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A review by elementarymydear
HappyHead by Josh Silver
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
5.0
This book transported me back in time over a decade, when I would devour books like The Maze Runner and Stormbreaker, and they would become my entire personality for a good few months after reading them!
HappyHead starts from a place of positivity and ends in a place of corruption. Set in what is billed as a wellness retreat, it explores how even the most well-meaning of things can be turned into something evil.
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All of the characters were so vividly depicted, and portrayed in a very layered and nuanced way. The way all of the characters, but especially the main character Sebastian, were revealed to us slowly over the course of the book was masterful.
I also really liked how queerness was explored in this book. As a book about happiness, secrecy and authenticity it really lends itself to that and I thought it was a great way to explore the characters’ experiences.
There were some very dark themes explored as well, particularly ideas of eugenics, and I’m intrigued as to how that is going to end. That’s one theme I would have loved to have delved deeper into, so hopefully it’s something that will be much more central to the second book. It makes for such an interesting motive for a villain, and I definitely want to go further into her mindset!
I’m really glad the sequel to this book has already been confirmed, because this is a story that deserves to take its time being told. There is so much more to delve into, and there isn’t going to be an easy solution, so I’m really excited to see where it heads next.
The audiobook narration was also excellent. All the characters were brought to life excellently, sometimes uncannily so, and it was just an all-around great listening experience.
HappyHead starts from a place of positivity and ends in a place of corruption. Set in what is billed as a wellness retreat, it explores how even the most well-meaning of things can be turned into something evil.
📚Blog📖YouTube📖Instagram📚
All of the characters were so vividly depicted, and portrayed in a very layered and nuanced way. The way all of the characters, but especially the main character Sebastian, were revealed to us slowly over the course of the book was masterful.
I also really liked how queerness was explored in this book. As a book about happiness, secrecy and authenticity it really lends itself to that and I thought it was a great way to explore the characters’ experiences.
There were some very dark themes explored as well, particularly ideas of eugenics, and I’m intrigued as to how that is going to end. That’s one theme I would have loved to have delved deeper into, so hopefully it’s something that will be much more central to the second book. It makes for such an interesting motive for a villain, and I definitely want to go further into her mindset!
I’m really glad the sequel to this book has already been confirmed, because this is a story that deserves to take its time being told. There is so much more to delve into, and there isn’t going to be an easy solution, so I’m really excited to see where it heads next.
The audiobook narration was also excellent. All the characters were brought to life excellently, sometimes uncannily so, and it was just an all-around great listening experience.
I received a free copy for review. All opinions are my own.