Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

18 reviews

melist6's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Medical content

Minor: Pregnancy

ottolee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Outing, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Deadnaming and Fatphobia

All of the graphic content feels “earned”. It’s part of the exploration of homophobia in the Latinx community, esp internalized hatred and shame. But it is very intense and,

while the MC survives it,

the ending being “more happy than not” is up for interpretation. The deadnaming comes across like the cis MC not realizing he’s deadnaming/being transphobic, not being malicious. Perhaps another facet of the casual ignorance of the community. Still, was kinda off-putting and not necessary. And idk if the author is also unaware he’s being transphobic.

jennboyack_scott's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Medical content, Dementia, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

dinipandareads's review against another edition

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!! 😭

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!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content

tragicgloom's review against another edition

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

"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 ❤️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying and Medical content

Minor: Drug use, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

badmom's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

Adam Silvera’s first novel shows his talent for creating teen characters who are authentic in both their immaturity and depth. This story blends elements of speculative fiction with very real issues that young adults (and grown-ups, though in different ways) face, and it’s done with love + care for all of the characters. Find the edition with Silvera’s follow-up chapter; it shows the growth of not only the main characters but the author as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Minor: Emotional abuse and Pregnancy

anton13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

Wow… just wow. Once again Adam has written a sob story and it’s amazing. Like almost better than they both die at the end. I do have to warn that it’s got a lot of content that can be triggering to people so pls check tw before reading it. But Omg over all an amazing read. One of the best books I’ve read! And the end… I was not expecting that. Everything seemed to be a mess so the fact that Adam was able to tie it all together like that in the end and give a satisfying end was just wonderful. I laughed and cried with these people, just an amazing book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Dementia, and Medical trauma

Minor: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

mxbluet18's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

0.5

Trigger warnings for More Happy Than Not include: attempted suicide; depression, domestic abuse; homophobia and suicide. Also just a general spoiler warning for content and characters.
☆
☆
I honestly can't say I liked this book. I couldn't like the main characters, nor his friends. they just all seemed really boring and flat, with no actual substance to them. Like, it feels as though Aaron's only personality trait is being gay, and the internalised homophobia that led to him having the Leteo procedure and trying to convince himself that he's straight.
~
I also just got confused about the timeline, and how Aaron knew Evangeline, and just all of it. I found the entire book very confusing and can't say I actually enjoyed reading it. I think it's probably one of the few books with gay representation that I haven't enjoyed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

just_a_reader17's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia and Medical content

allyxmoon's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Biphobia, Hate crime, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria