shirleonelsie's review
3.0
Solid three star. Didn't excite me but I did see a lot of potential for the story and wish it went further. I would have loved to see more conflict between the govt and the people. We got a little push back from Icasia but it didn't go far enough for me to care about her outcome. And I felt like the "big reveal" at the end was way too out of left field for me to care at all. But like I said, definitely see potential and would love to see more of a fleshed out world.
srivalli's review
4.0
3.7 Stars
Icasia Bloom lives in a Globe that’s controlled by an elusive leader, Jacobson. They have to adhere to the Rules and follow the protocols. People like Icasia find a way to rebel without entirely breaking the rules.
However, for people to move from First Life Phase to Second Life Phase they need to find Happiness and a Letter that says they have been successful in finding happiness. It’s a dystopian world with rules of its own.
Icasia isn’t bothered much about her happiness. She only cares for her son’s happiness and future. Being a single mother isn’t easy either. She meets Selma, another woman who has been straddling the Rules.
Selma needs to find a way for Jerome to get his Letter of happiness before his 40th birthday. If not, he’ll lose his life and has no say in the matter. Nothing seems to be working, and Icasia promises to help. This results in some vital questions and rule-defying answers that change the way the Globe looks at happiness.
The title and the cover attracted my attention. Dystopian isn’t my genre, but I’m glad I requested this one. The story starts almost straight away and goes on to share details in bits and pieces. That prevented information dump and kept me interested.
The narration jumps from the second person to the third person to omnipresent. Luckily, the chapters are titled (Listen/ Watch/ Chronicles) to alert readers to this fact. The story walks a fine line between dystopian and philosophical. Things are different yet the same.
The characters are flawed, but most of them don’t appear silly or stupid. Leila, Selma's teenage daughter, was a typical teen, which meant some of her actions don’t make sense unless there’s a proper backstory and complete arc.
The theme of the book hinged on what happiness is and how one should find it. As with the dystopian trope, the government has a role to play in most decisions. It isn’t anything new, to be honest. The author makes it interesting to a major extent by using the setting to her advantage.
However, I felt she hasn’t delved deep into the concept. It could be because she didn’t want to risk being preachy. Lord knows how hard it is to maintain balance. Still, the characters needed more exploration. Some of the scenes feel disjointed, as if there’s a missing link. This link doesn’t appear elsewhere to complete the connection. Nor do we find answers to certain questions about why the Rules were established that way. (It sounds vague because I’m trying to avoid spoilers).
The premise is excellent, and the use of the bluebird is worth mentioning. The characters needed more effort. They are good, but they had to be better to elevate the story. Some of the scenes felt too distanced to feel for the characters. I don’t usually relate to most characters, so that’s not an issue. But I do like to feel for them.
It would sound better to call the swastika a Hindu symbol rather than a Sanskrit symbol. Sanskrit is our ancient language with a script and symbols of its own. There is no difference per se, but it’s important to us. It is a part of our culture; we like to not be disassociated from the sacred symbol or our sacred language the way it is being done with yoga.
That said, the presence of swastika adds no value to the story. It was used more of a prop to show that the character knew the difference between the Hindu swastika to the Nazi symbol and maybe to bring a sort of inclusivity in the book. After that, there’s no mention of it again. It doesn’t feature anywhere else in the book. I don’t think the book would be the least affected if that scene mentioning the swastika tattoo was removed.
And Eve could have been the reader. In fact, I preferred it that way. The last chapter could have been better without Eve being a victim of a car accident or losing her memory.
Also, the ending wasn’t too great. It sort of diminished the emotions evoked until then.
To sum up, How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness is a decent novel with multiple aspects to ponder about. The book is fast-paced and worth a read.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and Vine Leaves Press and am voluntarily leaving a review.
#HowIcasiaBloomTouchedHappiness #NetGalley
Icasia Bloom lives in a Globe that’s controlled by an elusive leader, Jacobson. They have to adhere to the Rules and follow the protocols. People like Icasia find a way to rebel without entirely breaking the rules.
