A review by literarycrushes
Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura

challenging emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.25

Like Happiness is a rumination on the manipulation of power and the multitudinous ways abuse can play out in  murky relationships. 

Told in duel timelines, it’s 2015 and Tatum Vega is living a quiet life with her partner in Chile when she is contacted by a journalist investigating the claims of abuse by many young women, perpetrated by M. / Mateo, a famous Latino author. The journalist has photographic evidence of Tatum’s & his long-term friendship and wonders if she cares to comment, leading Tatum to recall her decade-long relationship with M from a newly awakened vantage point. 

Though the focus of the novel is on the lopsided, inherently unequal relationship - Tatum meets M. after writing him a fan letter while attending a fancy New England college (where she is one of only a handful of Latinx students) and the two strike up an intense online correspondence. Tatum’s character development is the real joy of this novel. We see her grow from the painfully shy daughter of ultra-religious immigrants in San Antonio, dreaming of moving to New York City and meeting friends she can discuss literature with or go to the MoMa with, into a woman in charge of her life. By recounting her past, she realizes her voice not only matters but is a necessary part of the story. 

The relationship between Tatum & M is complicated – while she maintains that he never sexually abused her (as he did many other young ‘fans’ whose socioeconomic standing made them unlikely threats), it’s clear that he holds the power and is constantly putting her through an emotional rigor. He pays off sizable portions of her student debt and flies her around the country as his date to various readings, only to essentially ghost her for months at a time as he runs through a string of ‘barely Latina marketing executive’ girlfriends while Tatum puts her life on hold until she’s back in the orbit of his affections. 

I really enjoyed this one – thank you to X for the #gifted copy!