How We Fall Apart is like One of Us Is Lying, meets Ace of Spades.
It felt very reminiscent of Karen M McManus- that's not a bad thing but I did feel like I knew where the twists would happen and what they would be becasue of the resemblance to KMM. It is not as clever with its twists as Ace of Spades, but has a similar, private school setting.
Overall, I enjoyed this. If you want a quick YA thriller, then this is one you might like. Don't expect anything groundbreaking, but you'll have a good time.
3.5*

There are quite a number of books now with a similar premises. My hopes were high but this just wasn't the best I've read. The characters were generally unlikeable which made it difficult to keep going and the inevitable incident just left me underwhelmed.

This is a thriller with some dark academia vibes. It’s a mind blowing page turner. The ending was very over the top. It was an entertaining read.

As a huge and completely unashamed Gossip Girl fan, this kind of book is definitely my jam. Explored elitism, classism & the pressure to succeed woven through a thrilling murder mystery.

I was so excited to read this book, but it just felt too similar to ‘One of Us is Lying’. It might be because I read the latter book not that long before starting this book, so it was still fresh in my mind.

Jamie Ruan is top of her class at Sinclair Prep, the elite prep school in NYC where graduates go on to the best of the best Ivy League universities. But one day Jamie turns up dead - and then anonymous threats are made to Nancy and her friends are made on social media by a mysterious person called the Procter, who threatens to reveal all of their dirty secrets...

This book is very dark academia meets Gossip Girl and it offers an intriguing insight into the world of high achieving Asian Americans and the very specific pressures they face.

Actual rating 3.5

I was initially intrigued by this book because I love a YA mystery/thriller. I didn't hate it but I wasn't overly enthralled either. It felt a bit generic, although I didn't see the end coming. It gave me pretty little liars/gossip girl vibes so I feel like you would enjoy this if you enjoyed them. I think this only fell flat for me because I've read a lot of books like this that were better. I feel like you would enjoy it if you were new to the genre. It does look like there is going to be a sequel though so I would be intrigued to read it and Katie's newest book.

Sadly did not enjoy this book as much as i hoped, i went in with quite high exceptions and i don't think it lived up to the hype which I'd seen about it.

I enjoyed it but don't think i'll be reading the second.

This is a good read all the secrets start unfolding between friends when one of them turn up dead.
Someone is posting to the app and revealing things that should not be shared with anyone.
fast paced plot and quick to read.

I wish I could've gotten into this reading more. I loved the dark academia vibes but I found the mystery aspect to be quite easy to work out.

Thank you to netgalley & publishers for access to this arc.


What sounded like crazy rich Asians meets pretty little liars I was very excited to dive into this book. However after reading it I could not tell you what’s it’s about. I found it bland and certain parts felt very overly padded out and unfortunately did not grab my attention.

This book started with a very interesting premise. First, Jamie goes missing, then she's found dead with the cause of death not released. To be honest, even after finishing the book, I still don't fully understand the situation surrounding her death which isn't great.

This book is very easy and quick to read (I read it in about 1 day) but I do think it could have done with being way longer so we could care about the individual character's whose lives are supposedly being ruined. As it is, I don't really feel like I got to know anyone and even the main character became pretty unlikeable towards the end.

This book would have been 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 if it weren't for the ending, which just seemed pretty ridiculous. Therefore, it goes down to a 3. It also set itself up for a sequel, and I'm not sure how interested I am in reading it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such gripping, thrilling, and exciting read! Wonderfully paced, and will definitely have you hooked from the very beginning.

I love a bit of dark academia and a mystery, so this was right up my alley. I especially liked how the book delved into the pressures the students feel under to perform, and how this is backed up in various forms by parents and the school alike, in many different ways.

Nancy is an interesting main character because the author goes a long way into telling us that there's more than we know about her, and I really enjoyed getting to see her come to light, especially at the end. I also liked the love-hate relationship between her and Jamie, as well as seeing that reflecting by her parents.

