I was taken by surprise at how much I adored this. It has a brilliantly twisty plot, btu also characters I felt really invested in and cared about. I was occassionally confused by the ages of the sisters, which would drag me out of the story somewhat - they definitely read as older, especially in the first third of the book. However, I had been in a bit of a reading slump, and this propelled me out of it - I ploughed through it in under 24 hours. The Ones We're Meant to Find was quite moving at times, and I found the worldbuilding mesmerising. This was the first Joan He I'd read, and now I immediately want to read more.
4.5 rounded up to 5.

Embedded with extraordinary tech and emotional tang, The Ones We're Meant To Find is equal parts an enthralling turn of events tailing earth's ecological end-times, a tactful take on ethics, and a thinly-veiled exploration of the threats we can expect from environmental tragedy. With privileged sections of the population locked away in lifted pseudo-utopian structures, the story plots the parallel plights of two sisters of lofty status - one liable to love and lost at sea, the other staunchly loyal to logic and looking for her sibling - as they sift through lies, tough out their lots and tentatively lock horns with high-ranking transgressions, and in the process puncture the legitimacy of the strongholds of Promethean promises of this last-resort lifestyle. Thronged with three-dimensionality - from its terrifying topicality to its testy heroines - and lavish with its headlong twists and turns, The Ones We're Meant To Find is a thrilling tale of tempestuous heart-searching and hard-hitting family ties and a thought-provoking testament to the fallibility and foibles of a humankind troubled by hopelessness and hubris, the trappings of tiering and limiting the terms for humanity and whether our future is touched up to transform the horizons of what it means to be human at all.

“the world will be watching. everyone will know you didn't help”

i received this arc from netgalley, but this has not influenced my opinion at all~

lets talk about what this book has:

-def insta love
-predictable plot
-confusing pov
-middle grade writing style
-all the cliche tropes

so all in all, not my favorite book.

i think i was mostly excited for this book due to the title and due to the cover. i saw the cover and absolutely fell in love with it. i do not know why i thought i would love this book, its tagged for fans of we were liars, which i hated. but i liked the concept so much that I wanted to give it a try.

but reading it was a bit disappointing. don't get me wrong, the concept was super interesting and i was ready to read this, but damn, i frankly didn't understand anything.

no character stuck to me, the two main characters were pretty bland and frankly, were very boring to read about. i feel they could have been developed more than it was. the side characters were only there to advance the plot and had no real life, which was super sad. t

the pacing made me kind of mad, so much happened yet nothing happened because it was written so weirdly, i don't even know how to describe it.

the plot twist was…. part of the plot, but definitely not a plot twist. i knew it was going to happen around 100 pages in, it was seemingly just predictable.

its being rated a three star because I did enjoy some writing and I also enjoyed the two bots that lived with cee, they were very precious.

I think JH's jump from fantasy to sci-fi is a real success. With her signature beautiful prose, JH has created an elevated ‘Lifelike’ and ‘Warcross,’ bringing new dimensions to the genre.

I will say I preferred Cee's chapters over Kay's - I think I'm more interested in survival stories than cli-sci - but both sisters are worth reading about and I love how their two POVs connect. I was definitely more engaged in the characters than the plot.

And this very well could be due to the eARC - the formatting was quite messy and made following key details in the story a challenge. I honestly still don't know what half this story is about. So I will be interested in picking up a physical copy when it's released and seeing if that changes my understanding.

But I feel confident in saying this book is a definite dark horse for 2021.

“Past or present tense irrelevant, since all environmental damage is permanent within our life spans.” #JoanHe #TheOnesWeAreMeantToFind

My rating: 5/5 GR: 4,47 /5

Genre: #YA #Dystopia #SciFi #Mystery #Thriller

Excellent! Brilliant! Fantastic book! I’m familiar with authors another book “Descendant of a Crane”, and honestly it didn’t impress me (just wasn’t my cup of tea). Therefore, I didn’t have high expectations from her new creation! But I was so, so wrong! So, wrong... This is my years best #fantasy read so far! And I’m not a fan of Sci-Fi... But this book just had so many important and great things about it... I could totally imagine something similar happening in the future.

Right, let’s stop mumbling and start writing about why this book is so great...

