Reviews - Happiness for Beginners: A Novel

2.99k reviews for:

Happiness for Beginners: A Novel

Katherine Center

3.98 AVERAGE

sk8r2natls's review against another edition

4.0

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

LOVED. I could hardly put it down. The characters felt human, it skipped over the boring details to skid into the action, I fell in love with multiple characters. All in all, I would HIGHLY recommend.

Content Warnings

josie_jones's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective fast-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

This was such a beautiful story about finding yourself after going through a rough patch in your life and finding good in new ways. I loved the connection of the the two leads although at times it was frustrating due to their lack of communication, but they made up for it by the end. would recommend this and I'm excited to watch the movie adaptation.

salbeans's review against another edition

2.25

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

readwithsuzie's review against another edition

3.0

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Steam Level: 🔥 (kissing only)
Trigger Warning: message me for details

Quick Notes:
*Finding Happiness
*Hiking
*Nicknames
*Age Gap
*Brother's Best Friend

My Thoughts:
*Sigh* Look, I can see why many people liked this. I mean, Katherine Center just has a writing style that's fun, easy to read, and utterly enjoyable. In this book, there's definitely character growth for Helen, and her fellow hikers became more likable over time. I loved the initial flirting from Jake and the idea of naming things that make you happy each day. Plus, there's some deep, emotional revelations that came about in the second half that really touched me.
Unfortunately, for all the things I liked, there were just as many that I didn’t. First off, Helen and Jake really irritated me at times. Helen was very whiny in the beginning and reminded me several times of a lovesick teenager despite being in her 30s. Jake also came across as a little too immature, especially in terms of how to treat someone you've loved for years. Yes, Helen told him to ignore her on the trip, but he still made some choices that rubbed me the wrong way. His actions with Windy and the other girls that he excused by saying they “provided a distraction” were giving me the ick. And each of the meaningful moments I mentioned previously were followed by a dumb or disappointing moment that really killed the vibe. The final straw was the epilogue that literally had me saying, "That's it?" and slamming my Kindle case. I really wanted to give this a higher rating, but it just wasn't a win for me.

hdorman's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Loved this until the last like 10 percent. Once

her brother showed up

, the tension sort of died. I loved seeing

them reconnect

, but she was way too level-headed about

her dog dying.

shelbatron's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

khonake1's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

My second read through of this book and I loved it just as much! It’s funny, adventurous, and SO DARN CUTE. Maybe one of my all-time favorite books!!!