However, I will warn that large parts of this book didn't feel stunningly different to what came before it - particularly One of Us is Lying. The story had elements I recognise, and the format of an anonymous app taunting them is the same. I also had guesses as to who was behind it, though I didn't have the why and I wasn't sure.

All that said, I did really enjoy it. The tension is good throughout, and it provides some interesting motivations for all the characters.

It's hard to review without spoiling the end, but I absolutely loved the very end, and am dying to know more.

OMG! Amazing, I loved it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback

‘How We Fall Apart’ by Katie Zhao is a YA thriller set at an elite prep school. Following the suspicious death of Jamie Ruan, the top-ranked junior pupil at Sinclair prep, Nancy Luo and three of her friends, Krystal, Akil, and Alexander, find themselves targeted and incriminated through messages posted by ‘The Proctor’ on the school’s social media app. The four must uncover the Proctor’s identity before the Proctor reveals their darkest secrets and destroys their future.
The protagonists all share an Asian American background, and Zhao offers an insight into the pressure these teenagers face to achieve academic success, which is compounded by parental expectations. The success of the young generation validates sacrifices made by their parents to give them the best opportunities. The story addresses a wide range of social issues, such as privilege, mental health, drug abuse, bullying, and suicide.
I loved reading about everyone's back stories, discovering the secrets of the four friends and their motivations for these actions. The mystery plot kept the story moving at a fast pace, and while I didn’t see the final twist coming, I also found it a bit unlikely. (3.5 stars from me, rounded up to 4)

How We Fall Apart was a young adult thriller that I didn't really enjoy. The characters felt flat. The plot was not satisfactory and I predicted what the big reveal was pretty early. The writing felt awkward at places and the dialogue was stilted. The representation in this book, however, was on point! It was still an okay read but not my cup of tea.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the free e-arc!

When top-ranking student Jamie Ruan is found dead, her former friends are shocked to the core. This is even more so when the blame is placed on them via their school’s social media app. The so-called Proctor anonymously incriminates them as they slowly reveal the secrets of students Nancy, Krystal, Akil and Alexander, who were all once Jamie’s closest friends. Jamie knew all their secrets, and now The Proctor does too. And they must figure out the truth because it all falls apart.

The story begins with Nancy presenting to her school; when Jamie fails to make it, she thinks nothing of her ex-friend’s no show. Having abandoned the friendship months before in light of her father’s scandal, Nancy finally thinks she can take the spot that Jamie once held over her.

That is until a threatening message to Jamie appears on the board, which triggers the beginning of the end for them all. Jamie is dead, and the finger is pointing at Jamie’s old friends. Nancy, a scholarship kid, practically grew up in the shadow of Jamie. Krystal and Akil are born from money, but they can’t hide their secrets. While Alexander is another scholarship student whose brother’s expulsion years ago haunts him to this day. Each has a secret Jamie knew, and now the Proctor is revealing them one by one, damning them all to expulsion and throwing them to the wolves.

The story, in concept, is rather intriguing. Think Pretty Little Liars meets Gossip Girl. A group of kids working together to figure out who is behind the messages before their reputation is ruined. But the story is extremely rushed, and the lack of development in any of the characters will leave you feeling sorely disappointed. Slowly, the secrets of each of the main protagonists are revealed. The consequences of their actions are rushed, and you don’t get to feel the impact of everything that happens. Something drastic happens, and the story moves on without ruminating on its effect.

The story also has a bad habit of withholding information in a poorly executed way. There was little originality in this tale, and the so-called finale was like the final nail in the coffin for me. A good mystery will immerse the reader and propel them further, so when the identity is revealed, it should be a shock and make sense to the reader. The ending didn’t make sense, the culprit felt like it was plucked out of nowhere, and now that I’ve had time to think about it, it was pretty hilarious how ridiculous this entire book was.

When I slowly began to realise the plot wasn’t working for me, I was somewhat holding onto the characters, hoping they would carry the story on, but it felt like I was reading a story that wasn’t quite complete. It doesn’t read like a draft, but it doesn’t feel like a polished story. Nancy made sense, plot-wise, to be the main protagonist, but she was the most insufferable in this story. I felt for her initially, growing up in a low-income family, feeling like you need to make your family proud, despite the obstacles in front of you. But she is rather cruel, thinking she’s above the rich kids like Jamie, without realising she’s a terrible person as well. Each character felt archetypal, almost like figurines of what the authors wanted them to stand for, but they don’t have a distinct voice, nor do they feel compelling enough to feel engaged in their journey.
Overall, How We Fall Apart promises a lot but fails to play the part. I’ve been disappointed a lot reading books that I’ve personally been hyped to read, but How We Fall Apart is one of those reads that it pains me to say that I would not recommend this book to anyone. While having a promising concept, this debut fails to capture the rush of a thriller nor the essence of dark academia. Everything you are promised is deflated and, honestly, relatively lacklustre.

When Nancy’s best friend Jamie goes missing before being found dead, shockwaves ripple through their elite high school. Then a mystery online presence named ‘The Proctor’ begins posting secrets and inside information about the people around Jamie. Rumours start to circulate that Nancy and her friends Krystal, Alexander and Akil might have had something to do with Jamie’s death, so they have to uncover what really happened before everything comes crashing down around them. This is a really gripping YA thriller with a completely unguessable resolution because everyone seems to be a suspect. It explores issues of class amongst Asian families, which reminded me of Crazy Rich Asians, but that’s really where the similarities end. There is a student/teacher relationship which is very easy to hate and adds to the drama of what’s going on. A perfect winter read for Karen M. McManus fans.

HOW WE FALL APART is a twisty academic thriller about the children of immigrants fighting to stay top of their classes as their former best friend dies - and they're accused of the murder by an anonymous social media poster. It's is a dark academia about the pressures on high-achieving children of immigrants, and the lengths they're go to meet the expectations.

It's a very addictive read, and short enough that you can just down it in one go without feeling too bad about how late it is. You are told there are secrets the lead and her 3 friends hold very early on (five of them) and you know they'll come out. It helps create a tension and pacing as it's clearly they're come out across the book, so they're are almost like little milestones to reach. And, by the laws of narrative tension, you know that each secret will get bigger (and affect the MC more) as you go through, which helps to keep the pacing up and you reading onwards.

I liked seeing both sides of these high-achieving kids, particularly the dead girl. She has this very polished mask that the MC can see behind, as well as hints of why she's like that (beyond the extreme pressure for all of them to "be the best.") It gave them all more depth, because at first they are pretty much perfect masks as we're only in the MC's heads.

I've seen a few people say "this sounds very similar to ONE OF US IS LYING" because of the "someone is dead and now there are secrets being revealed on social media." Which I feel is a pretty common set up for a modern mystery, so I'd take the comparison with a pinch of salt.

However, the thing that bugged me a bit in both books (because it seemed unbelievable enough to pull me out early on in the book) is that the authorities and teachers just accept whatever is mentioned on the SM as fact. There didn't seem to be any effort from these groups to find out who is posting because they clearly have a desire to see the characters humiliated and punished. If they really were just trying to help with the murder investigation, they'd do so plainly, as without releasing other unrelated to the case secrets that can ruin their lives.

Instead, the focus of the teachers (in this book, there isn't much of a police investigation into it) is on these four. They seem to entirely be ignoring the fact that there's a fifth person clearly involved and manipulating things. And no explanation was given for this fact (unlike, say, ACE OF SPADES, where the deliberate ignoring of the "Aces" was an important part of the story and the book's examination of institutional racism.)

The "whodunnit" personally wasn't all that satisfying, which made the ending fall a little flat. it seemed a little contrived that it could be that person - a lot of very extreme decisions had to be made back in the past (in an emotionally fraught time) and then none of those lies could be detected for a few years. I liked that it was about that secret, but I think someone else being the person behind it wouldn't have stretched my believability so much.