Jasmin's Reviews > The Ones We're Meant to Find

"Home could be here, for all I care, if she were with me."

I would love to start this review with sweeping words about the story, but to be honest – I don’t know whether this will convey the emotions that are swirling through me. I am still absolutely in awe about the work Joan He put into this and the amazing outcome of it. She is an amazing writer (I’ve also read and loved her debut Descendant of the Crane, which you should definitely read, but even more so if you are into historical fiction) and once again completely blew me away with The Ones We’re Meant to Find.

I need to point out again that Joan’s writing style is exquisite. She can transform scientific information into easily understandable, but still amazingly beautiful sentences. More than that, she is a genius when it comes to complex twists while maintaining a heart-wrenching story about the love of two sisters. You can easily see the love between the siblings from their two points of views. Each of them shows her love in a different, but credible way. Something I’d love to see more of in novels as an older sister myself. I felt that connection between the main characters and knew that I’d make most of their decisions myself if faced with the circumstances.

Which is fantastic, since the main characters Cee and Kasey couldn’t be more different from each other. They are fully fleshed-out characters with different goals and understandings of life. Still, I could easily connect with both sisters, understanding their emotions and wishes – mostly those about their sister, but also their view on the world.

A world that could very well be our own in some years, if everything goes downward. I loved to see this dystopian / sci/fi setting of the book. At the point of the story, Earth is almost completely inhabitable with only a few territories still on the ground, while citizens with a higher rank in the hierarchy live in eco-cities floating in the sky. Even with advanced sciences and technology, humanity was not able to salvage their planet.

The whole setting of the book is both eerily melancholic and at other turns almost whimsical. Throughout the main part of the book, I was not sure what to expect – in the absolutely best way possible. There were so many twists and turns – at the beginning more subtle, almost non-noticeable until it focused on bigger reveals toward the end of the book. And let me tell you – I was not expecting how the story ended. And the ending broke me – it was so beautiful, but breaking my heart at the same time. I am pretty sure that I shed a few tears during reading. Joan He is a master when it comes to twisting your emotions into so many directions, that you’re not sure what exactly you’re feeling. And she does this from the very first page until you close the book. And even after finishing, you will still think about the story in the most unexpected moments.