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readwithmo's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Self harm
davidbythebay's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I anticipated more of a gay romance set in a harsher Outsiders scenario. With Pony Boy translated to the Bronx and a queer element to the story. What I got was more of a hard hitting emotional ride into what makes a person a person, the dangers of denying who you are, toxic masculinity, and depression. There are some moments that speak out to me now that I have completed and sat with the story. I felt a lot of those emotions on my coming out process and was glad to see the raw emotions here.
The original ending was fine and good. But did feel a little bleak. To take that journey and end that way was just unsatisfying. But the newly added epilogue brought that refreshing light to the end of a dark story. Even Romeo and Juliette end in some positivity with the two families realizing they can't sustain this hatred forever.
I do think I'd benefit from a second reading of this book as it hid some many more details and explorations than I gathered this first time around. Overall, a great novel.
The original ending was fine and good. But did feel a little bleak. To take that journey and end that way was just unsatisfying. But the newly added epilogue brought that refreshing light to the end of a dark story. Even Romeo and Juliette end in some positivity with the two families realizing they can't sustain this hatred forever.
I do think I'd benefit from a second reading of this book as it hid some many more details and explorations than I gathered this first time around. Overall, a great novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Homophobia
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Death of parent
malegerones's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
pippat25's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
More happy than not is so cleverly written by Adam silvera, the plot leading up to the plot twist really makes you completely oblivious to what’s going to happen. It was totally unexpected. This book covers so many important issues we face in society and I think it’s a very good read.
Favourite quotes (potential spoilers) :
- “it sucks that a word that’s supposed to mean happiness can somehow feel warped”
- “happiness comes again if you let it”
- “he loves me without being in love with me and that’s all I can ask of him”
- “I will do my best to always find the sun in the darkness because my life isn’t one sad ending - it’s a series of endless happy beginnings”
- “sometimes pain is so unmanageable that the idea of spending another day with it seems impossible”
Favourite quotes (potential spoilers) :
- “it sucks that a word that’s supposed to mean happiness can somehow feel warped”
- “happiness comes again if you let it”
- “he loves me without being in love with me and that’s all I can ask of him”
- “I will do my best to always find the sun in the darkness because my life isn’t one sad ending - it’s a series of endless happy beginnings”
- “sometimes pain is so unmanageable that the idea of spending another day with it seems impossible”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Death, Suicide, Self harm, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Pregnancy, Blood, and Cursing
writingcaia's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
It’d probably be 4⭐️ if I had read the first version of this novel which didn’t include the new ending chapter. Like the author I definitely believe Aaron deserved more happy endings, and I’m glad he wrote them.
Aaron is young adult boy living in a poor Bronx neighbourhood with his mom and brother, trying to find love and friendship and who he is, and to forget his dad’s suicide and his own attempt at the same.
In a world where technology can erase traumas and past pains, people will make choices that will reverberated, in not always a great way, throughout their lives.
This is a coming of age story with a fantasy twist.
It was a very touching tale of the need to forget, of the need to remember, of crippling memories, of choices that are not choices at all, and those that are but seem to be taken from us.
Aaron is young adult boy living in a poor Bronx neighbourhood with his mom and brother, trying to find love and friendship and who he is, and to forget his dad’s suicide and his own attempt at the same.
In a world where technology can erase traumas and past pains, people will make choices that will reverberated, in not always a great way, throughout their lives.
This is a coming of age story with a fantasy twist.
It was a very touching tale of the need to forget, of the need to remember, of crippling memories, of choices that are not choices at all, and those that are but seem to be taken from us.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abandonment
orenjiiii's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.25
Wasn't particularly engaged with the first half but finished the second half in a night. Giving this a 4 stars because me and Aaron are very different people so I couldn't always relate to him, but I loved his arc and growth. Cried a bit. I've only finished reading a handful of books recently and I'm glad this was one of them
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Drug use and Violence
prehistoricpotatoes's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, and Hate crime
rynaissanceenby's review
emotional
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? Yes
2.75
I have really mixed feelings about this book. I think the most important thing to know going into it is that it's problematic in a lot of ways, but the intention is to sort of dismantle the misconceptions that lead to those problematic takes. The problem is that it takes way too long to do that, and even once it gets there, it leans too hard into the misconceptions. It makes them feel like reasonable ways to think.
I also felt that a lot of interpersonal relationships felt unrealistic, but this might be a product of my relatively sheltered upbringing. At several points I found myself thinking, "This is ridiculous, nobody would ever get into a physical fight over this" or thoughts along those same lines, but the reality is that I don't understand why anyone would get into a physical altercation over just about anything. So maybe that's just my white suburbia upbringing talking.
Finally, I found the sci-fi-ish premise to be really dissatisfying. We were simultaneously given too many and too few details in order for me to sustain my disbelief. The basic idea is that Lateo can bury specific memories for you, but the idea that memories rarely resurface even with the triggers of being in familiar surroundings where the original memories happened is just a bit too far fetched for me. The pacing of this part of the narrative was a bit odd too. Lateo was hardly mentioned at all in the first half of the book, and it was absolutely crucial to the second half of the book. I think a little more foreshadowing would have done this book well.
All that being said, I considered DNFing this one, but it did get better in the second half, so I think it was worth my time. Especially since it was an audiobook, so I listened to it while cooking.