However, for people to move from First Life Phase to Second Life Phase they need to find Happiness and a Letter that says they have been successful in finding happiness. It’s a dystopian world with rules of its own.
Icasia isn’t bothered much about her happiness. She only cares for her son’s happiness and future. Being a single mother isn’t easy either. She meets Selma, another woman who has been straddling the Rules.
Selma needs to find a way for Jerome to get his Letter of happiness before his 40th birthday. If not, he’ll lose his life and has no say in the matter. Nothing seems to be working, and Icasia promises to help. This results in some vital questions and rule-defying answers that change the way the Globe looks at happiness.
The title and the cover attracted my attention. Dystopian isn’t my genre, but I’m glad I requested this one. The story starts almost straight away and goes on to share details in bits and pieces. That prevented information dump and kept me interested.
The narration jumps from the second person to the third person to omnipresent. Luckily, the chapters are titled (Listen/ Watch/ Chronicles) to alert readers to this fact. The story walks a fine line between dystopian and philosophical. Things are different yet the same.
The characters are flawed, but most of them don’t appear silly or stupid. Leila, Selma's teenage daughter, was a typical teen, which meant some of her actions don’t make sense unless there’s a proper backstory and complete arc.
The theme of the book hinged on what happiness is and how one should find it. As with the dystopian trope, the government has a role to play in most decisions. It isn’t anything new, to be honest. The author makes it interesting to a major extent by using the setting to her advantage.
However, I felt she hasn’t delved deep into the concept. It could be because she didn’t want to risk being preachy. Lord knows how hard it is to maintain balance. Still, the characters needed more exploration. Some of the scenes feel disjointed, as if there’s a missing link. This link doesn’t appear elsewhere to complete the connection. Nor do we find answers to certain questions about why the Rules were established that way. (It sounds vague because I’m trying to avoid spoilers).
The premise is excellent, and the use of the bluebird is worth mentioning. The characters needed more effort. They are good, but they had to be better to elevate the story. Some of the scenes felt too distanced to feel for the characters. I don’t usually relate to most characters, so that’s not an issue. But I do like to feel for them.
Spoiler
It would sound better to call the swastika a Hindu symbol rather than a Sanskrit symbol. Sanskrit is our ancient language with a script and symbols of its own. There is no difference per se, but it’s important to us. It is a part of our culture; we like to not be disassociated from the sacred symbol or our sacred language the way it is being done with yoga.
That said, the presence of swastika adds no value to the story. It was used more of a prop to show that the character knew the difference between the Hindu swastika to the Nazi symbol and maybe to bring a sort of inclusivity in the book. After that, there’s no mention of it again. It doesn’t feature anywhere else in the book. I don’t think the book would be the least affected if that scene mentioning the swastika tattoo was removed.
And Eve could have been the reader. In fact, I preferred it that way. The last chapter could have been better without Eve being a victim of a car accident or losing her memory.
Also, the ending wasn’t too great. It sort of diminished the emotions evoked until then.
To sum up, How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness is a decent novel with multiple aspects to ponder about. The book is fast-paced and worth a read.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and Vine Leaves Press and am voluntarily leaving a review.
#HowIcasiaBloomTouchedHappiness #NetGalley
bibliovino's review
3.0
Sweet story about the importance of finding your own happiness, in whatever form it takes. Icasia Bloom lives on the fringes of a dystopian society-deaths and burials have caused the earth to lose too much of its landmass and now people are forced to have only one child and not allowed to end their lives and move on to the next phase of life unless their own offspring have achieved happiness. The rules are complicated and stringent, and unfortunately they’re getting harder to achieve. Can Icasia help her friend’s husband find happiness of he doesn’t even know what that is?
