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A review by dinipandareads
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
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
5.0
Please be treated to my 3:30am profanity-laced thoughts after immediately finishing this book. I'm not sorry! I was WRECKED!! ðŸ˜
Holy fork, I was not ready for the magnitude of what-the-forkery this book would put me through. My head and heart are still reeling after finishing this and I don’t quite know what to do with myself. This is not (exactly) a happy book despite what the title may imply. Oh... I can’t get over how much Silvera has me forking turned around with this book! It hit so much harder than I expected it to, especially with the addition of the new chapter in this deluxe edition, and it had me aching with a longing for it to be so real. 🥺 I know this is a book that will stick with me for many years to come…
Honestly, there’s not much that I can say about this that won’t give the story away and I don’t know if it’s just my inability to see things coming in books, but I didn’t expect the direction it took at all. It’s a dark and depressing coming-of-age story that covers many deep subjects including homophobia, suicide/suicidal ideation, severe depression, domestic abuse, and amnesia amongst others. As much as I wanna say go into this not knowing what to expect in terms of the storyline, I would not pick this up if you’re not in the right headspace. <u>Please, please read the content and trigger warnings first!</u>
This has a slight magical realism/sci-fi element to it in the form of the Leteo Institute and its memory erasure/suppression procedure that’ll magic your bad memories away so that you can live your best life. The science and possibilities of it aren’t very well explained or explored but I didn’t mind because the central focus for me was on everything Aaron was experiencing in the now. There’s such a simple, evocative and enjoyable quality to Silvera’s writing that made it so easy for me to devour the pages. I practically finished this in one sitting (it’s currently 3:30am as I write this—who needs sleep, right?)! Although I was enjoying it enough until the 40% mark, I was admittedly a bit worried when it left me feeling slightly whelmed. But when the last few pages before Part Zero happened, it was like a flare went off and everything CLICKED and emotional combustion ensued.
I think another thing that made this book hit is that it’s so raw and the characters are so incredibly messy, confused, and volatile which makes them all the more realistic and relatable. The author breathes such life into these characters! My heart was torn apart reading Aaron’s story because it is like watching someone get hit over and over and over again. It's ugly and sad but also true. It hurt so much, even when he’s not always the most likeable character and there were plenty of times when I wanted to give him a good long shake but then I wanted to give him the biggest hug and protect him from everything. There’s so much anger, fear, sadness and desperation—some people are really SO forking VILE—but there is also a huge well of love, forgiveness, support and yes, happiness too. Silvera had me running the full gamut of emotions with this story that packs an immensely powerful punch!
I’m so glad that I came across and bought this Deluxe edition because the "More Happy Ending" was the soothing balm I desperately needed, even as it made my tears keep flowing. All of you lovers of Aaron and his story deserve to read that last bit too. 😠I’m gonna forever be wondering how Aaron’s doing and if he’s okay. I seriously didn’t expect to be bawling and snotty-ugly-crying to one of my first few reads of 2024 but HERE WE ARE. Thank you for your service, Adam Silvera!!!
Holy fork, I was not ready for the magnitude of what-the-forkery this book would put me through. My head and heart are still reeling after finishing this and I don’t quite know what to do with myself. This is not (exactly) a happy book despite what the title may imply. Oh... I can’t get over how much Silvera has me forking turned around with this book! It hit so much harder than I expected it to, especially with the addition of the new chapter in this deluxe edition, and it had me aching with a longing for it to be so real. 🥺 I know this is a book that will stick with me for many years to come…
Honestly, there’s not much that I can say about this that won’t give the story away and I don’t know if it’s just my inability to see things coming in books, but I didn’t expect the direction it took at all. It’s a dark and depressing coming-of-age story that covers many deep subjects including homophobia, suicide/suicidal ideation, severe depression, domestic abuse, and amnesia amongst others. As much as I wanna say go into this not knowing what to expect in terms of the storyline, I would not pick this up if you’re not in the right headspace. <u>Please, please read the content and trigger warnings first!</u>
This has a slight magical realism/sci-fi element to it in the form of the Leteo Institute and its memory erasure/suppression procedure that’ll magic your bad memories away so that you can live your best life. The science and possibilities of it aren’t very well explained or explored but I didn’t mind because the central focus for me was on everything Aaron was experiencing in the now. There’s such a simple, evocative and enjoyable quality to Silvera’s writing that made it so easy for me to devour the pages. I practically finished this in one sitting (it’s currently 3:30am as I write this—who needs sleep, right?)! Although I was enjoying it enough until the 40% mark, I was admittedly a bit worried when it left me feeling slightly whelmed. But when the last few pages before Part Zero happened, it was like a flare went off and everything CLICKED and emotional combustion ensued.
I think another thing that made this book hit is that it’s so raw and the characters are so incredibly messy, confused, and volatile which makes them all the more realistic and relatable. The author breathes such life into these characters! My heart was torn apart reading Aaron’s story because it is like watching someone get hit over and over and over again. It's ugly and sad but also true. It hurt so much, even when he’s not always the most likeable character and there were plenty of times when I wanted to give him a good long shake but then I wanted to give him the biggest hug and protect him from everything. There’s so much anger, fear, sadness and desperation—some people are really SO forking VILE—but there is also a huge well of love, forgiveness, support and yes, happiness too. Silvera had me running the full gamut of emotions with this story that packs an immensely powerful punch!
I’m so glad that I came across and bought this Deluxe edition because the "More Happy Ending" was the soothing balm I desperately needed, even as it made my tears keep flowing. All of you lovers of Aaron and his story deserve to read that last bit too. 😠I’m gonna forever be wondering how Aaron’s doing and if he’s okay. I seriously didn’t expect to be bawling and snotty-ugly-crying to one of my first few reads of 2024 but HERE WE ARE. Thank you for your service, Adam Silvera!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Death of parent, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity
Moderate: Sexual content