A review by concontroost
Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados

5.0

i can easily see why many wouldn’t take a liking to this book, or see it as anything else more than a stylized jaunt through the lens of a 20 something with no particular plot or character advancement. though i respect their opinion, i politely disagree. i loved every page of this book, every day of Isa’a summer, beautiful, painful, or indifferent. life’s dull moments are turned into works of art to be admired and gazed upon for days on end, with their lasting thought permeating well beyond that. the dialogue, the sporadic (though relevant all the same) observations of Isa, her intricate relationships, and her imperfectly grounded friendship with gala. all dealt with great brevity in exceptionally earnest and humanizing prose unlike anything else I have yet to read. very vulnerable.

i could write, think, and gawk over this book for days on end, only to eventually find more to love about it not a few thoughts later. tragically beautiful is a mere understatement with happy hour. i fell in love from the very outset. i simply cannot not wait to find out what tale granados has next in store. will without a doubt reread this, too, to experience it all again. when the time is right.

edit: i reread it in may of 2023 and it was still exceptionally wonderful