Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Happily Ever Afters

First of all, if the boy baking extravagant lovely desserts isn't your first choice, why?? Anyway, I have mixed feelings about this book. Fair warning, there are a lot of references to Harry Potter, and while there are vague references to JK Rowling being a TERF, it's never really addressed.

For the most part, I liked Tessa and her friends. The characterization was pretty good, and the rom-com aspect of the story worked well for the setting. There were just some references throughout that didn't really sit well with me, particularly with the HP stuff.

Overall, it was a cute rom-com, though! Perfect for the summer!

Content Warnings

thereadingshelf's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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lormurenzi's review

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emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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lastingliterature's review

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.5

Happily Ever Afters is a story about a girl named Tessa who enrolls in an arts school to follow her dreams of creative writing. After her first day, she hits a major writer’s block due to imposter syndrome and her growing anxiety about not being good enough. Her friends help her create a “Happily Ever After Plan” where she will follow classic romcom moves to see if she gets inspired to write again.

The parts of this book I love:

-There is great representation. There are characters of multiple races and cultures, lgbt characters, a character who has disabilities, and more. It wasn’t forced or tokenized, which I appreciated.

-There are many instances of microagrressions, ableism, racism, etc. that are handled wonderfully. Tessa has no problem calling these out!

-Mental health has a large focus. It is specifically focused on anxiety, and as someone who struggles with this, I thought it was done pretty well.

-Very sweet, clean romance. Although Tessa’s mission throughout the book is to find love, the story is more so about her growing and becoming more confident in herself.

The parts I didn’t love:

-Tessa is very selfish. Her friend does call her out on this, but it annoyed me how blind Tessa was to it

-Nico did nothing for me. He so clearly only acted “woke” when Tessa called him out on things. Other than him being cute, there wasn’t anything else mentioned that drew Tessa to him

-Tessa and her friends all being fine with, and actively encouraging!!, Tessa trying to steal Poppy’s boyfriend. It shouldn’t matter that they are on-again/off-again! They were in a relationship for this entire plan. Of course Poppy is going to hate you!

-The constant lies felt unnatural for Tessa’s character. Despite her struggling with anxiety, the immense number of lies to her parents and friends didn’t seem to bother her much

While this wasn’t the perfect book for me, I know many will adore this one. I definitely believe many young girls will find this very relatable and comforting, and that is amazing! I look forward to more of Bryant’s work.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

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