Author: Adam Silvera
Genre: Contemporary
Age group: Young Adult
Pages: 336 (Paperback)
Publication date: April 26, 2016
Synopsis from More Happy Than Not's Goodreads page
In the months after his father's suicide, it's been tough for sixteen-year-old Aaron Soto to find happiness again—but he's still gunning for it. With the support of his girlfriend Genevieve and his overworked mom, he's slowly remembering what that might feel like. But grief and the smile-shaped scar on his wrist prevent him from forgetting completely.
When Genevieve leaves for a couple of weeks, Aaron spends all his time hanging out with this new guy, Thomas. Aaron's crew notices, and they're not exactly thrilled. But Aaron can't deny the happiness Thomas brings or how Thomas makes him feel safe from himself, despite the tensions their friendship is stirring with his girlfriend and friends. Since Aaron can't stay away from Thomas or turn off his newfound feelings for him, he considers turning to the Leteo Institute's revolutionary memory-alteration procedure to straighten himself out, even if it means forgetting who he truly is.
Why does happiness have to be so hard?
As a whole, I felt that the book had an amazing way of interpreting someone coming of age, figuring out who they were, and discovering their sexuality. I loved how the characters had so many conflicts, and how some lasted for a long time and others for mere pages, because that's exactly how life is. Some things last longer than others.
I also really enjoyed the character development in this novel, because I found that many of the characters really grew into who they were at the end of the novel and reached places that they weren't even close to seeing at the beginning and throughout the novel. They were all different and they all had flaws, some much larger than others. I loved how this book not only covered topics of sexuality and finding yourself, but how it also covered topics such as struggling for what you have, living in a single parent home, and harder topics such as suicide and depression. A few of the characters suffer greatly from depression and there is much talk of suicide throughout this book, which I feel is an important thing to talk about, especially within the young adult genre.
Something I wasn't a massive fan of was how the characters' sexuality was explored; I feel like the book could have had more of the characters figuring things out themselves instead of just jumping into so much action in places. That isn't to say that the actions of finding your sexuality shouldn't be covered, but for this book I just personally feel that there could have been a little more of the characters trying to figure things out, think through who they are and who they wanted to become before they jumped into their decisions.
I loved the idea of having memory wiping technology, and while reading this book it really makes the reader ponder if you have any memories that you want erased. Although the people in the book working for the memory wiping company are much pickier with who gets memories wiped and who does not, it makes you think about if you would want anything, or anyone, wiped from your mind, possibly forever. I thought the idea of it was absolutely brilliant.
I also loved the settings in this novel, and how drastic the settings differed from each other. They really affected the mood of the story as well as the characters and how they acted with and to each other. The difference between the Bronx homes and the memory wiping labs was so drastic, it really affected both the characters in the novel as well as me while I was reading. It creates a whole new atmosphere, and a whole new book almost.
The writing style in this book was very well done, and I really liked how this book talked about topics that you usually never hear about, especially in young adult fiction. The writing was wonderful, and I found so much of this book to be so different from other things I have read.
With that said, I am definitely looking forward to Adam Silvera's next novel, and I will hopefully be reading it as soon as it comes out. For his first novel, this book was good, and I look forward to more from him.
Synopsis from More Happy Than Not's Goodreads page
In the months after his father's suicide, it's been tough for sixteen-year-old Aaron Soto to find happiness again—but he's still gunning for it. With the support of his girlfriend Genevieve and his overworked mom, he's slowly remembering what that might feel like. But grief and the smile-shaped scar on his wrist prevent him from forgetting completely.
When Genevieve leaves for a couple of weeks, Aaron spends all his time hanging out with this new guy, Thomas. Aaron's crew notices, and they're not exactly thrilled. But Aaron can't deny the happiness Thomas brings or how Thomas makes him feel safe from himself, despite the tensions their friendship is stirring with his girlfriend and friends. Since Aaron can't stay away from Thomas or turn off his newfound feelings for him, he considers turning to the Leteo Institute's revolutionary memory-alteration procedure to straighten himself out, even if it means forgetting who he truly is.
Why does happiness have to be so hard?
THOUGHTS:
The first book I read this summer was More Happy Than Not. I bought it last month because I had heard so many good things about it, and although I did really enjoy some parts of it, other parts I wasn't too fond of.As a whole, I felt that the book had an amazing way of interpreting someone coming of age, figuring out who they were, and discovering their sexuality. I loved how the characters had so many conflicts, and how some lasted for a long time and others for mere pages, because that's exactly how life is. Some things last longer than others.
I also really enjoyed the character development in this novel, because I found that many of the characters really grew into who they were at the end of the novel and reached places that they weren't even close to seeing at the beginning and throughout the novel. They were all different and they all had flaws, some much larger than others. I loved how this book not only covered topics of sexuality and finding yourself, but how it also covered topics such as struggling for what you have, living in a single parent home, and harder topics such as suicide and depression. A few of the characters suffer greatly from depression and there is much talk of suicide throughout this book, which I feel is an important thing to talk about, especially within the young adult genre.
Something I wasn't a massive fan of was how the characters' sexuality was explored; I feel like the book could have had more of the characters figuring things out themselves instead of just jumping into so much action in places. That isn't to say that the actions of finding your sexuality shouldn't be covered, but for this book I just personally feel that there could have been a little more of the characters trying to figure things out, think through who they are and who they wanted to become before they jumped into their decisions.
I loved the idea of having memory wiping technology, and while reading this book it really makes the reader ponder if you have any memories that you want erased. Although the people in the book working for the memory wiping company are much pickier with who gets memories wiped and who does not, it makes you think about if you would want anything, or anyone, wiped from your mind, possibly forever. I thought the idea of it was absolutely brilliant.
I also loved the settings in this novel, and how drastic the settings differed from each other. They really affected the mood of the story as well as the characters and how they acted with and to each other. The difference between the Bronx homes and the memory wiping labs was so drastic, it really affected both the characters in the novel as well as me while I was reading. It creates a whole new atmosphere, and a whole new book almost.
The writing style in this book was very well done, and I really liked how this book talked about topics that you usually never hear about, especially in young adult fiction. The writing was wonderful, and I found so much of this book to be so different from other things I have read.
With that said, I am definitely looking forward to Adam Silvera's next novel, and I will hopefully be reading it as soon as it comes out. For his first novel, this book was good, and I look forward to more from him.
No comments:
Post a Comment