The Ones is (inside and out) an expressive, beautiful, and heartrending science fiction book. Two complex and evolving characters with complementing voices that clash and bond over a shared desire to find the place (and the people with whom) they belong are placed in a world that is literally tearing itself apart: cataclysms chip away at what remains of the human race, claiming back the sea and sky that has been poisoned by humans for millennia. Cee and Kasey’s stories are told in alternating chapters (in first- or third-person) that crisscross between points in time that eventually converge to reveal the gravity of choice—and for whom we make those choices.
This is the first sci-fi book I read in a while—and I must admit that I was drawn in almost solely by the book’s cover: the soft sunrise, seafoam, and waves, soothing like the quiet solitude that begins the book. I am predisposed to classic and literary fiction, and I was most gripped by the intricacies of Kasey’s character in her third-person chapters and the way that the narrative unfolds, little piece of the puzzle by piece, gaps filling in as you read and connect two stories that happen at entirely different times and places. That the characters could spiral in and out of control created for me a profound humanity in this novel, which is so open about the raw nature of self-preservation and hope (“What if human nature is the last disease we have yet to eradicate?”). The twists and ambiguous ending leave a hole that I think could only be filled with the reader’s answer to the choice between love and logic, in a world where both are fighting to coexist.
I rate Joan He’s book 5 stars for reminding us to breathe, love the sea, and search unapologetically for the people and places we’re meant to find.
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Author Q&A
What inspired you to write The Ones We’re Meant to Find?
The YA dystopian boom happened when I was a teen; books such as The Hunger Games left a deep impression on me. Not only were they compulsively readable, they also wielded tropes expertly to pack the biggest punches and tug on heartstrings. A single scene with a younger sibling, for example, could frame a protagonist as human and vulnerable before they went on to topple dictatorships or save the world. But the more I read, the more I questioned this use of sibling relationships as shorthand for relatability, and if relatability should even be a prerequisite. Later on in college, when I had this dream of a girl searching for something in the sea, my mind returned to this trope. What if, I wondered, the girl in my dream is searching for her younger sister, but that sister is more than a storytelling device? And so came the heart of the story.
What was your favorite scene to write and why?
I love a good betrayal, and a big one happens right around chapter 35. It reveals the twist and explains the meaning behind the title.
What do you hope readers take away from this story?
I hope they find more questions than answers. Take this one, for example: Cee and Kasey are very different characters. Does one deserve to live just because we relate to them more? It’s hard to care about everyone equally, and yet it’s the people we do not see ourselves in—the people we sometimes do not see at all—who are most impacted by our actions, or lack thereof.
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Reviews with images
Surprising in its depth and still enjoyable
I was surprised that for a YA it hits so heavy subjects. But, in the exact manner it needs to. I would completely agree with the comparison between Black Mirror and We Were Liars as well. Tackling subjects such as technology’s hold on our world, global warming, humanity, and loss. All in a new spin on a post apocalyptic dystopian-esque world. A direction that the reader definitely could see our society and our world taking.This book is most decidedly not character driven. The characters take no major turning points and don’t grow much from who they are in the beginning of the book. The world building is almost done in a backward manner and can be confusing but, it’s done so artfully that you can see it all there. I do wish I was given more world building or that this book was a duology for the character growth and world building. But, as a stand-alone book it does hold its own in its mixed genre arena.Coming through with strong sci-fi bones, this YA surprises the reader with its serious lit undertones. If I didn’t know any better I would see it as a warning for us all of where we were headed as a society. But, the technology in this book is still farther advanced than we have and the brains are far more evolved to that technology.Synopsis: In The Ones We're Meant to Find by Joan He, two sisters are put to the ultimate test in a chilling, futuristic world.Cee awoke on an abandoned island three years ago. With no idea of how she was marooned, she only has a rickety house, an old android, and a single memory: she has a sister, and Cee needs to find her.STEM prodigy Kasey wants to escape from the science and home she once trusted. The Metropolis—Earth's last unpolluted place—is meant to be a sanctuary for those committed to planetary protection, but it’s populated by people willing to do anything for refuge, even lie. Now, she'll have to decide if she’s ready to use science to help humanity, even though it failed the people who mattered most.
