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A review by clarmentine
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.0
i'm gonna be honest, i really wasn't expecting a lot going into this. i picked it up because tbdate has been getting all the rave (and i mean all the rave. my tiktok fyp has been filled with videos of people crying over it for the past two weeks now) but it didn't seem like a book i'd enjoy, so i looked through adam silvera's other works and found that this had plenty of good reviews for a debut novel. i really had no idea what the plot was—just that it was a sad book about a sad gay. and that's all it took for me to go and purchase a physical copy.
so i had no idea what i was expecting but i was immediately surprised by the amount of characters that were introduced right off the bat as you crack into the book, and then somehow i got kinda bored of the story and felt extremely underwhelmed. if i had done a bit more research on the plot i think i definitely would've been more enthusiastic about reading it, but the experience i had with all the shock i felt from the twists made me glad that i went into it not knowing a thing. aaron is such a relatable character who almost felt comforting and made me feel cozy and cared for in a way. i know his battles, i understand his struggles, and i felt so drawn to him as if he was my best friend and not thomas'. i wanted what was best for him and every time he had a wrong thought, i would yell at him through the pages as if he was gonna come to life just to hear my nagging. before him, i'd never seen someone who'd been so dead set on offing themselves turn into someone so full of hope and believed that they had the chance to be happy again. i want that for everyone—i want it for myself.
it's been a couple hours since i finished reading, and i still feel heavy and shaken by this story; especially the last 30+ pages. even though it wasn't the ending i was hoping for, it opened my eyes to the reality that happy endings can still happen—even if they're not the kind we'd imagined.i love you aaron and thomas you're endgame in the alternate sun warden comic i'm writing in my head idc idc
so i had no idea what i was expecting but i was immediately surprised by the amount of characters that were introduced right off the bat as you crack into the book, and then somehow i got kinda bored of the story and felt extremely underwhelmed. if i had done a bit more research on the plot i think i definitely would've been more enthusiastic about reading it, but the experience i had with all the shock i felt from the twists made me glad that i went into it not knowing a thing. aaron is such a relatable character who almost felt comforting and made me feel cozy and cared for in a way. i know his battles, i understand his struggles, and i felt so drawn to him as if he was my best friend and not thomas'. i wanted what was best for him and every time he had a wrong thought, i would yell at him through the pages as if he was gonna come to life just to hear my nagging. before him, i'd never seen someone who'd been so dead set on offing themselves turn into someone so full of hope and believed that they had the chance to be happy again. i want that for everyone—i want it for myself.
it's been a couple hours since i finished reading, and i still feel heavy and shaken by this story; especially the last 30+ pages. even though it wasn't the ending i was hoping for, it opened my eyes to the reality that happy endings can still happen—even if they're not the kind we'd imagined.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction