Reviews with content warning for Violence - So Happy for You

This book was surprisingly good - it was a quick read and a fun, silly time which I could have loved even more if we'd gotten more character development and the psychological aspect of the story had been more prominent. I enjoyed the commentary on the wedding and marriage industry and often found Robin to be deeply relatable to my own experiences, but I also thought she had a lot of internalized sexism & misogyny which was perhaps not addressed as much as I would've liked it to. There's also many instances of cultural appropriation, especially regarding yoga and meditation that you would think would be at least acknowledged by Robin - this to me suggests that her brand of feminism is a very white feminism, especially given that race and class as factors that deeply interact with gender are not even mentioned once, despite feminist commentary being such a core part of the story and of Robin's character. So I wish the conversations that the book prompted had gone a little deeper and been more complex, but overall this was a fun, quick read that I needed on the day of a not-so-fun dental surgery.

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keatynbergsten's review

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dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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imstephtacular's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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sophiareads_'s review

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dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings: homophobia, violence, attempted murder, animal death, abortion (mentioned)

Robin's childhood best friend asks her to be her maid of honour. Though their society is marriage-obsessed, and Ellie, the bride-to-be feels similarly, Robin's ideological opposition to the institution of marriage makes it a difficult decision. Despite her reservations, Robin agrees to be the maid of honour, but when the bridal party festivities begin, things begin to take a sinister, dangerous tone.

What an absolute wild ride this book was. It was a quick read for me, and I did really enjoy it, despite (maybe because?) it was so off the wall. Though the novel is a thriller, the narrative for most of the book bounces between the day-to-day of the lead up to Ellie's wedding and flashbacks to other points in Robin's life to give the reader more context. This definitely slows the pace of the book down, which I think was a smart decision - and when its time for us to be in the fast-paced finale, this is dropped, which makes sense. I was a little confused about the setting for most of the book (modern times of a near future dystopia inspired in part by recent abortion restrictions in some US states?). However, as talk of wedding charms ramped up, it became clear it was the latter, but I thought the plentiful modern pop culture/political references confused this a little bit. I also thought some of the political points which are made throughout the novel (despite fully agreeing with them) to be a tad on-the-nose, but this wasn't too majorly off-putting or anything. I'm also notoriously nitpicky about how lesbian characters' sexualities are portrayed, and I really liked this aspect of the book.

All in all, this was a really interesting read. Equal parts funny and series at times, I think it's a really solid novel, and I'd definitely recommend it to fans of unhinged women being unhinged.

Thanks to Celia Laskey, NetGalley, and HQ for the eARC of So Happy For You.

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