to keep us in the dark for so long, because that made the plot twists all the more shocking!
Exactly! I have seen a few people dnf it early on because it’s definitely confusing at first but it’s so worth it!
great review! i really look forward to reading this book.
I hope you end up loving it as much as I did!
i’m so glad you liked the ones we’re meant to find!! i’m going to read it for a book club in july, and i’m so excited for it. lovely review!!
Ahh I can’t wait to see what you think!!
i loved reading your review, i’m glad to hear you enjoyed reading it! i definitely need to read this soon haha it’s been on my tbr for quite some time already aaaa
I feel like I put in on my TBR ages ago! I am so glad that it is finally here and I loved it as much as I did!
Great review! I will check it out…. I love when a story comes together in the end.
It’s really brilliant in that way!
Great review! I definitely want to check this one out 🙂
Thank you! It’s a good one!