A review by baudshaw
The Happiness Project by Suki Fleet

4.0

I read this after reading Half-Drawn Boy, and this is a "prequel" that shows the origin of Gregor's parents. I like the whole cross-generational aspect, and a lot of scenes were actually enhanced by this unusual reading order. For example, I like the whole imaginary sea related prose that stretched across both books.

Bruno and Alexei are very interesting characters with a very unique journey. Despite the long and flowery prose, their romance was very lovely and believable. The world and the characters seem built up, and of course I love the long, detailed paragraphs of pure emotion. It may be a bit slow, but it's worth it in the end. However, it's a bit odd that both characters try to out self-deprecate each other. I guess it makes sense given their circumstances.

Now for the two things I didn't like at all. These are the main reasons I have this book at 4 stars instead of 5. Here goes:

Spoiler

The first thing was the kind of weird, goofy supernatural explanation. I think Eddy's a fine character, but I really think the mystery should've been kept rather than having some goofy ghost house shenanigans that barely fit with the rest of the story. It just messes with the very grounded, realistic tone of the rest of the book and feels mostly like a shocking twist. I think it would've been a lot cooler if the mystery was never fully explained, maybe we never see George in person or something.

Spoiler

Then there's the sex scenes. God, these miserable sex scenes that add literally nothing to the story besides some cheap erotica. I feel like Suki Fleet is forced by some higher power to include these, because it doesn't fit in this story. It's so unbelievably unnatural, and the dialogue being stereotypically British doesn't help in taking it seriously. And of course, Alexei being asexual just makes it all so weird. I get that asexual people are still physically allowed to have sex, but it doesn't make sense at all here. Another weird thing is that Alexei is characterized as bossy (which doesn't fit with the whole self-deprecating thing) but it's seemingly only to make this sex scene more titillating. There are better ways of indicating deep, emotional love without resorting to sex, and there were especially better ways to handle it for this book.