Book Review: More Happy Than Not
Trigger Warnings for suicide, abuse and extreme homophobia.
By Grace Hessian
More happy than not
Adam Silvera
More Happy Than Not follows 16-year-old Aaron Soto, in the months after his father’s suicide. When his girlfriend Genevieve goes away for a few weeks, Aaron meets Thomas, who makes him feel something that he can’t quite place. The story is set in a slightly alternate universe, wherein a procedure called Leteo allows patients to forget past trauma. Aaron finds himself being drawn to Leteo as an option to find happiness, as his life begins to slip out of his control.
This book is heart-wrenchingly sad at so many times, as we discover more about Aaron’s life before the book began. At so many different points, I thought I knew what was going on, only to be completely surprised over and over. The characters are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and no character is really “good” or “bad”. They’re all just people, trying to figure out how to live their lives. The world is beautifully crafted, the writing subtle, and every plot point planned so that it was tied up in a big bow at the end. That being said, the ending is largely left open-ended, but in a way that allows you to reflects on Aaron’s life journey so far and possibly apply it to your own. The story ends to leave you sad, but optimistic about the future.
This book can be found in the Uni High physical and online libraries and the City of Melbourne City Library in Flinders Ln.