a great story about sisters with an Asian cast. The story is difficult to grasp as first but it's a mystery. that's what mysteries do. The suspense and thrill in this YA scifi is there. The characters are well defined and the writing is snappy. Plus there 's a cute rolling droid !!. I recommend

I was really looking forward to reading The Ones We’re Meant to Find for the longest time, ever since it was announced, and seeing the gorgeous cover I just knew this would be something special. And how right I was! I’m such a sucker for a story about the interesting relationship between siblings and Kasey and Celia are a prime example. I felt I was a bit confused in the beginning as I didn’t really have any idea what was going on, but I feel if I went back to reread knowing what I know now it would no doubt affect my reading experience. I loved He’s writing and the futuristic world she has created, and how every twist and turn kept me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Text Publishing for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Cee wakes up on an abandoned island and her only goal is to get away and find her sister, Kasey, because that's all she can remember. Meanwhile, Kasey has been missing her sister since she disappeared 3 years ago, and while she wants to believe she's alive somewhere, how could she be? Her eco-city is failing, but can the technology she has access to make a difference for her sister?

Told in alternating perspectives, this story captures the essence of what it means to choose someone and put them first. Though it's a story of sisters, the focus is on their bond, even while apart. This book also gives light to the concept of a right to life and freedom, and if that's still a right if it takes away from that of someone else.

I went into this book not really knowing what it was about and it blew my mind. The Ones We’re Meant to Find is a science fiction novel set in a world where climate change and polluting the Earth has caused people to adapt, living in eco-cities with a whole range of interesting world-building features. At the centre is a compulsive story of two sisters that didn’t immediately draw me in but once gripped I could not stop reading.

The story is told in two perspectives – sisters Celia and Kay. Cee has been trapped on an abandoned island for 3 years alone with few memories and the goal to find her sister Kay. Kasey lives in one of 8 eco-cities built for the people who tried to protect the planet. She’s a STEM prodigy and prefers time to herself than being around others. Kasey is determined to find out the truth behind what happened to her popular, fun-loving sister and that forms the basis of the plot.

The world-building is exceptional and thought-provoking. Eco-cities protect their residents from the natural disasters that plague Earth, but in return the humans living there spend a third of their time in stasis – conducting activities virtually through holos. I really enjoyed the details from the holos to the resident ranking system, and the examination of rank privilege.

There is a lot of mystery in this book, with the world revealed slowly to the reader through the eyes of the characters. This can make it difficult to follow in the beginning, and I was a bit confused at times. Both Celia and Kay were compelling protagonists and I enjoyed figuring out the mysteries throughout the plot. Overall, The Ones We’re Meant to Find is a unique science fiction novel with a lot of discussion points that would make it perfect for a book club read.

4.5 stars

That ending HURT ME

“The problem with oceans? They always seem smaller from the shore.”

I’m amazed by the sheer complexity this whole book is built on. I’m not talking about the world building only, but also the characters. Joan He was able to write a standalone that had on me the same impact a trilogy I love usually has. It was twisty and heart-wrenching, shocking but so wholesome. It would have been a five star if it wasn’t for the fact that things like the world, the technology and some plot points remained confusing for a little too long to be an enjoyable kind of confusing, you know? But everything else I just loved.

This book is like: you thought that plot twist 10 pages ago was the last and the biggest one? Hold my beer. I lost count of how many times the characters managed to surprise me with their actions, their well-rounded representation, their motivations and emotions. I love how this author makes them feel super realistic and for sure this won’t be the last book I read by her. I’m a fan of Celia and the way she’s so likable, but I’m also incredibly in love with Kasey and Actinium’s journeys. Their growth and that ending.....wow. I would have never seen it coming.
All of that was enhanced by the setting. I’m not a huge sci-fi reader, but I do really like when stories take place in cool worlds that function on technology that makes sense. This book had it all.

What drove me in at first, apart from the most beautiful cover I’ve ever seen in my entire life, was the part of the synopsis about Celia being stranded on an island. I love survival stories and this one delivered in a lot of ways. Celia’s chapters were definitely my favorite. I wasn’t expecting to fall for the romance as well though (honestly I didn’t even think there was going to be one). Celia’s melted my heart, Kasey’s had me on the edge of my seat. But in the end those two broke my heart and I’m still trying to put the pieces together. I can’t believe what this book did to me 😭

“Why is it that I can trust you one moment, and be hurt by you the next?”

This book was fascinating and engrossing, bittersweet and tragic. I can’t wait for it to hurt me again when I pick it up next time.

