Well hello there, guys! I finished this book a few days ago and I loved it so much. I am going to split this post into some categories so that you can skip to which ever part you like. Also I am going to try and keep it spoiler free, but if there are going to be some you will see a spoiler warning before it.
1. Short summary of the book
This is the synopsis on Goodreads:
“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.”
2. Characters
The characters in this book felt so realistic, which I loved. I personally like Cee more than Kasey, but Kasey felt more real to me in some ways. I will now write about each of them.
Cee Mizuhara:
Cee is such a sweat heart. I love her so much and I will do anything for her. She is smart, witty, fun and sarcastic. Cee is a very driven person. She had a goal: to reach her sister, and she did everything in her power to accomplish that. Cee also cares about the people around her, we can especially see that once a mysterious boy washes up on the shore in the middle of a storm. They develop an amazing relationship afterwards.
Kasey Mizuhara:
She is one of the smartest people I have ever read about and I absolutely loved that. Kasey has pretty strong values, she cares about global warming and tries to come up with ideas to “end” it. This is how the author perceived her and I think this makes so much sense now that I’ve read it:
“Kasey felt different. She’s smart, but not flamboyant about her intelligence. She’s cold, but not overtly ruthless. She’s distant, but does not wield her aloofness like a dagger. She’s apathetic, but not callous. She’s uncomfortable with who she is, but not self deprecating to the point of humor. She’s understated—the word that I’ve been searching for all this time—and I don’t mean just in the craft or in the writing. She feels small against the people around her who seem sure of who they are, who lean into the traits that make them unique while she shies away from herself. “
3. Writing style
I liked the writing style, because it was very beautiful, but also had a scientifical vibe to it, which for this book was absolutely perfect. I would say, however, that because of that it might be a bit hard(to understand/read) for young readers that aren’t native English speakers.
4. Things I loved
Firstly, one of the things that made me love this book was the world building. This world is so intricate and real and once you get ahold of all the details everything will make more sense. Secondly, I really liked the way Joan wrote the dual povs (point of views), because it was very easy to distinct them. That might be due to how different the sisters are. Thirdly, what I love most about “The ones we’re meant to find” is the amount of plot twist that are in this book. They are at almost every 50 pages (maybe even less at times) and they will make you put the book down and just stare for minutes at a wall and question what just happened in that scene (that’s a bit specific, I would know). It was amazing. Fourthly, I absolutely loved the romance it was so sweet and wholesome and it made my heart melt. Lastly, I loved the ending (I’m not going to say more but let’s just say that I was confused but in the best way possible).
5. Things I didn’t really enjoy
While I loved the world, I will have to say that it was a bit hard for me to get into this book because of it. The first 70-ish pages are a bit slow paced due to the big amounts of information that we were given about this “after climate change” world. That’s all I could “complain” about since this book is absolutely mesmerising.
6. Favorite quotes
“People wanted the quickest, easiest solutions. To solve their most immediate problems, they could steal from any future other than their own.”
“Would people ever willingly give up their freedoms for the good of others?”
“None of us live without consequence. Our personal preferences are not truly personal. One person’s needs will deny another’s. Our privileges can harm ourselves and others.”
7. Overall opinion
I loved this book and honestly had so much fun while reading it, even though I got spooked a lot. I would recommend this book to anyone, but especially fans of the dystopian, sci-fi and (maybe) thriller genres. Also if you like “Black Mirror” then this is for sure the book for you. I gave this book 5/5 stars and thoroughly enjoyed it. I will also want to thank Joan He for answering to all of my questions on Instagram and being such a sweet person.
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