Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - More Happy Than Not

i'm gonna be honest, i really wasn't expecting a lot going into this. i picked it up because tbdate has been getting all the rave (and i mean all the rave. my tiktok fyp has been filled with videos of people crying over it for the past two weeks now) but it didn't seem like a book i'd enjoy, so i looked through adam silvera's other works and found that this had plenty of good reviews for a debut novel. i really had no idea what the plot was—just that it was a sad book about a sad gay. and that's all it took for me to go and purchase a physical copy.

so i had no idea what i was expecting but i was immediately surprised by the amount of characters that were introduced right off the bat as you crack into the book, and then somehow i got kinda bored of the story and felt extremely underwhelmed. if i had done a bit more research on the plot i think i definitely would've been more enthusiastic about reading it, but the experience i had with all the shock i felt from the twists made me glad that i went into it not knowing a thing. aaron is such a relatable character who almost felt comforting and made me feel cozy and cared for in a way. i know his battles, i understand his struggles, and i felt so drawn to him as if he was my best friend and not thomas'. i wanted what was best for him and every time he had a wrong thought, i would yell at him through the pages as if he was gonna come to life just to hear my nagging. before him, i'd never seen someone who'd been so dead set on offing themselves turn into someone so full of hope and believed that they had the chance to be happy again. i want that for everyone—i want it for myself.

it's been a couple hours since i finished reading, and i still feel heavy and shaken by this story; especially the last 30+ pages. even though it wasn't the ending i was hoping for, it opened my eyes to the reality that happy endings can still happen—even if they're not the kind we'd imagined. ~~i love you aaron and thomas you're endgame in the alternate sun warden comic i'm writing in my head idc idc~~

Content Warnings

thebisexualbooknerd's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This is probably my least favorite of Adam Silvera's (that I've read) but it is still phenomenal. The first 2/3 dragged a bit, to the point where if I wasn't so familiar with his endings I probably wouldn't have finished reading it. I didn't love any of the characters. There's so much introspection that the plot stagnates in a handful of spots. But I'm so glad I pushed through. The twist hit me hard, and the commentary is excellent. It's easy to forget that this is technically scifi because the themes on conversion, the closet, and procrastinated identity are so realistic. It's heartbreaking, but there's a faintly hopeful note at the very, very end.

Content Warnings