How We Fall Apart Playlist!

Hi, friends!! If you didn’t know, I am a member of the Sinclair Students, ie the street team dedicated to promoting Katie Zhao’s YA debut, How We Fall Apart! This weeks task is to share a song or playlist that fits the vibes of the novel and/or dark academia and things in general. I was going to just make a playlist and post the link on twitter, but I decided I wanted to make an entire post that way I could explain some of my thoughts behind the songs/my favorite lyrics ah la my (most viewed post on this blog???) Songs That Remind Me of Percy Jackson post. Anywho, before we jump in I will share the cover and summary for How We Fall Apart in case you’re unfamiliar with it! Also you should really add it on goodreads okay bye.

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In a YA thriller that is Crazy Rich Asians meets One of Us is Lying, students at an elite prep school are forced to confront their secrets when their ex-best friend turns up dead.

Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend, Jamie Ruan, top ranked junior at Sinclair Prep, goes missing, and then is found dead. Nancy is even more shocked when word starts to spread that she and her friends–Krystal, Akil, and Alexander–are the prime suspects, thanks to “The Proctor,” someone anonymously incriminating them via the school’s social media app.

They all used to be Jamie’s closest friends, and she knew each of their deepest, darkest secrets. Now, somehow The Proctor knows them, too. The four must uncover the true killer before The Proctor exposes more than they can bear and costs them more than they can afford, like Nancy’s full scholarship. Soon, Nancy suspects that her friends may be keeping secrets from her, too.

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Had Enough by Nineclub

“Let’s talk about intelligence. When did we lose the difference between fact and opinions, embosses and embellishments?”

I discovered this song in high school when I was drowning in AP classes and college applications, so there is a chance it doesn’t quite fit the academic mood for everyone but this is the first song I think of whenever someone mentions high stakes academics so it had to be included in this.

Are You Satisfied? by MARINA

“High achiever, don’t you see? Baby, nothing comes for free. They say I’m a control freak, driven by a greed to succeed.”

This song is 100% on here because of that tik tok trend where you show your grades to this song and hint at how overwhelmed you are trying to maintain said grades, but I think it fits well so.

Campus by Bastille

“Just another brain on the campus, just another set of ideas, just another theory in motion.”

This is another song I heavily related to in high school, it really fits well on the days when you feel like school is kind of pointless but then find yourself unable to stop doing anything other than school work.

no body, no crime by Taylor Swift ft HAIM

“No, no body, no crime. I wasn’t letting up until the day he died.”

Listen. If you are in the unfortunate situation where your best friend and/or fellow classmate has been murdered, I just think this song could be relatable.

Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths

“You crave the applause, yet hate the attention. Then miss it, your act is a ruse. It is empty, Achilles. So end it all now. It’s a pointless resistance.”

It could just be the umm five levels of high school Latin and brief stint as a classics major, but this song is like. The dark academia song in my head soo.

From Eden by Hozier

“Idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on it’s sword. Innocents died screaming, honey ask me I should know. I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door.”

This song just gives over dark, murder mystery vibes to me so I had to put it on this playlist.

i am not. okay by jenny nuo

“And it’s just crazy how much I try to change me. Because when you’re bound by expectations, how can you be set free?”

I came across jenny on tik tok one day and instantly fell in love with their music and I cannot wait to listen to their ep (which comes out in two days!!), I think the ep will be filled with even more songs that could be added to this playlist and I am ready.

don’t quite belong (demo) by dodie

“Guess I’ll just pretend, play along till they figure it out I don’t quite belong, oh, oh. Fake it ’til you make it, but I’m getting it wrong.”

Is this song on here because I am incapable of making a playlist without dodie on it? Yes. Does this song somehow perfectly capture the feelings of being lost and unsure of yourself and your place in society? Also yes. It just seems very coming of age for me.

brutal by Olivia Rodrigo

“And I’m so sick of seventeen, where’s my fucking teenage dream? If someone tells me one more time ‘Enjoy your youth,’ I’m gonna cry.”

Yes, the last two songs on this playlist will be by Olivia Rodrigo, however I feel more justified in this one because Katie said it fits so. Yeah.

jealousy, jealousy by Olivia Rodrigo

“And I see everyone gettin’ all the things I want. I’m happy for them, but then again, I’m not.”

This song reminds me a little two well of what it felt like senior year when class rankings came out and all of the top ten were making “friendly” jokes and comments about how they thought someone should be lower than they were and it really explains how I was feeling at that time and if I felt that way at my tiny rural high school, imagine how Sinclair students feel.

Okay, I may revisit this post later after I have actually read the book (we can cross our fingers I get approved for an earc on netgalley), but for now I am satisfied with these songs. You should really follow Katie on twitter and her other socials if you haven’t already. And if you are also anxiously awaiting How We Fall Apart, Katie already has two delightful middle grades out (The Dragon Warrior and The Fallen Hero), I read them both last week and they were just so good and so fun, check them out if you get a chance!