On that note, I felt that the choice of audiobook narrator was questionable. This story is told from the perspective of teenagers, and having a middle-aged dude narrate it...did not sound right. Furthermore, the voices the narrator did for the different characters were spotty. I was expecting to be able to tell who was talking from the different sorts of cadences and accents he was giving the different characters, but, especially when two characters were having a back and forth dialogue, their voices started blurring together and it go difficult to tell them apart.
I also felt that a lot of interpersonal relationships felt unrealistic, but this might be a product of my relatively sheltered upbringing. At several points I found myself thinking, "This is ridiculous, nobody would ever get into a physical fight over this" or thoughts along those same lines, but the reality is that I don't understand why anyone would get into a physical altercation over just about anything. So maybe that's just my white suburbia upbringing talking.
Finally, I found the sci-fi-ish premise to be really dissatisfying. We were simultaneously given too many and too few details in order for me to sustain my disbelief. The basic idea is that Lateo can bury specific memories for you, but the idea that memories rarely resurface even with the triggers of being in familiar surroundings where the original memories happened is just a bit too far fetched for me. The pacing of this part of the narrative was a bit odd too. Lateo was hardly mentioned at all in the first half of the book, and it was absolutely crucial to the second half of the book. I think a little more foreshadowing would have done this book well.
All that being said, I considered DNFing this one, but it did get better in the second half, so I think it was worth my time. Especially since it was an audiobook, so I listened to it while cooking.
On that note, I felt that the choice of audiobook narrator was questionable. This story is told from the perspective of teenagers, and having a middle-aged dude narrate it...did not sound right. Furthermore, the voices the narrator did for the different characters were spotty. I was expecting to be able to tell who was talking from the different sorts of cadences and accents he was giving the different characters, but, especially when two characters were having a back and forth dialogue, their voices started blurring together and it go difficult to tell them apart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Hate crime
Minor: Racism
reader_in_the_meadow's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The 2015 Young adult Novel More Happy Than Not by american author Adam Silvera tells the story of Aaron Soto, a teenager living in a world where Memories can practically be wiped away. In this world he has to deal with depression, coming to terms with himself as well as finding his place in this world.
The book contains the novel in five parts and 43 chapters as well as the author's note and acknowledgements.
The plot of this novel is pretty straight forward in my opinion, but takes some unexpected turns throughout itself. Following Aaron, the main character, we get to read about his struggles as a teenager, his personal trauma, depression and him finding his place in society. We also get to experience him coming to terms with his own identity, which is the main story line.
I liked this story very much. It was neither too fast-paced nor too slow-paced. I thought this was also a very relateble story for me personally, not in all parts but in some. On another note, this was also very cutesy sometimes, which made my heart bloom!
The characters in this novel are very different from each other. There Were many I liked, but also many I did not like and I think it is a great thing to actually malle characters unlikeable.
They also were unique from on another and I loved seeing all the different personalities interact with each other. Relationships between them were also very interesting and unique between each other.
Oh, and about representation in this: We have a latinx main character and side character as well as a gay main character and other non-heterosexual side characters. Personally I found the gay representation executed very well and not problematic in the least. I won't comment on other representation because I do not think it is my right to do so.
If you want more intel on any other rep, I am sure you will find it on here.
If you know me, you know that I am a huge fan of Silvera's writing style. I just think there is something to it that lets you take a look inside the minds of the different characters and let yourself be immersed in the story. It is also very easy to read and understand.
However, I do have to say that it was also very cringey at some points.
All summed up, I can recommend this book with a good conscious!
And if you do plan to read this please do not Forget to check the trigger warnings.
The book contains the novel in five parts and 43 chapters as well as the author's note and acknowledgements.
The plot of this novel is pretty straight forward in my opinion, but takes some unexpected turns throughout itself. Following Aaron, the main character, we get to read about his struggles as a teenager, his personal trauma, depression and him finding his place in society. We also get to experience him coming to terms with his own identity, which is the main story line.
I liked this story very much. It was neither too fast-paced nor too slow-paced. I thought this was also a very relateble story for me personally, not in all parts but in some. On another note, this was also very cutesy sometimes, which made my heart bloom!
The characters in this novel are very different from each other. There Were many I liked, but also many I did not like and I think it is a great thing to actually malle characters unlikeable.
They also were unique from on another and I loved seeing all the different personalities interact with each other. Relationships between them were also very interesting and unique between each other.
Oh, and about representation in this: We have a latinx main character and side character as well as a gay main character and other non-heterosexual side characters. Personally I found the gay representation executed very well and not problematic in the least. I won't comment on other representation because I do not think it is my right to do so.
If you want more intel on any other rep, I am sure you will find it on here.
If you know me, you know that I am a huge fan of Silvera's writing style. I just think there is something to it that lets you take a look inside the minds of the different characters and let yourself be immersed in the story. It is also very easy to read and understand.
However, I do have to say that it was also very cringey at some points.
All summed up, I can recommend this book with a good conscious!
And if you do plan to read this please do not Forget to check the trigger warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
kataleena's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.75
I thought I knew how this book would play out and maybe I just didn’t read enough reviews but I was somewhat blindsided by the events that transpired. I think what made me sob my eyes out was that I could see parts of myself in Aaron’s story and I really felt for him. The only issue - if I could even call it that - with the book was that the only characters I liked were Aaron and Genevieve, everyone else was just okay, if that. I think the book would have hit that much harder if Aaron’s friends were actually likeable and characters that you can grow attached to. Regardless, I loved this book and I will be reading it again :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Physical abuse