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Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Violence, Dementia, Death of parent, Outing, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt
Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, Alcohol
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Grief, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol
Minor: Drug use, Abandonment, Classism
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content
Minor: Pregnancy
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Dementia, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Minor: Domestic abuse, Pregnancy
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera is a contemporary YA book with a dash of speculative fiction. This book was devastating, heartbreaking, painful, and hopeful all at once. I feel like this is a very important book.
We follow Aaron Soto, a boy living in the Bronx dealing with the grief and trauma of his father's suicide and dealing with his own attempt. All Aaron wants is to forget the bad memories, to be happy. Things start to look up a bit for him when he meets handsome stranger, Thomas. But then Aaron starts to question his feelings for his girlfriend, and when Thomas doesn't feel the same way, he wants to forget all over again.
I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't say much more about the plot. Aaron deals with the struggles of being poor in a city along with the rampant homophobia. These characters were so real, so messy, so emotional, so relatable. Aaron's story is heartbreaking and tragic, you just want to give the guy a hug. I'm glad I have the edition with a new happier ending, cause Aaron deserves one.
As gut wrenching as this is, everyone should read it. I think what Aaron feels about being gay is the exact reason queer kids need to see themselves in media and need to see queer adults thriving and living their lives. Queer adults give hope, and hope is what these kids need.
Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent
Minor: Suicide attempt
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Outing, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Deadnaming, Fatphobia
Aaron is a fairly typical teen on the surface - always playing ridiculous games with his mates, taking the girlfriend who adores him out on dates and writing his own comic book. But his life hasn't been easy - he has the scar on his wrist to prove that. I cannot fault the characterisation; Silvera's writing perfectly captures that balance of a person being "normal" on the outside and yet struggling with trauma and their own demons on the inside. His is definitely not a sugar-coated existence, and Silvera has a real knack for making his lead characters so incredibly real, which just makes the 'fantastical' element that much more engaging.
In this case, it's name-dropped a few times early on in the story, and if you've read the author's other works it's not hard to take a stab at guessing what might be on the horizon. But likewise, he's all about giving you hope. And in this case, the twists and turns are perfectly timed to keep you engaged and to keep that hope burning in your chest.
The secondary characters are also well drawn, but ultimately the more central they are to the story, the more fleshed out they are. This does mean that people like Aaron's mother, brother and his old friends are there and interesting, but they just don't have the same depth to them. In turn, as Aaron's interactions with them are important catalysts in the story, it does leave the whole work feeling just a little bit 'thin' for me. I could have done with perhaps another hundred pages where the background story was developed and explored in more detail. That being said, I can potentially see this issue as perhaps being a writing device, as it does sort of fit with the POV. Nevertheless, I still feel like I needed more.
In a roundabout way, this story explores what might happen if a person could be "cured" of homosexuality. IMO, what's there to cure?! It's a beautiful illustration of what the struggles people go through when discovering their own preferences might feel like, and how the temptation of 'normality' might appeal, but that who you are will shine through no matter what. It's also a study in acceptance; even the harshest of days contribute to who you are. I can't say it's an uplifting read, but it holds a powerful message.
Absolutely worth the read!
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Pregnancy
Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Medical content, Dementia, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicide, Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent
Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Alcohol
Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content