While I very much enjoyed the lessons in the story and a lot of the world building was interesting, it was very convoluted. The system of “death” was confusing and overly complicated. Coupling that with an overly simplified narrative style created a very disjointed tone. I also was confused by the requirement that females had to produce their offspring on or before their 15th birthday. If you’re worried about population control, I would think waiting longer would help. There’s no reason it couldn’t be moved to age 20 if parents have til 60 for the children to achieve contentment.
Great ideas, just not well executed.
Thank you to BookSirens and the publisher for my free copy. These opinions are my own.
While I very much enjoyed the lessons in the story and a lot of the world building was interesting, it was very convoluted. The system of “death” was confusing and overly complicated. Coupling that with an overly simplified narrative style created a very disjointed tone. I also was confused by the requirement that females had to produce their offspring on or before their 15th birthday. If you’re worried about population control, I would think waiting longer would help. There’s no reason it couldn’t be moved to age 20 if parents have til 60 for the children to achieve contentment.
Great ideas, just not well executed.
Thank you to BookSirens and the publisher for my free copy. These opinions are my own.
pialfa801's review
3.0
This is more like a 3.5. I liked the concept of the book and its themes around happiness. I also liked most of the characters, but sometimes I found their actions inconsistent. I was confused about Jerome for almost all the book: was he rebellious or did he prefer to go by the book? I was also confused about Selma's daughter: I understand that Jerome sounded a little bit pretentious sometimes, but based on what's shown in the book she just seems unreasonable.
I was curious about the world and I feel it worked well for the book's message, but I feel some stuff about it wasn't discussed enought. For example, the idea that women get pregnant so young and they must marry if they want to have free healthcare. I feel like the healthcare part was more mentioned, but it was weird to see how Selma's daugther just seemed to accept her fate all of a sudden.
I know I'm mostly talking about the things I don't like, so now I want to talk about some things I really enjoyed. The writing style is good: I don't feel like I can't really judge it because English isn't my native language, but it made the reading experience enjoyable and it was easy to read without feeling simplistic or badly written. If we're talking about the characters. the one I liked the most is Icasia: I found her charming and I like her character development. I also like her realionship with Selma (I could feel their chemistry since their first scene together), but I feel there should have been more scenes about them.
I'll finish mentioning that I'm not sure if I liked the ending. I found the last chapter interesting, but the way the main conflict ends feels a little bit convenient
Lastly, I received an advance review copy for free from Booksirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I was curious about the world and I feel it worked well for the book's message, but I feel some stuff about it wasn't discussed enought. For example, the idea that women get pregnant so young and they must marry if they want to have free healthcare. I feel like the healthcare part was more mentioned, but it was weird to see how Selma's daugther just seemed to accept her fate all of a sudden.
I know I'm mostly talking about the things I don't like, so now I want to talk about some things I really enjoyed. The writing style is good: I don't feel like I can't really judge it because English isn't my native language, but it made the reading experience enjoyable and it was easy to read without feeling simplistic or badly written. If we're talking about the characters. the one I liked the most is Icasia: I found her charming and I like her character development. I also like her realionship with Selma (I could feel their chemistry since their first scene together), but I feel there should have been more scenes about them.
I'll finish mentioning that I'm not sure if I liked the ending. I found the last chapter interesting, but the way the main conflict ends feels a little bit convenient
Spoiler
I understand that holding his grandchild helped Jerome, but they way it's explained makes me feel weird. Eve's just a baby,she can't love him unconditionally because she isn't even aware of herself or her surroundings. Of course, Jerome could feel like she loves him anyways because what's important to get the letter is what he feels, but in the book it's framed like that's reality.Lastly, I received an advance review copy for free from Booksirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
vj2411's review
4.0
How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness is a dystopian novel centring around the idea of finding happiness, and how different that looks to everyone around us. We are Eve, listening to Icasia tell us her story which subsequently becomes our story as well. I thought that this was a really interesting POV and made the novel feel very ethereal and ambiguous. The writing was excellent and I thought that the world building was done very well although it did remind me a lot of many other dystopian novels that have an all powerful, faceless leader. That's not necessarily a bad thing however, I still felt captivated and read the entire novel in one sitting. There were so many places were I thought the narrative was heading in one direction but then it would swing another way, most of the plot twists were done well and felt natural but I do feel like there were some times that I wanted what we were initially set up to believe happen.
