Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - So Happy for You

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

So Happy for You by Celia Laskey

5 reviews

stacy837's review

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dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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jkneebone's review

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dark emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The premise for this one is pretty straightforward: queer, partnered, and anti-marriage gender studies PhD student Robin agrees to be the maid of honor for her best friend Ellie, despite the fact that they have seriously grown apart from each other at 34. As teens and in their early twenties, the two were completely intertwined, but Ellie is obsessed with climbing “the ladder” - marriage, house, kids - which Robin openly disdains. Still, she agrees to be MOH for old times sake and is quickly freaked by the lengths that Ellie will go to in order to ensure her marriage is a success - specifically the wedding “charms” which have come into popularity that Ellie wants to try.

I think my enjoyment of this book was tempered by the fact that I misunderstood what the premise of the story would be. It is an absurdist novel, which I didn’t know going into it - the world of the story mostly resembles ours, except with a heavier slant towards the traditional marriage and family values set; it is publicly acceptable to count down until women become “rotten” aka too old to marry - and the plot is mainly skewering the wedding industry, not our societal focus on romantic relationships above all else (what I was personally hoping for!). So, take my review with a grain of salt - I imagine that had my expectations been more accurate, I would have liked this better. That being said, I did enjoy the critique of the wedding industry, and I liked that our MC and narrator, Robin, was clearly flawed, and became aware of those flaws throughout the course of the book - her issues were clear to readers earlier on, but it was cool to see her realize some of her pitfalls herself. I also liked the variety of characters that filled out the rest of the bridal party - the politically inconsistent mom of three, the gay man who’s more invested in marriage than the protagonist, and the hippie-dipper but weirdly insightful yoga teacher. Robin and Ellie’s friendship was also interesting to read about, if pushing the bounds of believability for me, but maybe I’ve just not had a friendship like that.

All in all, this is a short and interesting read which will definitely get you thinking - just be aware going into it that it’s absurdist so you aren’t caught off guard like I was!

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