Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - More Happy Than Not

Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

9 reviews

tragicgloom's review

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Spoiler

"And while I wait, happiness exists where I can get it. In these notebooks, where worlds of memories greet me, almost like a
childhood friend who moved away for years and finally came back
home.
I’m more happy than not.
Don’t forget me."

I won't forget you Aaron ❤️

Content Warnings

frqnc22's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Taking such a long break from this book clearly wasn’t good, but as soon as I grabbed the book months later, I dived right back into this dark and emotional world.

To sum everything up, I loved how real this book was and how it presented parts of everything Aaron had to go through in *painful* detail. I connected with his character and cried for him probably more than I expected.

Spoiler

(Aaron: “I’m sorry my past is so terrible I couldn’t live in it anymore.”)

Spoiler

For some time I thought Aaron and Thomas were gonna be endgame. I’m not good at predicting what’s gonna happen in books, movies or TV shows, so I didn’t really expect them to not get together. But, in the end, I actually like this aspect of the story (Aaron: “He loves me without being in love with me.”) Their relationship developed so nicely through the book. They deserve each other, because of how supportive, understanding and helpful they are. And I think this counts as a happy ending for them, since their friendship remains.

As for the topics showed in this book, I truly didn’t expect the memory erasing procedure and the great amount of pain that came with it. I expected the story to leave me with a bittersweet feeling, but clearly didn’t expect such an introspective look on depression, homosexuality or memory loss. I’m glad I didn’t figure out what was gonna happen, because I was amazed by the storytelling. It is worth mentioning that I loved the flashbacks and where they were placed!

The sad reality depicted in the book, homophobia, was hard to read, especially all the fights and slurs. (Aaron: “This is what death feels like, I think.”) It’s hard to even imagine something as traumatic as Aaron’s life, and learning to accept yourself in a situation like his sounds nearly impossible. His whole life changed drastically just because he was brave enough to show his family the real Aaron. The fact that this also happens in real life makes everything worse.

All relationships broke my heart at some point, and some weren’t healthy for the people involved, but they were significant to Aaron’s personal growth.

Spoiler

He constantly seeks acceptance and comfort (what we all deserve from those we love) from right people (Thomas: “Just remember that I love the hell out of you, okay?”) or sometimes from the wrong people (like Collin, who called crying “little-b*tch tears because guys don’t cry”), but he realized that he deserves to be at peace with himself.

He made mistakes, but the most important thing is learning from them and understanding what he did wrong in the first place. Fortunately, he understands and tries to do better

Spoiler

(Aaron: “The problem was that I didn’t know any better because I forgot my life. And now I know I can’t forget.”) I’m glad he is on good terms with Genevieve after everything that happened between them. He shouldn’t have been with Collin behind her back and she shouldn’t have stayed with him just to pretend he wasn’t gay. They’re both aware of their mistakes now.

As for the ending, I didn’t expect another traumatizing experience for Aaron, but I learnt that this is not a happy book👍🏻

Spoiler

However, he is so strong for dealing with his amnesia in the way that he does, by living each day however he can (Aaron: “My life isn’t one sad ending - it’s a series of endless happy beginnings.)

His way of thinking is truly inspiring, even though I was crying while reading the final pages. Truly an emotional rollercoaster, but Aaron’s development is everything! Being “more happy than not” seems difficult to achieve, but he’s doing his best, after going through the worst.

“Don’t forget me.”

Content Warnings

caro_las's review

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

alice17bex's review

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

ingridmaria's review

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dark emotional sad fast-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

4.75

This book stuck hard in my head for days. It surprised me, but not in a shock-value way. The internalised homophobia was so real and I really need to re-read it knowin the ending. I didn’t read the deluxe edition, but apparently I should have because of the extra chapter

Spoiler

seeing as this one ends so unhappily. But then again that might take away from why I liked it so much</spoilers>. Knocked a quarter point off because the first 70 pages could (maybe should) have been 30.

Content Warnings

kclikesthings's review

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dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

Content Warnings

maryy_r0se's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

"Memories: some can be sucker punching, others carry you forward; some stay with you forever, others you forget on your own. You can't really know which ones you'll survive if you don't stay on the battlefield, bad times shooting at you like bullets. But if you're lucky, you'll have plenty of good times to shield you."

**note: I read this as part of an ongoing project to read and critique young adult books that include themes of mental illness**

High schooler Aaron Soto is on the path to recovering from his father's suicide and his own suicide attempt. With Gen, his free-spirited and loving girlfriend at his side, he is ready to move forward, even when the pain feels overwhelming. His progress gets derailed when he befriends Thomas, a quirky kid with a love of movies and no real direction in life. Aaron feels connected to Thomas in a confusing way that seems to transcend friendship. Add to that his community's mounting tension over the Leteo Institute, a controversial medical practice that claims to suppress distressing memories, and Aaron begins to find himself in a freefall that may very well be his undoing.

There is a lot to like about this book. I don't regularly read young adult novels, so it took me a while to adjust to the writing style. However, Silvera achieves at writing a main character who is deeply flawed and yet the reader can still root for. The pacing was inconsistent at parts, and I wasn't sure how I felt about it in the first half, but the second half really picked up for me.

Spoiler

I found myself genuinely shocked at the plot twist.

The comparisons to Eternal Sunshine are certainly warranted, and at times I did wonder if it felt close enough to the movie to dull my enjoyment of the book; it is not a rip off by any means, but didn't fully grip my attention because of the occasional inkling of "haven't I heard this before?" I kept waiting for Thomas, the book's resident movie buff, to bring up the Eternal Sunshine connection. That said, I have very little experience with sci fi content, and perhaps if I did I would simply see this as a common enough trope that it wouldn't stand out.

I read the version with the altered ending, and while I think I personally would have appreciated the original ending a tad more, considering it is a teen book I think adding the extra chapter was the right move. I was left with a major question at the end:

Spoiler

was the Jordan that Aaron met in group therapy somehow supposed to be the same Jordan that shot and killed Kenneth? It could have just been a different character with the same name, but it seemed a bit odd that Silvera would have two characters with the same name and no explanation. Group Therapy Jordan also mentioned his sister at least twice, which seemed relevant because Other Jordan killed Kenneth because of his sister. And while Group Therapy Jordan's backstory didn't align with Other Jordan's, both Group Therapy Jordan and Aaron had been given the Leteo procedure so maybe their memories were still corrupt in some way? But in that case, wouldn't someone like Eric or Gen have recognized Jordan when he came to the birthday party? I kept waiting for another twist or at least some sort of explanation, but it never came. This was especially confusing to me because the author went out of his way when explaining the two Daves and the two Aarons.

I read this book to screen it for a library booklist I am making regarding teen mental health books, and I have decided to approve it for the list. Despite some flaws, I think it shows a nuanced perspective on familial suicide and mental health, while also providing representation to often unrepresented groups.

Content Warnings

19becky97's review

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

thebisexualbooknerd's review

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dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is probably my least favorite of Adam Silvera's (that I've read) but it is still phenomenal. The first 2/3 dragged a bit, to the point where if I wasn't so familiar with his endings I probably wouldn't have finished reading it. I didn't love any of the characters. There's so much introspection that the plot stagnates in a handful of spots. But I'm so glad I pushed through. The twist hit me hard, and the commentary is excellent. It's easy to forget that this is technically scifi because the themes on conversion, the closet, and procrastinated identity are so realistic. It's heartbreaking, but there's a faintly hopeful note at the very, very end.

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