First of all, good Sci-Fi/Fantasy that are discussing global issues are so cool, yet so rare. Main topic of this book is... Environmental issues, humans have pretty much destroyed the planet and now it’s impossible to live on Earth. That’s why Eco-cities in the skies have been created. People are living under specific laws and being controlled. Of course, not everyone is allowed to live "clean" life.

It’s the story about two sisters Kasey and Cee, they have a special bond between them. Another topic that author is delivering here is dependency on others and learning self-care through this unique bond... The lost each other under mysterious circumstances, are they meant to find each other?

After the half of the book, I was like Whaaaat? How did that happen?!?! (And I’m not easily impressed)! Great story line and completely unexpected turns....

I would recommend this book to everyone, fantasy lovers/non lovers, it’s the book where everyone can find something for themselves... I didn’t understand few moments in the book, but that’s not an issue.

People might say that this topic has been used so many times, artificial intellect, dystopian survivals, there is nothing unique about it. I would totally argue with this point! Joan He has created a masterpiece! I have so much love for this book!

Thank you @TextPublishing and @Netgalley for e-Arc!

This book gripped me from the first page to the very last. No spoilers of course,but there are not enough positive things that I can say about this book: it's captivating from the first page with intricate worldbuilding and fascinating characters.
The twists and reveals will keep you guessing and gasping until the very end, and then have you craving more of this story.
This book was amazing and beautiful and I think everyone should read it.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hello yes this book totally blew my mind -- I actually read it a couple months ago but I am STILL thinking about it. I don't have a sister, but the relationship that's portrayed in the book made me absolutely feel like I do. Well written apocalyptic climate fiction always freaks me out, and this one haunts me (and I mean that in the best way). Also -- the twists? Good lord. EVERYONE GO READ IT NOW!

An absolutely genius story from Joan He, The Ones We’re Meant to Find is a triumph. Heartbreaking, hopeful, and searing in its portrayal of climate change and the morality of the human heart.

Easily one of the best books I’ve ever read, and one that will stick with me for a very long time.

Wow. This book really made me feel a lot of things at once. I saw this being pitched as Black Mirror and I have to agree, it had concepts that reminded me of the series. The Ones We’re Meant to Find is an emotional Sci-Fi standalone set in a dystopian world where siblings Cee and Kasey are separated from each other.

Let me start by saying how attached I am to the siblings. Four chapters in and I already feel for Cee and Kasey. Both of them are longing to be with the other one and that has struck me warmly. Relationship regarding siblings is always the subplot in most fiction, hence, reading this book wherein their relationship is where it revolves is refreshing. Kacey and Cee are polar opposites but nonetheless, they are equally interesting. In both their povs, I can clearly see their differences: where Cee is outgoing, Kacey is reclusive; where Cee lives on an island, Kasey lives in modernity.

Grasping the concept of the world was difficult, the process of understanding these concepts was equally amusing—since it’s been a while that I read Sci-Fi and this book awoke my love for it—and frustrating. Imagining such an intricate world has never been this easy and hard at the same time.

Moving on to the writing, I’m actually addicted to it. There are lyrical paragraphs that I would gladly commit to memory. Also, the humor added in this story!! I’m so glad there was a lot because I am living for them. Initially, I thought this is going to be told in a dull and grim narrative but the subtle humor made reading this enjoyable. I appreciated that these were included, they felt like a break after paragraphs of heavy monologues.

I lessened one star to my rating since there were parts that felt underwhelming to me. The plot twists surprised me but some were predictable. The build-up for something big, only to have the entirety of what happened next skipped annoyed me. I guess I wanted more of the in-between on those parts.

Overall, a thrilling emotional ride with plot twists that will hit you at the most unexpected time. Lovers of sea, siblings, interesting side characters, and Sci-Fi will surely enjoy this.

dnf @ 44%

this was just too confusing that i couldn't fully immerse myself into the story and i had no idea what was happening most of the time. i haven't read a lot of sci-fi and from the few that i have read, i did not like them. i still wanted to give this a try because the cover was stunning. sadly, the concept wasn't interesting enough to me. the writing style was so confusing and i found that the author loves writing in fragments which i absolutely abhor!! this book definitely suffers from pacing problems like every other ya sff book wherein a lot is happening but essentially, nothing is happening. the characters were not compelling enough for me and had no distinguishing characteristics from every other ya protagonist.