This book is undoubtedly one of the best books released this year so far. The ones we’re meant to find is a beautifully written tale about love and sisterhood. It takes place in a sci-fi futuristic world and it follows two povs, Kasey and her sister Celia.

I’ll start with saying that the plot is brilliant. The past is explained to us in tidbits, in memories that Cee is gaining and its presented to us readers precisely when the author wants us to know it, and that created a certain suspense, to know more, to know what led to this. And the plot twists SERVEd. IT REALLY DID.! One of the best aspects of the story was its world building and a lot of which was explored and explained really well!

However the best aspect of the book for me was the writing itself and the writing style. Im a reader who places a lot of value and importance in writing styles and prose and good descriptions and Joan He did not disappoint. It was everything i had expected from the buzz from my friends and twt oomfs and the book went beyond my expectations. It was simply gorgeous. And maybe that is why, Cee’s pov chapters had a stronger hold on me because her chapters felt like the author used writing techniques and the prose more freely (if that makes sense) than with Kasey. I was just in awe of her pov chapters. Every description, every line felt powerfully breathtaking. Im so in awe because the author has such a flawless command over the wordings and phrases and it rolls off the tongue so smoothly AAAAAAAAH THIS IS HOW YOU WRITE A MFING STORY AUTHORS THIS IS HOW YOU WRITE A DAMN STORY.

Okay apart from me freaking out every two seconds while reading this book, ill also highlight the themes explored within the book. Especially that of grief and how it was handled was in my opinion spectacular. Everyone deals with things differently and its not for us to decide how someone else copes through a certain situation and i think this book did a great job in raising this issue and handling it in a phenomenal way.

Right after i finished the book, i was convinced Cee was my favorite character. And yes I absolutely enjoyed reading her chapters a 100% more. It was atmospheric, sombre, melancholic. It was perfect. And whenever we shifted to Kasey i had the feeling of wanting to read Cee’s chapters so i kind of wanted to ignore kasey’s chapters. But as I read through i started to like and appreciate her chapters more, it definitely was shedding more light in terms of world building and im a sucker for that, but now half a month later i realize the author has done another phenomenal job and that is to make characters live beyond the pages.

As i read on, it kept bugging me that i didnt pay much attention to Kasey’s povs so i reread the book around a week after i finished it and holy sh*t that was an experience. I noticed so much more but the main point i want to say is that the author managed to write a character that AFTER reading the book, the character lived RENT FREE in my head for a LONG TIME (in terms of my book speed atleast). And holy ffff kasey is a phenomenal character, the more i think about her the more i keep loving her??? This is bizarre because I usually dont reread books and i get over character hypes really fast, but kasey is really sticking out to me as a character and im so here for it.

One other thing was i was REALLY confused at the beginning and it bugged me, because i was constantly asking the book for certain answers and well it obviously was not giving them to me whenever i wanted it. Which kind of again adds to the realism of the story in the sense it cements the notion that the story is happening to the characters as opposed to it being told to readers, so i was only getting the information the characters were and the author did a marvelous job in finding the perfect way to execute that aspect.

Im someone who can be really critical and harsh with ratings and even the smallest things that bug me, could ruin my entire reading experience and that is a struggle and i thought kasey’s chapters were doing that for me. But the book proved me wrong and i love it so much more for it. My initial rating was a 7.9/10 (3 ⭐️ )and after the reread it stands at 8.4/10 (4 ⭐️) and i can only imagine it going higher in the next reread which im sure i will get to soon.

Thank you to the publisher for granting me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley!

The Ones We're Meant to Find by Joan He is an amazing global warming science fiction, a very close narrative exploring feelings of loss, grief, and an incredible love between two sisters who are so very different.

The themes explored are wonderful, the plot twists are really really good, foreshadowing just enough to know something is not quite as it seems. There are all the hints about but in such a subtle way that you are not hit with the answers straightaway.

More than that, the emotional impact of this book is powerful. The ethical dilemmas are very interesting and thought provoking. The actual love between the two sisters is extremely touching. And this is what makes this novel truly unforgettable. I highly recommend it. If you like Blade Runner, the Matrix and want a similar experience, I really really recommend that you give a try to The Ones We're Meant to Find.

Despite science fiction not being a genre I am usually interested in, I greatly enjoyed this book. The book explored the relationship between two sisters, examining just how far each would go to find their ways back to one another. While this book was slow-moving, I found myself very interested in this book, always reading just one more chapter.

However, I did have difficulty following some of the world building and more technological concepts at times. Had the author expanded upon this, I believe this book would have been greatly improved.

