Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

12 reviews

thriftedbookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.0

if you’re looking for a book that will leave you feeling happy, this probably isn’t the book for you (despite its name). a beautifully written novel about wanting to forget the bad parts in life, but realizing that is a part of what makes you human. we live in a world that is messy, filled with ugliness and beauty, and silvera’s work brings that out wonderfully. while it was a bit slow to start, by about halfway i couldn’t put it down and wanted to cry for aaron by the end of it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Dementia, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Domestic abuse and Pregnancy

dododenise's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.75

I almost stopped reading the book in the beginning but then Thomas showed up and I was hooked. Aaron is not an easy protagonist, and I never really liked him. What I thought most when reading this book was “Thomas and Genevieve deserve better”. 

This book does a surprising amount with the number of pages it has. Yet, as someone who enjoys speculative fiction and dystopia I do wish the mind altering aspect of the story was explored more beyond the scope of what it could and could not do for Aaron. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content and Pregnancy

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

---

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

chelseaabu1's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicide, and Grief

Moderate: Cursing, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, and Alcohol

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. 

---

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

---

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

ocelot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Alcohol

katsbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense 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? Yes

3.0

“It’s okay how some stories leave off without an ending. Life doesn’t always deliver the one you would expect.” 

“I’m more happy than not. Don’t forget me.” 

“Happiness shouldn’t be this hard.” 

This book was a complete roller coaster. One of my students recommended it so, of course, I had to follow through and let them know how I felt about it. I'll be real, I thought I was going to get an angsty teen novel, and it was that, but it was also so much more than that. It was fast-paced and angsty, like I said, but it also included so much more about relationships and trauma. So definite trigger warnings for suicide (attempted and successful), emotional abuse, grief, death of a parent, hate crimes and medical trauma. There are probably more that I'm forgetting but those are just the rapid fire ones I could think of off the top of my head. I enjoyed the time I spent with this book and I am definitely going to give Adam Silvera's other work a try. This was his debut novel and, again, it was good, it just felt a little lacking to me. There were times when the writing felt a little clunky and awkward. There were some points where I feel like it dragged on just a bit too much because of all the different elements. But for a debut, it's pretty solid. I may even put my copy in my classroom for my other students to enjoy.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Abortion

maryy_r0se's review against another edition

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.

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:

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

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence and Pregnancy

thebisexualbooknerd's review against another edition

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Outing

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, Medical content, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Fatphobia and Pregnancy