4/5 stars. Thank you to BookSirens and the author for this copy to review.
4/5 stars. Thank you to BookSirens and the author for this copy to review.
kaushalaperera's review
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
jae_under's review
2.0
It was a good story. The undertone was very sombre and i has a good time reading it. It showcases if anything, the struggles of parenthood and in a futuristic kind of dystopian society, the book reads fuzzy and very warm. It was an alright book in my opinion but im not the most avid reader of this genre so others may enjoy it a lot more. The title was so so intriguing tho. I got an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley
dividedbytime's review
4.0
✨ 4.5
Jessica Bell has carefully crafted a wonderfully thought provoking speculative and philosophical fiction. This is a shorter read, coming in at 153 pages, yet so much ground is covered. Melding dystopia and science fiction, we delve into a world that exists after the one we know today has been reformed and changed. Should you live by The Book, you may be a lucky recipient of immortality...but it's not quite how you might imagine it to be. Bell's worldbuilding is mostly answered and explained the further you read. I wish we could have seen a bit more of our surroundings though, as what was described piqued my interest.
How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness explores humanity and happiness, death and life, and overall I found it to be an enlightening read. Bell has a remarkable way of drawing analogies and metaphors that are not only relatable and understandable, but pack emotion and draw links between love, loss, life, and what it means to be human.
I have docked half a star, as after digesting this book, I still have lingering questions (not about the speculative or philosophical aspect of the book, but about smaller details that were divulged between characters as I read - some of those details felt as as though they might not have been fully tied off/concluded by the end).
How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness felt like a love letter to our world today, a delicate and simple reminder of the important things in life that can so easily be forgotten in the shuffle to survive, pursue careers, and find the seemingly elusive thing called happiness.
Thank you so much to Jessica Bell and BookSirens for providing me with an ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily because books are cool!
Jessica Bell has carefully crafted a wonderfully thought provoking speculative and philosophical fiction. This is a shorter read, coming in at 153 pages, yet so much ground is covered. Melding dystopia and science fiction, we delve into a world that exists after the one we know today has been reformed and changed. Should you live by The Book, you may be a lucky recipient of immortality...but it's not quite how you might imagine it to be. Bell's worldbuilding is mostly answered and explained the further you read. I wish we could have seen a bit more of our surroundings though, as what was described piqued my interest.
How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness explores humanity and happiness, death and life, and overall I found it to be an enlightening read. Bell has a remarkable way of drawing analogies and metaphors that are not only relatable and understandable, but pack emotion and draw links between love, loss, life, and what it means to be human.
I have docked half a star, as after digesting this book, I still have lingering questions (not about the speculative or philosophical aspect of the book, but about smaller details that were divulged between characters as I read - some of those details felt as as though they might not have been fully tied off/concluded by the end).
How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness felt like a love letter to our world today, a delicate and simple reminder of the important things in life that can so easily be forgotten in the shuffle to survive, pursue careers, and find the seemingly elusive thing called happiness.
Thank you so much to Jessica Bell and BookSirens for providing me with an ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily because books are cool!
dustjackettales's review
5.0
I LOVED this book. The premise was super interesting, and the first few pages were a great hook. The characterization is fascinating, and I love seeing things through the narrator's POV. When you get to the end and the format clicks, it just makes the book enhanced to another level. A lot of questions are answered in a few chapters, and every payoff is worth it. The premise, which is a twist on a fairly classic sci-fi trope, is already another level of interesting, but you get to see that it is unique from the start once you finish the book. If you want a refreshing book that has terrifying elements and has realistic characters with realistic relationships, I recommend this book very strongly. It’s an amazing book that features the power we all have within us and our relationships, and shows that no one is perfect- but no one needs to be.
I received an advance review copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.