While I do not believe this book is for everyone, I do believe anyone who wants the exploration of relationships alongside science fiction concepts should enjoy this one.

Arc provided by Netgalley!
3.5 stars rounding up!

This book was enjoyable and very interesting to read, albeit confusing at times. While I enjoyed being thrown into this world with no explanation because it created an immersive and vivid setting, I also found it incredibly confusing for the first 25% of the novel. Additionally, the worldbuilding, though slightly overwhelming at first, intricate and raised questions surrounding innovation, climate change, identity, and privilege, which I enjoyed. The writing itself was also wonderful.

I enjoyed both POVs, though I preferred Cee’s POV. I think partly due to it being written in first person whilst Kasey’s was written in third person. I felt more for Cee as a character than I did for Kasey, partially because of this. Cee’s drive and ambition to escape the island and her interactions with her love interest made me eager to read her POV’s even when I was reading Kasey’s.

The initial half of the book was slow and I greatly preferred the second half. I also was not able to predict some of the novel's turns, which kept me reading!

Overall, this is an interesting and well written book that I highly recommend.

The cover is beautiful and the premise is intriguing but unfortunately, I'm going to have to DNF this book. I couldn't seem to connect with the characters or the setting which is disappointing because I really wanted to! I found it really hard to understand the setting and I'm not sure if this was part of the plot of the book to keep you guessing but I wasn't getting explanations soon enough for my liking.

Currently reading this and so far REALLY good. Hooked from the start and the concept about the future and the ecosystems is so interesting. My full review will be available on goodreads. I'll paste the link here once I'm finished.

I'm not even sure where to start with reviewing this book, beyond saying holy crap, it's so good. Part sci-fi/speculative fiction about where we're headed as a society if we keep on the way we're going with polluting our world and treating it like it's disposable with infinite resources, part mystery/thriller, part sisterly love story, part self-discovery... This book is just so break-taking.

The Ones We're Meant to Find is two narratives that weave around each other: there's Cee's story, trapped on a deserted island and trying desperately to escape the island and get back to her sister Kay, told in the first person present tense; and Kasey's story, living in an eco-friendly sky city trying to find what happened to her missing sister Celia, told in the third person past tense. The interplay between these two different stories and timelines is so deftly interwoven; revelations in one storyline often reveal (or raise questions) in the other.

I found myself pulled into this book as surely and inexorably and Cee is pulled to the sea. I'll definitely look forward to reading more by Joan He.

The story is divided into two narratives which slowly merge into one as information is given. The world-building was done so well. The information given is in pieces and drip feed throughout the book. It made it very intriguing and felt like a mystery. The world is futuristic and focuses a lot on climate change and taking care of the planet and fixing our mistakes. It's fascinating to see what the author thinks could happen. I like the holographic elements. Not so much about it being there, but why they were using holograms so much.

This book was very well written. This is an author I want to read more of. I loved who the worldbuilding and time gap was written as a mystery.

Loved it! I need to check out this author and read everything else they've written.

Also, I loved what the author did with the romance in here. Thank you!

Joan He’s writing has recently become a favourite of mine and this new book of theirs really just set that in stone for me. This book, the writing, the themes, the characters and the setting were all so rich and detailed and had me entranced from the very first page.

We follow two different people, Kasey and Cee. Kasey lives in our world but it is set in the future, where Earth has been destroyed by humans and they’ve been attempting to come up with a solution to save it and themselves. One such solution were cities in the sky, which is where Kasey lives. She’s looking for her missing sister and attempting to figure out what happened to her.

Cee has been living on an abandoned island for the last three years and she’s been doing everything she can to find her sister, to figure out a way off that island. We follow her journey in discovering that.

Both of them are so different but their love for their sisters had my own heart aching for their love and loss and how profound each emotion was. You can tell immediately that they love them, in their own specific ways. Cee is more of what you first imagine a main character to be. She’s sarcastic, funny and you just love her right away. Kasey is more reserved, more into science and figuring things out instead of the normal things you’d think a teenage girl would be into. I loved being inside of her mind so much, she was such a unique and interesting view to follow.

I both loved and hated the ending. It was open ended and I hate those sorts of endings but at the same time, the ending fit so perfectly that I couldn’t imagine a different way for it to end on. It’s a tricky one to really think about.

But overall, I really loved this book. It tore at my heart strings, had me on the edge of my seat and had me hooked and there for every single scene and sentence and word. I highly recommend this book!!

