Moving and heartbreaking and lyrical

filled star filled star filled star filled star filled star
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It has now been a few days since finishing this book and I’m still not sure exactly how to put the experience I just had into words. I normally like to write my reviews immediately upon finishing- when my emotions and feelings are still fresh so I can articulate myself best but that didn’t happen this time. I gave it a few days because sometimes I need the thoughts to simmer and marinate but they are still roiling. The sauce of my words have yet to thicken into full-bodied life but I think, in this case, I will simply try to do my best to convey the emotions this book gave me and invite you to go on your own journey.
Now is the point in the review where I would normally try to sum up the premise in a nice concise paragraph but this is a much more complex book than that and to try to do that will not only give away some of the mystery of the book but also steal part of the journey. The best I can do is say that this story is told in dual POVs of two sisters, Ceila and Kay, and part of the mystery is how exactly their separate storylines relate to each others or line up and take place.
The Ones We’re Meant to Find is moving and emotional, gripping and mysterious, yet haunting and lyrical all while telling a fascinating cli-fi story of a world in the grips of natural disasters of humankind’s own making as the human race tries to find ways to survive on a dying planet. I could not put this book down and it burrowed into my heart and stayed there. Joan was so clever in her choices and so striking and vivid in all the right places. I’ve never read a book quite like this one before and I honestly don’t think I ever will again. I love sci-fi stories and that element of this book really intrigued me but, at the end of the day, as a sister myself, I was most impacted by the tale of the sisters.
It will live with me for a while yet and if you are very lucky and if you choose to go on this journey, it will live with you too. Take the plunge, The Ones We’re Meant to Find is an experience worth taking for yourself.