4/5 ⭐️

Rating 4*

The first thing that comes to my mind when describing this book is literally just ‘mind-blowing’, there is no other way to describe it. The way it’s futuristic but there’s almost an eerie sort of feel to it had me hooked, and it constantly felt like something big was about to happen yet I could not predict where it was going. I just couldn’t put it down.

The changing of the povs between the sisters really helped with the pacing of the book, and it never felt as though it was going too slow - making the ones we’re meant to find an easily bingeable book!

It was also super interesting having the contrast between the two sister’s povs, as they had such different personalities and it felt as though their characters as a whole were shaped really well. There was a certain emotional rawness between the two sisters trying to find each other which was explored really well, especially with the beautiful writing - everything felt very real.

Minus one star because it just felt like too much was left unresolved and unexplored by the ending. I still have a lot of questions and this book has left me with a lot of thoughts.

The one’s we’re meant to find has definitely left a lasting impression, and is one of my favourite reads so far this year. Would definitely recommend to any fans of black mirror!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

i honestly really wanted to like this book, i mean the cover is fucking gorgeous. but, it just fell short for me. like, i mean, it might just be me, but this world was not explained at all.. like i couldn't tell you if this was set in a divergent world or even like hunger games or hell even like in 2047, cause it wasn't explained. and like i had no clue where they ever lived or anything, cause it wasn't explained. but, also i just didn't understand the technology and the whole 'history' part of this book. like, it 100 percent went straight over my head, and it also wasn't explained that well. also, what the hell was that plot twist?? like it was such a mess and just so stupid. like i honestly felt like that dog sitting in the fire gif when it happened. and i just feel like to much was left un said for me to fully get the plot and everything. also, i feel like the whole 1st person for Cee and then 3rd person for Kasey was a bit of a mess, like i wish they both were either in 1st or 3rd, cause it just didn't make sense to me. like, it was just to messy for me to understand. but, on the more positive side, i really did like the sister bond. yeah, i do feel like it was kind of basic at points, but i still enjoyed it a bit, and honestly to see how far they would go for each other. but, i honestly feel like i know nothing about these characters, which got to be a pain in the ass after awhile.

love love love love EVERYTHING about this!!! It's so beautifully written and captivates you from the start! I usually don't enjoy sci-fi themed books but I really loved this. and the TWISTS. Joan He really knows how to keep you gripped!!!

This book started off as a story about 2 sisters who somehow got separated and are trying to find each other again. But the deeper this book goes, I realized that it's so much more than that. What started off as almost a contemporary with a little sci-fi twist in it became a full-blown sci-fi thriller (at least, in my opinion) that I just could not stop reading.

Joan He's way of expanding her plot in this book was spectacular to say the least. I loved the world building and the issues that Joan He brought up in this book, and how they were also a huge part of the plot. The writing was beautiful, I especially liked the way Joan He writes the dynamics of these characters and the romance between Cee and her love interest, which was heart wrenching and also really beautiful at the same time.

My only issue with this book is the way the time seems to move really fast in this book, and how confusing some of the time line is but it didn't really change my opinion of the book. I still loved this as much and I will definitely order a copy when it comes out. Thank you Joan He and the publisher for giving me an opportunity to read this.

I had some trouble following the worldbuilding with the apocalptic setting/tech in this at times, though that may have been my issue.

Knowing that Joan He studied Psychology, my favourite aspect of this book was its exploration of humanist/psychological questions -- what makes us human? If you break down the different components of what we think of as ourselves - how much is necessary, or can be taken away, until we're no longer who we think we are?
The worst sides of human nature are also examined, and the things that motivate and can drive us deeply are examined but also thrown into question.

There are also interesting examinations of power dynamics - and an interesting application of this to an older/younger sister relationship.

Wow. Seriously, wow. Joan is extremely talented and having read both of her works so far, all I can say is: This book will destroy you and make you cry. The ending is one of the most incredible I've come across and the discussion on sisterly love, hope, courage and humanity was amazingly written. I cried, several times, and honestly I appreciate the horror that was evoked at times. Cee and Kasey are flawed but then, what human isn't? It's their flaws that draw you in, make you see things from their point of view and also shock you when you realise how far they'd each go for their hopes.

I literally went in thinking "okay this is a book about two sisters trying to find each other" to being gobsmacked and in awe at the revelations and twists thrown my way.

If you're looking for a book that discusses humanity, morality, sisterly bonds, hopes, dreams and the environment, look no further. If you want to cry and also be shocked, look no further. The book has been said to be Black Mirror esque and I definitely saw this. The same tension and unease filled me when we find out certain things.

I only have one question: What else will Joan put out?